Need to know info for tour o Italy-2025

[armchairtraveller]

Hi Guys, Am thinking of taking my street triple (no panniers!) to Italy anything I need to know. I am trying to find a company to bring my bike back if the need arises but maybe I should just ride the thing and worry about breakdown later, does anybody take you off the motorway free if 'breakdown' covered?

 

also I don't like booking places in advance like to be free, are there any recommend places under £70? Some bikers seem to have too much money eg-Grand Hotel Montesilvano £110!= 1month £1000 on a bed alone

 

Anyone been any places recommended to stay a few days? I got 2 months so not in a hurry!

Edited November 14, 2024 by armchairtraveller

[bonio]

RAC EU breakdown will bring your bike for you if it can't be ridden home. Loads cheaper than paying for the transport yourself.

 

As for cheap, then Italy - especially the north of Italy -  might not be for you. What about camping?

[armchairtraveller]

Thanks for that so £250 covers my bike to be brought back but it may be borderline as if the price of the bike is less than the repatriation then it stays in Italy. So not sure what their figure is to transport bike back. As for costs of accommodation I really need to keep it down to minimum. Not sure I can book Airbnb on my phone will have to give it a trail run. Italy doesn't have cheap hotel chains like France unfortunately. My plan is to ride the whole length of the country. I cannot camp as I can only fit a small bag on the back of the bike.

Also am I being dim I want to plan a route once I am on the road with my TomTom Rider does this mean I have to do this at home, that I cannot do it on the road? It has a plan a thrill setting where I can tap and set a route but it seems to want to be a circular route ie take me back to where I started!? Any ideas

Edited September 4, 2022 by armchairtraveller
need to figure out tomtom route planner

[Ian Frog]

It`s worth persevering with Air BnB on your phone as we use it quite often and there can be significant savings.

Cheers

Ian

[Gerontious]

My best advice for Italy is stay in the middle, the spine. The coastal roads are tedious and as its Italy, there are a lot of arrow straight former roman roads that are mind numbing. If you stop in any southern towns, do NOT leave your bike unaccompanied for even a moment, especially as its a Triumph. A triumph parked up WILL almost certainly attract a crowd. stay out of town wherever possible. Avoid lay-bys in the south as you will almost certainly be descended upon by prostitutes. Forget all those pretty pictures of southern Italy. once you are away from the tourist areas its a different world. Ive been once and will never go back. I'll stick to north of the line that runs between Milan and Turin. and Tuscany. or the central spine.. the Apennines.

 

Have more than one payment method for petrol. aside from cash. as unmanned petrol stations can be finnicky and reject cards for no apparent reason. never leave filling up to the last minute. if you see a fuel stop. use it. even if the tank is half full. And have a rag to hand as many manned petrol stations will not allow you to fill yourself. have a rag ready to wipe away any spillages.

 

Be prepared for some shocking sights, like a busy bar in a petrol station and people walking round or filling up without a care in the world smoking like troopers.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Gerontious

[bonio]

You're right; the south is a different world. Palermo is the one place I've visited in Europe that made me think I was in Cairo. But I felt a lot less safe.

Lake Como in contrast, almost feels like Switzerland. And can be almost as expensive.

 

[bonio]

@armchairtraveller  Hi from Halesworth

[Guest]

The italians are very particular. If you start trying to put parmesan on a dish, when they think it will only ever go with pecorino then prepare for looks of disdain. Also if you check out advrider.com and look at their tentspace map you'll find a list of people willing to accommodate motorcycle travellers, sometimes just a camping spot but often people will let you stay in a spare room, feed you and give you a beer. We used it in the US and it was great, lots of hospitable people out there.

[armchairtraveller]

Looked at Tentspace great idea but don't see any pins in the whole of Italy.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, armchairtraveller said:

Looked at Tentspace great idea but don't see any pins in the whole of Italy.

You have now learnt everything you need to know about the italians , and don't forget to use the right cheese.

[Breezin]

Regarding cost... I'm just back from a week in northern Italy. Looked at renting a bike but they're crazily expensive, so did a mini-tour by train instead. (Italian trains are brilliant, apart from the strikes!)

Accommodation is mediocre, to put it mildly, and it costs a bloody fortune. 

[John Metcalfe]

Hi

We live in Tunisia but "nip" over to Italy on a regular basis as it's only a 10hr ferry ride to Sicily or max 24hrs to the mainland direct.

We were over in May for 12 days and did around 2000 miles on our 1994 K1100LT which didn't miss a beat, until I dropped her doing about 2mph right in front of 2 Carabinieri, who unlike UK police were really helpful and were more interested in whether we were injured or not.

We traveled from Civitavecchia ferry port north towards Rimini before heading back down the Adriatic coast to San Salvo before heading back across country to Pompei. This was followed by the mandatory ride along the Amalfi Coast to Salerno before heading down to Villa San Giovanni for the ferry to Sicily before the return ferry from Palermo to Tunis.

Below are the hotels we used for the whole trip.

 

1. P&P Assisi Camere in Bastia Umbra. Free off road private parking.

2. Waldorf Palace Hotel in Cattolica. Private underground garage €6 per day. Free parking for motorbikes available to front of hotel in full view of reception and covered by CCTV.

3. The Grand Hotel Montesilvano. Free off road private parking.

4. My Angels B&B in Pompei. Free off road private parking within gated courtyard.

5.Villa Sethere Salerno. Free off road private parking within gated courtyard.

6. Hotel Posidonia Sapri. Free off road parking within gated yard. CCTV covered

7. La Casa di Caso Villa San Giovanni. Free off road parking within gated yard

8. ll Gelso Bianco Montebianco near Catania Sicily. Free off road private parking. CCTV protected.

9. 55 Aira Hotel Palermo Sicily. Free on street parking to front of hotel in clear view of hotel reception and covered by CCTV. Also opposite main railway station with Police station also opposite.

 

If you like a good steak then I can highly recommend the Hotel Posidonia in Sapri and they are very biker friendly.

Also My Angels B&B in Pompei can be highly recommended also as Melisa can't do enough to make your stay great. Also it is located a 5 minute ride to the Pompei ruins or if you don't to use the bike then you can either catch the bus 5min ride or take a nice steady walk.