SPT24038 - BMW Motorrad Days 2024 - Alpine Serenity & Venetian Charm
On our first riding day, we go straight to the Alps! We cruise through lush, green farmland and past clear blue lakes until the impressive mountain range appears in front of us. Along the way, we can visit one of King Ludwig's castles or the famous Eagle's Nest. Our destination is Kaprun, a picturesque resort village full of charme.
First thing today we tackle one of the most spectacular roads of the Alps: the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Endless curves and beautiful switchbacks provide lots of riding fun on the way up, and the mountains provide a beautiful backdrop to this epic ride. A stop at The Edelweiss Spitze is followed by a visit to Franz Josef Hohe and Austria´s only Glacier. After this awesome ride, we head east and find another designated Alpine Road, this time across the Nocky Mountains. We conclude our second day in Villach, the southernmost city in Austria.
Villach lies very close to Slovenia and during our rest day, evrybody decided to ride across the border and discover the Julian Alps with their highest peak, Triglav. Did you know that Slovenia is the only country in the world that has "Love" in its name? By the time our rest day is over you will love it, too!
Riding day number four introduces you to Italy. Along its northern border, we ride west on small, twisty, and mostly traffic-free roads. Then, suddenly, we see the typical pale rock formations of the Dolomites in front of us, a sight to behold. The Dolomites are probably the most famous and arguably the most beautiful part of the Alps. And Cortina d'Ampezzo, our home for the night, sits right in the middle of it, a fact that has been drawing visitors here for almost 150 years. Cortina is one of the oldest and most famous tourist destinations in the Alps.
Today we ride through the Belluno Dolomites and enjoy all that spectacular scenery and the twisty, well-maintained roads that run along the mountains with their jagged rock formations, soaring into the sky. And while riding those roads you can enjoy the outstanding views, eventhough it was a bit cloudy and wet at first ...
Venice is one-of-a-kind, the world's only city that has no streets but canals instead. Words can't do it justice, you'll have to see it yourself. A full day gives us ample time to go and thoroughly enjoy this outstanding city to the fullest.
After the beauty of Venice, we return to the Alps and the first mountain we see is Monte Grappa. Due to its qualities as a vantage point, Monte Grappa was fiercely fought over during WWI and the ossuary bears impressive witness to this. Today, the mountain offers a thrilling ride up and still the same outstanding views, just much more peaceful. After lunch, we cruise up to the hilly plateau known as the Seven Communes and eventually reach the spa town of Levico Terme, our home for the night.
Today we ride to Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol. It's not far, you could reach it in just over an hour, but then you would miss out on all those amazing mountain roads. Four passes are scheduled today, with roads ranging from tight single tracks to wide, perfectly laid out switchbacks. On the way we even meet our new Korean friends again who are also on their way to Garmish for the BMW days
On our last riding day it is time to cross the main Alpine divide again so we head north. The first two passes we tackle, Penserjoch and Jaufenpass, are still entirely in South Tyrol, but the third one, Timmelsjoch, marks the border to Austria. Needless to say that the views are spectacular and the ride is great fun, but Timmelsjoch offers something special: the world's highest motorcycle museum! Later, we cruise down the Ötztal Valley and eventually arrive in Seefeld.
A special end to this very special Tour where new friends were made!