Alps Deluxe (RTV2401)
Today we start our Alpen Deluxe Tour. A few of our guests have decided to arrive a few days early and take the opportunity to explore Tyrol a little more. And what better way to do this than on a guided tour of Tyrol's capital Innsbruck, which truly has plenty to see and do. And so we took the train from Seefeld to Innsbruck in the morning and then explored the famous old town of Innsbruck with all its historic buildings on foot. To see Innsbruck from more than just one perspective, we then took the cable car up to the Seegrube, where we not only had a great lunch of typical Tyrolean dishes, but also a spectacular view of Innsbruck and the surrounding countryside. Of course, this tour is not just a great way to see the city, Seefeld is also the perfect starting point for the Edelweiss Riding School. And so some of our guests decided to put the finishing touches to their riding skills in the Alps together with Angela before the actual start of our tour.
Today is the start of our tour and our first day of riding is already an absolute highlight. Our destination today is Bolzano, the beautiful capital of South Tyrol. To get there, we take some of the most beautiful motorcycle routes that this region has to offer. Shortly after leaving our starting point in Seefeld, we turn off into the picturesque Ötztal valley, which is visited by countless tourists in winter, but is much quieter in summer and therefore has less traffic. At the end of the Ötztal, the Timmelsjoch is already waiting for us, one of the most beautiful passes over the Alps and our route to Italy. Of course, we take the opportunity to visit the highest motorcycle museum in the world and the collection of old motorcycles is truly unique. All the more so when you consider that the museum was completely burnt down in 2021 and within just 10 months an even larger and more impressive collection than before was built up. We then cross the border into Italy and the change in the landscape and climate is immediately noticeable. Instead of the Austrian forests, apple trees and vineyards line our route in Italy. After a tasty lunch stop in the small village of Lana, we continue onto the Mendel Pass, which, with its many long bends, brings us closer to our destination today, Bolzano.
The Hidden Treasures of the Dolomites was our motto for the day and ... boy, they didn't disappoint! Angela and Franziska guided a group each over parts of the Strada del Vino, deeper into the mountains. Where, John and Ed had an unexpected little side adventure with the Italian carabinierie. They got caught in a random traffic control with a stern looking police duo, which later turned out to be nice guys after all. Passo de Rolle was a highlight for everyone. While enjoying a cold drink or a coffee you could marvel at the magnificent panorama right in front of you. And there was corners, switchbacks and windy roads galore! For lunch we stopped at a lovely family run restaurant at the Passo Cereda, they served traditional dishes and we all left with a full belly of goodness. In the afternoon we made our way through the Valle di Mis, which was capturing us with it's own breathtaking beauty. Before we reached the Passo San Boldo and it's unusual tunnel design. You literally enter on a single road and only the corners are open while the road is winding it's way down. As the icing on the cake we finished our day in Castle Branco, this 2000 year old fortification is towering over the surrounding landscape. Here we enjoyed a well deserved drink in the castle grounds after an eventful day.
Motorcyclists in general can withstand a certain amount of rain. But if the weather forecast predicts heavy rain for the first hour of the day, you don't necessarily need to ride straight into it, do you? So we decided to take it easy this morning and enjoyed an extended breakfast in our beautiful castle hotel. Our strategy worked out perfectly, because the Prosecco region of Valdobbiadene awaited us with perfectly "rain-washed" vines. Here you can take a bottle of Prosecco from the vending machines between the vines and enjoy it in the vineyards. Of course, this was not our plan, as we still had a full day of riding ahead of us. So we simply took the Prosecco with us. We'll find out later what will happen to the Prosecco ;) We continued on to the town of Bassano del Grappa. As the name suggests, the town identifies itself with the alcoholic drink of the same name. Here, too, we naturally just enjoyed our lunch and took the grappa with us as a souvenir. Bassano is also known for its Ponte Vecchio, which dates back to 1569 and used to link the trade route to Vicenza. It's impressive how the trunk of this vine has grown around the metal frame over the course of time! The final riding highlight of the day was the ride up Monte Grappa! Once we had arrived at the top, everyone felt great having mastered this route. As a reward, Franzi was waiting for us at our hotel with a slightly different boot beer - delicious Prosecco from Valdobbiadene.
An eventful day lay in front of us. We left Asolo and it's surrounding vineyards in the morning and we had our first escapade at the automated toll station for the Autostrada, the Italian highway. After a short ride we returned to the hills of the wine country and enjoyed a ride through the picturesque side of Italy as you see in movies. Quaint towns with narrow streets, town squares and houses that show a crumbling beauty of times past surrounded by vineyards and life that just proceeds in general at a lower speed. But we made our way up further onto the Asiago Plateau, here we were greeted with an alpine setting and stunning views of the lowlands. Our lunch stop was at a little mountain restaurant next to a dormant ski lift as the region is also know for it's winter sports. With new energy we started off not knowing what the day would bring. We followed small roads up and down the mountains until we hit a section were recent rain had washed big rocks onto our path. Carefully and one by one we made our way past it. What a buzz that was! And everybody made it in one piece. Naturally, we had a lot to chat about on our coffee stop at Passo Xomo. - We even managed to leave a bit of that spirit behind, have a closer look at the pass sign! Making our way down, John discovered that he was loosing pressure on his back tire, a short inspection would confirm our fear he had picke up a nail, which caused a slow puncture. Repairs were needed and John was able to bag a different kind of souvenir to take home. An eventful day came to an end at the Due Torri Hotel in Verona, a grand old place, with lots of character. The food was delicious and so was the wine, that came in plenty.
After 4 exciting days on the road, it's time for a rest day today. What better place for this than the enchanting Verona with its typical Italian flair and lots of history. Another big plus point of today's rest day is that we can spend another night in our stunning Hotel Due Torri. So it's no wonder that no one has decided to go for a motorcycle ride today and that sightseeing is on the agenda for everyone. Some of our group took the opportunity to take the train to nearby Venice, while the rest had a great day in Verona. There really is a lot to see there and the historic old town in particular is definitely worth a longer visit. In the evening, we all met up again and enjoyed a great dinner together in a former church that had been converted into a charming little restaurant.
It was time to say goodbye to Verona with it's wonderful old buildings steeped in history. Once more we went into to mountains north of it to enjoy a day full of twistiest, vistas and lots of fun. Our first stop was at the Passo Fitanzze were a cosy little mountain hut provided hot coffees and a stunning panorama. From here we followed the winding road to Isera were we had booked lunch in a fabulous little restaurant serving 5 star food. With full bellies we continued our way to Passo Bordala, which also marked our turning point heading south towards Largo Garda. First glimpses of the lake were received in excitement and astonishment. The azure blue waters reminded of glacier lakes and the vast size of it surprised. Making our way down to the shore we past beautiful villas and temperatures became noticeable warmer. Now it was time to enter the ferry, which took us steadily over the calm waters. On the other side it was only a short ride to the hotel, were we enjoyed some sun downers directly at the shoreline.
It's hard to leave the wonderful Lake Garda behind us, but we set off north this morning and leave the lake behind us. However, the melancholy fades relatively quickly, as another great day full of beautiful motorcycle routes lies ahead of us. Our first stop today is at the beautiful Lake Idro, much smaller than Lake Garda and mainly frequented by locals, but picturesquely nestled between the Italian mountains. Freshly refreshed, we then head over our first pass of the day, the Passo di Croce Domini, which few people will know, but which is definitely worth seeing. For lunch, we stop at a small, very fine restaurant in Edolo, where the pasta with truffles is an absolute dream. With a full stomach, we then tackle the highlight of the day, the Gavia Pass, which at 8589 feet is not only one of the highest in this area, but certainly also one of the most challenging.
As always, our tour comes to an end far too quickly and today it's already time to leave Italy and head back to Austria, where we started our tour. But at least we still have a great day ahead of us and one of the biggest highlights of this tour, the famous Stelvio Pass, still lies ahead of us. As we want to enjoy our fantastic hotel in Bormio a bit longer, we start a little later today before setting off on one of the highest and probably most challenging passes in the Alps. Once we reach the top, we are delighted by the magnificent view and many of us take the opportunity to buy a souvenir of one of the most famous motorcycle routes in the Alps. After successfully mastering the many hairpin bends on the way down, we continue to Glurns, the smallest city in Italy, where we stop for lunch today. Freshly fortified, we then continue towards Mieming, with a short detour to the so-called Gacher Blick in the Tyrolean Oberland, where we park our motorcycles in the Edelweiss garage and take a look behind the scenes at Edelweiss. A great tour with countless bends, spectacular views, great hotels and delicious food lies behind us. Thanks to all participants for these great days. We hope to be able to accompany you on another tour soon. Angela, Daniel and Franziska