Complete Alps

Description

Read the day by day info and join us on this amazing motorcycle ride.

Day 1: It’s a Saturday morning and we head south west towards the south of France. An early start to our motorcycle tour of the alps is advisable to beat the July heat and the weekend traffic heading for the Ligurian Riviera. A two hour stint on the highway (160km) will lead us quickly to the Langhe area. This is where Barolo, Barbaresco and Dolcetto wines of the finest quality are produced from Nebbiolo grapes. We get off the highway and take a nice ride around before lunch in Barolo. The afternoon ride will lead us over the Col de la Lombarde into France and over Col de la Bonnette reaching 2810 meters above sea level before arriving in Barcelonnette.

Day 2: This loop ride takes us to 3 incredible places. We start with the amazing lavender fields of Valensol, then on to the Gorges du Verdon and finally the Gorges du Daluis before we return over Col de la Cayolle back to Barcelonnette. An amazing ride for our motorcycle tour of the alps!

Day 3: We head north over the Col d’Allos and then the truly stunning Col d’Izoard. We visit Briançon and the tackle the amazing Col du Galibier before stopping for the night in Valloire. Some of the most beautiful French Alps passes on our motorcycle tour of the alps.

Day 4: We ride through Val d’Isere and over Col de l’Iseran. Yet another amazing French pass higher than Stelvio at 2770m. The views are amazing as we descend into Val d’Isere. Our overnight stop is back in Italy and just below Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe with 4812 meters above sea level.

Day 5: We spend the morning literally on Mont Blanc, if the weather permits. We will take the new amazing cable car (Skyway) that in just 20 minutes will take us to Helbronner Peak at 3466m on Mont Blanc. The cable car rotates as it climbs to give everyone the best possible view. One of our highlights on this alpine motorcycle ride.
From Courmayeur we then start the ride over the Grand Saint Bernard pass into Switzerland and then over the Furka pass as our next stop for 2 nights will be in Andermatt.

Day 6: Having done the Furka pass we need to take care of the other 5 passes of the Big Six. In sequence we shall do Gotthard (on the old Tremola), Nufenen, Grimsel and Susten passes. The 6th pass, the Oberalp pass, we shall do exiting Andermatt on the following day. Today it’s an amazing pass hopping day.

Day 7: Our motorcycle tour of the alps continues and takes us over the Oberalp pass and south over the Lukmanier pass into Ticino, the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. After a lunch stop in Bellinzona with a visit to the castle we regain altitude by crossing the Sankt Bernardino pass. Another great Swiss pass. We ride through the Via Mala (the “bad road”) and reach the Julier pass which takes us swiftly to Sankt Moritz. We then cross the Bernina pass and reach our next double night stop-over in the duty free town of Livigno.

Day 8: There would be no shame in taking the day off as we’re just over half of the tour and we’ve now covered many passes. However the possible loop ride is fairly short but, as ever, beautiful. We ride back to Sankt Moritz. Visit this famous and luxurious town, and then take on the Albula and Fluela passes in the stunning Grison mountains. We finally take a ride up the Ofen pass and catch the tunnel back to Livigno.

Day 9: The BIG one awaits. It’s Stelvio day! You are free to do it as you wish as long as you end the day in Merano on the other side. No alps motorcycle tour can miss this one. We suggest to tackle it going up the Bormio side (south) down the Umbrail pass on the Swiss side to Santa Maria and have lunch in Glorenza. Then back up the 48 switch backs and back down and then along the valley to Merano for a well earned rest and dinner.

Day 10: We set off to tackle the Italian side of the Passo del Rombo or Timmelsjoch (German). We’ll park on this side of the toll (avoiding it) and visit the highest motorcycle museum in Europe. We return back down the Rombo pass and tackle the Passo del Giovo which will take us to the Brenner pass (SS12) in Vipiteno. We follow the Brenner pass all the way nearly to Bressanone. Here we join Val Pusteria which we follow all the way to Dobbiaco. In Dobbiaco we shall stay 3 nights and enjoy two amazing loops. You’ll also get dinner included for these 3 nights care of the hotel with excellent local dishes and fresh produce

Day 11: We ride to Austria and enjoy the private Grossglocknerstrasse. At the cost of 28 euro per bike you get 50km worth of perfect mountain roads and the view over this alpine milestone. Another one for the bucket list.

Day 12: A full day dedicated to the Dolomites. We start by heading towards Lake Misurina then pass Cortina d’Ampezzo and ride the magnificent Passo di Giau. From here we tackle the Passo Fedaia with a great view of the Marmolada glacier, or what’s left of it. We then take on the Pordoi and Falzarego passes before returning to Dobbiaco with a short stop in Cortina. There are two opportunities to catch cable cars on Pordoi and Falzarego. The views are amazing from the top.

Day 13: We head back to the Falzarego pass in the opposite direction then head into Val Badia and take on the other side of the Sella group by doing the Gardena and Sella passes. We then reach the legendary Carezza lake. From here we cross the Brenner pass and reach the Dolomites of Brenta ride along the Molveno lake and reach our last overnight stop before returning to Milano in Riva del Garda by Lake Garda.

Day 14: We run along the west coast of lake Garda and ride the Strada della Forra, an incredibly tight road carved in the rocks to reach the Terrazza del Brivido where you get a fantastic view over Lake Garda. We then ride west to Lake Iseo and join the highway A4 to make good time to return the bikes in Milano.