ITALY: DOLOMITES, LAKES & ALPS – JULY 2023
15 Magellanites enjoy one of our most popular tours. Tim Stevenson guides the group, and co-guide, Geoff Winwood, reports on the tour.
Italy: Dolomites, Lakes and Alps Trip Report July 2023
Day 1
Italy, Dolomites , Lakes & Alps day 0, traveling to the start line!
The group is getting to know each other via WhatsApp even before we meet! We’re all excited to be on our way now.
I travelled up from Spain today and I’ll meet the group tomorrow. I’ve got a real sense of being in France now… amazing smelling lavender fields, acres of bright sunflowers, sunshine and 30+C all the way. Exciting times, watch this space! — in Valence-France.
Day 2
We left Châlons en Champagne in bright but cool, dry weather and headed out through perfect French villages and past multi-coloured fields.
Our first coffee-stop was in Bar-de-Luc followed by great twisting roads to the beautiful town of Pont a Mousson for lunch.
I found it sobering to see the war graves and monuments to the fallen soldiers at Apremont-la-Foret.
We tempted fate by commenting on how well the route was going on this short day. However Fate took a hand and a closed road sent us on various exciting detours, the best of which ended in a ferry ride for some lucky folk! My learning here is to always “leave ferries on” as you never know when one might be needed! I crossed the Rhein into Germany on a spectacular bridge, but we all arrived at the hotel around the same time to compare routes, enjoy a cold beer and a fabulous meal.
Day 3
Baden-Baden to Fussen taking in the legendary B500 and leaving us in the foothills of the Dolomites just 1km from Austria.
As usual, the photos don’t do this spectacular ride justice. Wonderful road surface, fabulous twisties and breathtaking scenery. It’s also hay harvesting time now so the fields looked like golf courses and smelled of new mown grass, all adding to the feeling of riding through an impossibly perfect country.
The final arrival at Fussen gave a sneak preview of the mountain ride tomorrow and I can’t wait!
Day 4
Breakfast in Germany, lunch in Austria, dinner in Italy. That’s the way to do it!
Shortly after leaving the beautiful Bavarian town of Füssen the BMWs shed a tear, and the KTMs gave a loud roar as we entered Austria.
The Western Austrian valleys are truly breathtaking, and a fitting prelude to the mighty Timmelsjoch pass, taking us into Italy (Ducatis & Guzzis wet their pants 
)
Then – prepare to run out of breath – the views from our hostelry high up in the Dolomites… breathtaking!
Day 5
Today we added lakes to the adventure as we reach the most easterly hotel on our tour.
Once again we enjoyed perfect weather, incredible roads and breathtaking views, ending the ride at the wonderful Hotel Adria where we enjoyed a taster of real Italian hospitality.
Tomorrow we ride around Lake Garda, watch this space!
Day 6
We keep thinking that the tour can’t get better and then it does! Today was a rest day so a small group of us took the option to ride the roads made famous in the James Bond film “A Quantum of Solace”, whilst others enjoyed exploring the local beach and town, whilst yet others headed to the hills on rented Vespas in search of La dolce vita!
I think it’s fair to say we’ve all had a great day.
Day 7
Another two-country day as we left our base at Lake Garda Italy and headed over the legendary Stelvio Pass into Switzerland.
We all left our hotel by 8am to beat the heat during a long day of riding then wound up into the mountains and via beautiful Lake Iseo to climb the Stelvio Pass in Italy before descending the Umbrail Pass into Switzerland. That would be epic alone, but then we crossed the Flüela Pass up to the snow line and back! I don’t have pictures of all of it as I was too busy enjoying the ride, but here’s a taster before you come and see it for yourself!
Day 8
It should already be clear by now that this is actually the France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland tour (with one more country yet to come!). Today’s Swiss instalment comes with a warning “may contain traces of hairpins”.
Yesterday we travelled over four passes, so today we went three better and rode through the Sustenpasse, Oberalpasse, Obergoms, Neufenen, Grimsel, Tremola/Gotthard and Furka passes 
Sadly this results in too many pictures to share, but here is a sample to whet your appetite…
Day 9
Another two-country day filled with great memories that some rated as the best day of the tour, which is high praise!
Last night in Switzerland the weather broke and we enjoyed a refreshing thunderstorm, which was still hanging around this morning. Everyone was happy to be cooler and maybe to test their waterproofs and wet weather bike handling. Perhaps this is one of the unexpected “bonuses” of touring as it pushes you out of your comfort zone to learn or hone skills.
Once again we were frequently diverted away from closed roads which added a magical mystery tour element to the day as we made our way back east and into France amidst the happy banter of a lovely group that has come together in just a few days, another by-product of touring in a group.
Day 10
We crossed into Belgium, our final tour country, on another perfect day for riding.
It’s always fascinating to see how quickly the geography changes as we travel. Today started amongst wooded hills and mountains and passed onto the French farming plains with long straight roads and quaint villages.
From here we headed to Belgium and the Verdun memorials and war cemeteries, which were an education for many of our group, myself included.
Then it was on to the hotel for a final group gathering and a meal together. This group has been great and we’re all sad to be saying goodbye, but I know friendships have been made and people will be staying in touch.
We’re sure you will have been inspired by this trip report, so why not ask us about upcoming dates so that you can experience it first hand?