Sothern Italy to Southern Spain

This doesn't seem to be the right topic but I can't see one that includes southern Italy so I hope it's OK to post this in here.

We're catching the ferry to Brindisi from Igoumenitsa in a couple of days. We currently plan to go down to Taormina to have a look round Mt. Etna, Monreale, ferry from Palermo to Naples then Herculaneum and Pompeii. Then our plans are a bit 'loose' but we need to end up in southern Spain.

We're on a reasonably tight timescale as we're way over our original schedule but I'd hate to go through the length of Italy and miss roads/places we really should have ridden or seen. I'd have liked to have ridden the Stelvio pass and had a day looking round Venice but they're too far north and east for this trip so we'll pop down and see them some other time.

We've spent ages going through our Rough Guide but it doesn't say anything about decent roads and recent experience shows that UKGSER knowledge is a better guide than the book will ever be. L'Aquilia has been suggested as an interesting stopping point. Do you have any roads/places we ought to add to our route?

Thanks.

Kevin

kweller said:

This doesn't seem to be the right topic but I can't see one that includes southern Italy so I hope it's OK to post this in here.

We're catching the ferry to Brindisi from Igoumenitsa in a couple of days. We currently plan to go down to Taormina to have a look round Mt. Etna, Monreale, ferry from Palermo to Naples then Herculaneum and Pompeii. Then our plans are a bit 'loose' but we need to end up in southern Spain.

We're on a reasonably tight timescale as we're way over our original schedule but I'd hate to go through the length of Italy and miss roads/places we really should have ridden or seen. I'd have liked to have ridden the Stelvio pass and had a day looking round Venice but they're too far north and east for this trip so we'll pop down and see them some other time.

We've spent ages going through our Rough Guide but it doesn't say anything about decent roads and recent experience shows that UKGSER knowledge is a better guide than the book will ever be. L'Aquilia has been suggested as an interesting stopping point. Do you have any roads/places we ought to add to our route?

Thanks.

Kevin

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Scanno town is a better place to visit in the Abruzzo region. IMO.

L'Aquila is the capital of the region but Scanno is special

The roads through the Appenines are great biking roads.

The Abruzzo region does not have much to offer in Roman Historical ruins but the medieval mountain villages are spectacular.

PS, a word about Naples, best avoided at the moment. There is a Camorra(Mafia) war on and the best part of the city is the Spanish Quarter, which is a no go area now.

I rode from Southern Italy to Barcelona in a day, a few years back.

After a long mornings ride, it was a bit of a blow to see a sign saying Barcelona 500kms in southern France

Thanks Decster. Naples is only a ferry disembarkation point for us, we're not staying there.

About a thousand miles then TurnipBMW - I hope it was cooler then than it is here now. The good thing about kilometres is they go down a lot faster than miles!

Kevin

turnipbmw said:

I rode from Southern Italy to Barcelona in a day, a few years back.

After a long mornings ride, it was a bit of a blow to see a sign saying Barcelona 500kms in southern France

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It's doable but you'll be completely wiped out after it. Depends from where in sth Italy too

kweller said:

Thanks Decster. Naples is only a ferry disembarkation point for us, we're not staying there.

About a thousand miles then TurnipBMW - I hope it was cooler then than it is here now. The good thing about kilometres is they go down a lot faster than miles!

Kevin

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Temperatures in Italy are low 30's (degrees) at the moment. Scanno is low 20's if you need a break from the heat.

It is a very long ride from southern Italy to Barcelona, do-able, but only on the autostrada's, which is boring and monotonous, but for a guy with a sore coccyx, i would not do it.

A ferry ride across the med sounds ideal

PS be careful in the port in Naples. Keep your eyes open. You could get a boat from Civitavecchia just past Rome if you want to go through Abruzzo then Lazio.

an aside. A mate of mine and his friend went to Naples last september. This guy was adamant he wanted to spend a day in the spanish quarter taking some pics. He gets in a taxi and asks the driver to take him to the spanish quarter. The taxi driver says no way. So he asks why not? Driver says they willl take everything off you, everything, camera, money, shoes, everything...my mate does not take no for an answer. He goes anyway. after 15mins in the spanish quarter he's hiding in a shop from 3 guys. He's there an hour before the shop keeper says it is say to leave. This guy has been around the world in some pretty hairy places, but he got a wee scare in Naples.
Naples is my favourite Italian city. Love the place.

Decster said:

Temperatures in Italy are low 30's (degrees) at the moment. Scanno is low 20's if you need a break from the heat.

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That may be quite pleasant after the near 40s of Turkey! I don't know what it is here at the moment (Meteora) but it's bl**dy hot!

Decster said:

It is a very long ride from southern Italy to Barcelona, do-able, but only on the autostrada's, which is boring and monotonous, but for a guy with a sore coccyx, i would not do it.

A ferry ride across the med sounds ideal

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I agree which is why we're breaking the journey in several places. We're still half-considering Portugal before we turn for home but, if I'm honest with myself, I think my coccyx will appreciate it if we don't. We do need to get at least as far west as Mojacar though to see my daughter and some friends.

We also agree about the ferry - we thought it mught be nice to do and nice to be doing some miles while we're sleeping.

Decster said:

The taxi driver says no way. So he asks why not? Driver says they willl take everything off you, everything, camera, money, shoes, everything...

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We've never been to Naples so let's hope we don't stray into the wrong part by mistake!

Kevin