Italy, places of interest?

[Yellow7]

Well thats plenty of recomendations & information to chew over there, the tour starts next May so can start plotting in the mean time. Thanks all.

 

[Blue Hills]

This might also be of interest.
A horror of design (hard to believe its italian) but useful, with google translate as your dodgy friend.
http://www.fiab-onlus.it/
I've ridden with a bunch from this national group - to misquote Bromley's favourite son HG Wells, when I see an Italian on a bicycle, I have hope for Italy.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Well thats plenty of recomendations & information to chew over there, the tour starts next May so can start plotting in the mean time. Thanks all.

I wonder if you'll manage to reach Cesenatico by Sunday 19 May 2013?

There's a massive cycling event there every year called I Nove Colli (this year there were 10,824 riders in it). Even if you didn't feel like riding it, it would be quite a spectacle to see on your journey.

Details can be found >here< but it's a choice of either 200km or 130km. Entrants can choose to go at any speed, provided they finish within 12 hours/7.5 hours. Having said that, there is great pride at winning the Novi Colli. It's highly organised with police escorts, feeding stations, 13 ambulances, 12 professional nurses and an intensive care doctor.

Registration opens in November and the fee is € 50.00 including: daily rental of chip from Winning Time, ‘Nove Colli’ shorts, mechanical and medical assistance, radio aid, 10 different food and refreshment stops, a pasta party, showers and secure bike park at the finish line, a souvenir, personalised certificate downloadable from www.novecolli.it .

It's still on my list of things to do.


GC

 

[Yellow7]

"I wonder if you'll manage to reach Cesenatico by Sunday 19 May 2013?"
It looks good but I certainly won’t make it, I should arrive in Italy maybe mid June, but leave the UK in May, with six preceding countries to cross first, presently just getting info on all countries I’ll be going through.

 

[dellzeqq]

Florence.

she speaks very highly of you. Florence, Lucca and Pisa. Venice is great, but not so clever for cycling.

 

[srw]

Florence.

San Gimignano

Siena is a much more elegant cityscape, with much greater architecture and more interesting art than Florence, which is all very nice but frankly a bit twee and over-Renaissanced. San Gimignano is over-rated and over-run with tourists - the old town of Valle di Col d'Elsa just up the road is a much better mediaeval hill town.

Elsewhere, Padua has some great art and great buildings, while Verona does great "real Italy" too.

 

[rich p]

Why anyone would want to tour a beautiful country like Italy and hop from city to city, beats me. Not that I'm suggesting that the OP is wanting to.

 

[Blue Hills]

and over-Renaissanced.

- as is much of Italy - one reason why in some ways I like Sardinia so much - Renaissance pretty much passed it by.

<Note - this comment has as much to do with the state of Italy as architecture so maybe off topic>

Back on topic: There is a mega international critical mass in Rome every year if that's anyone's thing - name of it escapes me - will try to find unless someone beats me to it.

Talking of "real Italy" I really like Genova though someone who lives there told me that cycling was a no-no - may be just them though.

If you didn't like it you could take the ferry to Sardinia, then ferry back from the south of the Island (or Olbia) to Civitavecchia near Rome.

 

[rvw]

+1 to Siena. Volterra is another rather attractive little town. Pisa is nicer than you might think, given the number of tourists, though that tower looks far too much like the postcards to be believable.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Siena is a much more elegant cityscape, with much greater architecture and more interesting art than Florence, which is all very nice but frankly a bit twee and over-Renaissanced. San Gimignano is over-rated and over-run with tourists -

Beh, a ciascuno il suo..

..the old town of Valle di Col d'Elsa just up the road is a much better mediaeval hill town.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I must take a look next time I get over.


GC

 

[ridemontaione]

Hello guys, funny to read you end this discussion with only two pages!:-)
No, I live i Italy, Tuscany and it is not possible to wirte about "interesting places to visit in Italy".
There is so much to visit in any single area of Italy that a single tour of a single region would last for months.
I know for example friends fond of cycling who use to come to Tuscany since more than 5 years, just because they love to discover all the hidden treasures of this region.Thta is the philosophy you should have when you think to come and visit Italy.Not a fast rush to watch as much as possible but focusing each time on a single part of Italy.
Ciao!

 

[ridemontaione]

Siena is a much more elegant cityscape, with much greater architecture and more interesting art than Florence, which is all very nice but frankly a bit twee and over-Renaissanced. San Gimignano is over-rated and over-run with tourists - the old town of Valle di Col d'Elsa just up the road is a much better mediaeval hill town.

Elsewhere, Padua has some great art and great buildings, while Verona does great "real Italy" too.

Belive me, San Gimignano is not over rated , it defently worth, è Bellissima!

 

[andym]

(Just as a footnote to this, too late for Yellow7, but it might be of interest to others).

The UNESCO World Heritage sites are a good place to start. I've done a Google Map. Unfortunately I can't embed it into a post so here's the link:

http://italy-cycling-guide.info/italy-page/unesco-world-heritage/

Places like Siena, Firenze, Torino, Genova (etc) are good if you have time to stay a day or two and do some sightseeing (eg go to see the frescoes in Siena's Palazzo del Popolo), but if you are a cycle tourist just passing through then the smaller places can be easier to take in without having to fight your way through the road system etc etc. In Toscana for example there are places like Lucca, Coreglia Antelminelli, Barga ('the most Scottish town in Italy'), Chiusi, Capalbio, Massa Marittima, Campiglia Marittima, Pienza, Pitigliano and lots more.

The trouble is that however much time I spend there I come back with a list of places that I missed.

Ciao - it's us who ought to be welcoming you.

 

[MontyVeda]

shameless plug for somewhere to stay in Le Marche if you're looking... the link is in my signature, but can heartily recommend Casa Sibilla, the owner has probably cycled every road in the region (and beyond), and would happily give you the low-down on the area.