BOI2502 Best of Italy 30.5.-8.6.2025
The place to be for today is Rom - Why? because today we will catch up with our group of riders for the Best of Italy Tour. What means we will meet for the first time at 5 o'clock at the reception and from there we will start into the tour. First the Welcome Briefing where we will have a closer look into the tour (Where we going, What highlights we will see along the ride) and than we will come to the best part the handover of the keys for the motorcycles. After that we got some time before Dinner to put our stuff on bikes before we will enjoy our first Italien evening together. I would say after the first evening of the tour with lovely conversations - This Tour will be good. The weather for example is treating us already very well so we are looking forward to our first riding day tomorrow. See you later Barbara and Axel PS: Here some pictures of Rome and a reason why you should arrive a couple of days earlier
Good morning Good Morning it is time to start our engine!!! Welcome to our first riding day. Today we will leave Rome behind us and crossing Lazio and end our riding day in Umbria. It is Saturday and that helps a lot to get out of a mager city like Rome - everybody is still sleeping but: We are wake!!! With sun in our faces we went out of Rom and 20 minutes later we arrived in the country side of Lazio. Nice little twisty roads crossing the farmland and from the moment where we had coffee in Narni in Umbria, the landscape changed and a small little mountain rang was rising and our playground was getting better and better. For the first day of the tour it was just perfect. Just look at the pictures!!!! I have to commit it was already warm and it was a good decision to start a little earlier to avoid the heat a little longer. Highlights like Narni and Montefalco and on Top Assis proofed already the words of the welcome briefing: Italy is beautiful. Good food, best coffee and the surrounding is 90% of the day stunning. That was a start what we wished for. And tomorrow we will sleep not in Italy - why that you will find out tomorrow in the Blog. For now we just like to say - enjoy the pictures and see you later Barbara and Axel
Buongiorno and welcome to our second day of riding. We were expecting temperatures of just under 30° again today, so we set off a little earlier. Our route took us towards Perugia and we drove along Lake Trasimeno. From there, we turned off towards the mountains and treated ourselves to the first bends for breakfast. Once we reached the top, we were rewarded with a wonderful view of the lake, the landscape and a coffee. But we couldn't stay there too long, the roads with countless bends ahead of us were too tempting. Our route continued through Cortona and back up into the mountains, where the temperatures were not quite so hot, so we were able to take a pleasant lunch break there. Well fortified, we then drove on towards Urbino. The city is known worldwide for its role in the Renaissance and also for its most famous Dottore - Valentino Rossi. After a stroll through the town, including gelato of course, we set off on the last stage for today. Our route today took us along more wonderfully winding roads to San Marino and out of Italy and the EU. That's it for today, so stay tuned to see what tomorrow is waiting for us. Axel and Barbara
What a day of driving !!!! And yes, it was a great day for many reasons. Okay, let's get started. To escape the heat of the day, we started early again and that was a good decision. First we drove all the way down from San Marino to Rimini and the Misano Circuit Marco Simoncelli, where we were lucky because there was a Superbike training session going on. Then we headed down south to a small village called Tavullia. But even if the village is small, the name you read everywhere makes it one of the most famous villages in the world. The name I mean is: VR46 / Valentino Rossi - the home of one of the greatest Moto GP racers in history!!! When we arrived in Tavullia, we parked the bikes and went into the fan store and used the time for a coffee break. We also took a look at the VR46 Ranch. So that was our start to the day - not bad I'd say!!! This part of the day was already filled with beautiful little twisty roads that challenged us. But this day got better and better. After Tavullia, we drove back to San Marino and past it. Because it was time for lunch. Not just any lunch, today was also picnic day. One highlight after another came our way. Barbara did a great job and the spot she had chosen was great too. In the shade with a breeze. What more could you want on a sunny day with 30C. Lunch was also the halfway point of our journey, which is why I call it the big day. Because there was no highway today and we covered a total of around 300 km. Did I mention that we spent the rest of the afternoon on breathtaking, small, winding roads? If not? We did and I can say that I am proud of the group!!!. Thank you for such a breathtaking ride. Just for the record, the highlights of the afternoon were: Passo di Frassineto (929m), La Verna and Passo della Consuma (1057m). But to be honest, this day as a whole was a highlight in itself. In the end, as the headline says, we arrived in Firenze, where we will now spend 2 nights before heading south. Many thanks to everyone for a great day. Barbara and Axel
Today is a rest day in Florence and so we are faced with the challenge of how to spend the day. Should we head into the city first thing in the morning and lose ourselves in the countless sights or should we go for a motorcycle ride? Jürgen opts for sightseeing, Ernst takes a leisurely approach to the day and the rest of us meet up at the motorcycles as usual in the morning and set off. We leave Florence and head straight for the mountains. Our first stop is at the Mugello race track, with probably the most famous red helmet in the world ;) But since nobody was fighting for seconds on the asphalt there today, we didn't stay long. The road continued to wind its way up the mountain and we enjoyed every single bend. Of course, we also had a coffee stop in the morning. We actually wanted to show our motorcycles the Passo del Muraglione, but unfortunately it was closed due to construction work. But no problem, we switched to the Passo della Colla di Casaglia, which didn't disappoint us. After a wonderful round, we still had time and energy to explore the sights of Florence, together with Ernst. Axel and Barbara
Here we go again!!! It is time to say goodbye to Firenze. Today we will move on and the day will be great , well almost because we got to get out of Firenze and that could be a challenge. On the way in we had been lucky but today it was the real deal. It was the blueprint of Italien riding skills and behavior and impressive in the same moment. Everybody need to go to work and the temper of Italien people in cars while they driving a car and using the mobile is entertainment and a highlight himself. Road signs become a recommendation but somehow it works. Impressive I have to admit. Anyhow after the first highlight of rush hour in Firenze we made it to the other side of the River Arno where we stopped high above Firenze to have one last look at the beauty of the town. From there we went on nice curvy tiny roads through countless wine fields and they were guiding us to the Manhattan of Italy. Welcome to San Gimignano!!! The place to be for many reasons. First of all Gelato!!!!!! We went to the world champion of 2024 for an expirence of a life time. Even if you had in your life different flavours of gelato - here you will find the paradise of flavours - I promise. But this old town dates back to 332 ad and charming and beautiful and and and.... You got to see this little town once in your life. So we had gelato at first and than we wolfed around to enjoy the flair before we had lunch in town as well. But this is not all what we have done. From there we went all the way down to the West Coast and once more we fell in love with the stunning curvy roads down here in the Toscana. When we arrived at the coast, it was time to take another break and so we enjoyed once more gelato with a view of the beach. Before we went back up into the mountains where we will sleep in a medieval town called Volterra. It is like the big brother town of San Gimignano and worth it to walk around. You could call it Tuscany at is best. A wonderful riding day comes to an end and tomorrow will be the Chianti region our playground!! So, stay tuned for another breathtaking day on our tour. Barara and Axel
Theme of the day: The Beauty Of the Chianti Region Today our journey went from the wonderful medieval town of Volterra to Siena.Right from the beginning Tuscany spoiled us with some breathtaking roads. Small twisty and almost no traffic. But the best part came later when we entered the Chianti region. Surrounded from countless wine hills and wine yards and right through the heart of the Chianti, our roads, which has been such a joy that words cannot express even close how beautiful that ride has been. Highlichts like Radda in Chianti, Greve in Chianti and Gaiole in Chianti are just some of the little villages what we have seen. The only sad thing during he ride is: to know that there are some of world finest wines and we can not try it on spot. But maybe there has been a master plan of Barbara and me which let our group smile on the end of the day!? But before we come to the surprise of the day - let's talk a little more about what we have seen. During the ride we stopped as well, on one of the castles, which are almost on every hill in the region. When you look at the pictures - it is the exactly that what you see and in our case we could smell the wine trees too. Chianti Region - YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! Almost to the end of the ride we stopped for lunch at a nice little restaurant at the bottom of the Castello di Meleto. The food was great and from there we could almost feel it that we are not far away from Siena. I would say it was a great day and as a bonus we passed our hotel which is outside of Siena and drove into town to see the heart of Siena. This day has been the perfect start of our 2 days wine region ride on this tour. And before you ask what the surprise has been. Barbara put our Picnic table in-between the olive trees at the hotel and suprised us with a bottle of Chianti and white wine. Not bad for one day, I would say!!! Now we will go to bed before we take on the wine ride part two - Montalcino is calling. See you tomorrow Barbara and Axel
Our route today takes us from Siena to Pienza, which is theoretically not far, but we don't want to miss out on all the almost perfect roads with countless bends. With this in mind, we started the day. Today's route took us through the beautiful hilly landscape so typical of Tuscany, with coffee and photo stops at old churches with beautiful frescoes. At lunchtime we were lucky enough to be treated to an incredibly tasty picnic by Axel, before we visited the thermal springs of Bagno Vignoni and made another stop at the springs in Bagno San Filippo. From there we continued on to Montalcino, a name familiar to any wine connoisseur. Some of us couldn't resist taking a bottle or two of Brunello with us - there's always room in the suitcase ;) After a successful day of wine shopping, we got on our motorcycles for the last stage of the day and headed off to Pienza, an enchanting little town with incredible views of the area and its very own charm, which you can only guess at from our pictures. It will be interesting to see what our last day of riding for this tour has in store for us tomorrow on the way to Rome. Axel and Barbara
As the saying goes? All roads lead to Rome ... and so did our route today on our last day of riding on this tour. We start the motorcycles and leave Pienza. The traffic is limited for a Saturday, so we take our turns with relish and stop in Orvieto for a coffee and a bit of sightseeing. There is something to discover in every corner of this ancient Etruscan town. Some of us decide to explore St. Patrick's Fountain, while others relax and enjoy a coffee. We then continue through the rolling hills and enjoy every bend to the full. A short photo stop in Cività di Bagno Regio is of course a must. The town is known far beyond Italy's borders thanks to the special features of the eroded tuff on which it was built. We stop for lunch at a pizzeria, but the temperatures of around 30° call for a light lunch. Invigorated and refreshed, we tackle the last section of the day and return to Rome. Happy, satisfied and our heads filled with the impressions and experiences of the last few days, we arrive at our hotel in the eternal city. After a quick motorcycle handover and a short break to relax, we meet up again for dinner and review the trip over drinks. We are already looking forward to the next tour together. Until then, take care and see you soon ... Axel and Barbara