Tips for Italy / Greece please!

[Surrey Yeoman]

Hi all,

After my most enjoyable first European adventure last year around France, Spain & Portugal, my plan for this year's summer rideout is to ride to the Greek island of Leros, down in the Dodecanese Islands. Plan is to nip over the channel from Portsmouth to LeHavre, as it's handy for me and then to ride down through France into Italy, down the east coast and get a ferry from Brindisi to Patras and then ride over to Piraeous and get the ferry to Leros. I've got 3 weeks to do the round trip, so I reckon it's easily possible timewise.

Never having ridden in Italy or Greece, I'd be grateful for any tips and hints.

Campsite / B&B info much appreciated too!

Yaarrpp!

 

[Gundog]

All Italian Car Drivers will try to kill you......

Have a great time

 

[Kritou]

All Italian Car Drivers will try to kill you......

Have a great time

1. Take a ferry from Ancona and avoid the suicide run down to Brindisi/Bari. Even when cruising at 140kph the bastards want to tailgate you

2. Don't know where you intend to cross into Italy but try to avoid the manic motorways around Milan ie drop down south on the A5/26/21 before picking up the A21

 

[mikey5]

i lived there

lived in italy for 5yrs biked every day once you get into the flow of ride to survive then its ok lol oh and traffic lights are seen as optional not mandatory
get a loud horn!

 

[mike6631]

Hi

I have done trips to the east coast of Italy several times. Usually travelled Le Havre via Mont Blanc tunnel and then down A5 towards Turin before turning East on the A4. It takes you towards Milan but you can skirt that on thre ring road (tolls a regular feature so have cash handy as its usually small amounts). The stretch from Geneva to Ivrea is usually pretty quiet as most HGVs are not allowed through the M B tunnel. I have usually stopped somewhere between Bourg en Bresse and Geneva for the first night (about 450 miles) and managed to get to where I needed to by close on the second day. Italians do drive very quickly and very close to whoever is in front. Unlike France where you can often make very good time on the non-motorway routes, in Italy it is more difficult, as what used to be A roads generally go right through their towns, and are often busy with HGVs avoiding the tolls on the m-ways! IIRC the Italian M-way services are different in that you select what you want and pay and then get the food/drink further along the counter. Watch out too for the usual scams of people sticking things in tyres and then taking you for tyre changes/repairs, or trying to flag you down by suggesting you have a problem/dropped something. That apart food and wine is great, although not necessarily cheap!

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Cheers for the tips so far chaps!

I'm begining to think that Italy isn't exactly "motorcycle friendly!"

I'm wondering if I might be better off going to Venice and getting the ferry down to Patras from there to minimise the mileage in Italy!!

Or of course, going the "Long Way Round" as it were, and riding down via France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria?

Whadda ya reckon??

 

[The Mogster]

Italy is a fantastic place for Bikes, as with anywhere else you just have to 'adapt' to what is the norm....
At one point whilst having a day out going round Lake Como on the Tuono last year I had the local plod beside me indicating a downshift and full bore fly past was in order...... which i obliged.... then they came past us shouting...'Bellisimo!!' out the window...fookin mad

But then again we got ripped off at the tolls on the way out to the tune of 30 euro's.. but agin what can ya do, we were the only ones at the toll and my Italian isn't up to an argument.. so we paid and put it down to experience.

 

[mirboo72]

Its all part of the adventure,isn't this why we tour the world.
If you want to see MAD you wont like Romania.

 

[The Mogster]

Its all part of the adventure,isn't this why we tour the world.
If you want to see MAD you wont like Romania.

wots up with Romania.... cos it's on mine and Smartys (the wife) list for 2013..

 

[Tusky]

Persionally I would go for the Venice option taking in the Black Forest and Dolomites on route

 

[Decster]

Cheers for the tips so far chaps!

I'm begining to think that Italy isn't exactly "motorcycle friendly!"

I'm wondering if I might be better off going to Venice and getting the ferry down to Patras from there to minimise the mileage in Italy!!

Or of course, going the "Long Way Round" as it were, and riding down via France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria?

Whadda ya reckon??

if you think Italy aint motorcycle friendly dont go any further east than there.

the italians drive fast and dont leave gaps but if you keep your wits and drive confidently and defensively without showing aggression it a piece of cake.

 

[The Mogster]

Persionally I would go for the Venice option taking in the Black Forest and Dolomites on route

We went in Via Germany and Switzerland... did B500 in Germany from Baden Baden..... and went over the San Bernadino pass

 

[Wapping]

Surrey Yeoman, both Italy and Greece are fine motorcycling destinations.

Don't worry, just go.

Campsites / B&B's? There are umpteen websites / tourist books and blogs dedicated to both countries. Spend a few hours in Google with a pen, note paper and map and you will be fine. You are a policeman, so can you manage it.

 

[Tusky]

We went in Via Germany and Switzerland... did B500 in Germany from Baden Baden..... and went over the San Bernadino pass

B500


Oh.... and check your insurance is valid for the Greek islands.... I checked and mine wasn't !!!

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Thanks for all the tips guys, keep 'em coming!

Been looking at the map and to be honest, I still fancy the idea of catching the ferry from Brindisi to Patras. I guess it's because the whole idea of the trip is that it's a MOTORCYCLE trip, not a cruise!

Having looked at the map, I think I like the look of the west coast of Italy more than the east coast, which looks like one massive stretch of motorway!

I reckon on following the west coast down and then going cross country down past Salerno to Paola, Tarranto and on to Brindisi. Should avoid the bulk of the commercial traffic.

Yaarrpp!

 

[Decster]

Having looked at the map, I think I like the look of the west coast of Italy more than the east coast, which looks like one massive stretch of motorway!

the middle of Italy is beautiful, the Apennines are covered in beautiful medieval villages and the roads are beautiful twisties with fantastic vistas so why not criss cross on your way down.

 

[Giles]

Haven't done any serious biking in Greece (scooters on holiday in flip flops and shorts.. ) but have done Italy a number of times.

Get off the beaten track and it's stunning.

But as some of the others have mentioned, The Italians on the motorway are just a flipping nightmare.
They will sit inches off your backside, race up behind you and flash even though you're in the middle of passing a line of traffic and you have no where to go ... they have, in my opinion, the worst motorway manners in Europe!!

It takes some getting used to!!

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Thanks for the pics Giles,

As for tailgaters, Maybe I'll have to revert to my old technique from about 20 years ago when I rode small bikes which seemed to attract tailgaters like a magnet.

I always kept about a dozen old golf balls in my tank bag.

Whenever I had some tit trying to shag the back of my exhaust pipe I'd lob a couple of golf balls over my shoulder.

Twats didn't half back off sharpish when the balls went bouncy bouncy over their bonnet!

 

[hatzyian]

The road from Piacenza to Genova (SS45) is well worth a ride down. Stop off at Bobbio for the night, Hotel ALBERGO GIARDINO, just off the town square, is a good place to stay. Very basic, but clean, comfortable, and a great breakfast. Be sure to have a walk over the old viaduct/bridge over the river.

We found that if you were on a bike, you could park anywhere, and nobody minded. Watch out for speed traps through villages, we saw may during our trip, but managed not to get zapped.

Driving in Geeece is nearly as bad as Italy, and Athens is absoutly crazy.

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Cheers Ian,

Added to list of places to see / stay.

Dave