Best place to stay in northern Italy

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Stolichnaya
Posts: 2621
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:55 pm
Location: Vienna, AUT

by Stolichnaya

Lake Garda is not high altitude but offers plenty of routes up high and more importantly lots of options for off the bike activities.
Stay in the northern part, Riva, Torbole, Arco.

If you want to be up high the entire time, then consider Alto Adige - Corvarra, Cassiano, etc. There are more big passos there than you can shake a stick at.
However, off the bike options for fun and food are limited. (You'll probably be too tired to party anyway... :D )

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c50jim
Posts: 1015
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:42 am
Location: Calgary

by c50jim

I've just returned from two weeks in Switzerland and Italy. We stayed in both Bormio and Corvara. In fact, this was the seventh time I've stayed in Corvara, fourth in Bormio. I've also ridden for a week in the Bassano area and done many other trips in both Italy and France.

The Bormio area and the Dolomites are the jewels of Italian cycling. You can start from elevations that are already in the 1200-1500 metre range and climb much higher. However, you need to understand that there are no easy days in either area. The easiest road out of Bormio is full of traffic so you're forced onto roads like the Stelvio and Gavia. Great rides but lots of climbing. Passes like the Umbrail and Mortirolo start distant from Bormio so it's better to have support of some sort. There are several hotels in Bormio that cater to cyclists. We've stayed at the Genzianella the last couple of trips and it was great. We also came into Bormio from Livigno this trip. Livigno might be an interesting base. It's where the pro teams stay (we saw riders and support from at least five pro tour teams and many minor pro and national teams) and seems to have more variety than Bormio. However, this comment is based on riding through it rather that staying there. There are no easy rides from Corvara but lots of great loops with climbs that are shorter than the Stelvio, Gavia or Umbrail.

I agree with those who suggest that you consider places like Bassano or Garda as starting points. If you want to climb mountains and ride hard every day, Bormio, Corvara or Cortina (a really expensive tourist trap) are great. If you want variety, places on the fringe of the mountains such as Bassano or Garda might be better. You can find lots of hills (I think there are something like five paved roads up Monte Grappa - I've gone up two and down a third) but ride easy on some days and see some of Italy as well as its scenery.

Finally, avoid riding on the weekends if you can. Those who've been there will confirm that the number of motorcyclists and sports cars that want to move up and down the mountain roads at great speeds can be frightening. I've been driving for 50 years and have never seen as many aggressive drivers as I saw on the Stelvio two weekends ago or the Sella Ronda last Saturday. I noticed this in the Alps a couple of years ago but the Italian areas were worse. My contrast, the Pyrenees last year were pretty quiet.

I wouldn't suggest trying to combine Bormio area and Dolomites. It's a long drive and takes most of a day. For Bormio, entry from the Milan area is probably easiest. For Dolomites, Venice is the nearest airport with connections to many cities.

wingguy
Posts: 4318
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

c50jim wrote:I agree with those who suggest that you consider places like Bassano or Garda as starting points. If you want to climb mountains and ride hard every day, Bormio, Corvara or Cortina (a really expensive tourist trap) are great. If you want variety, places on the fringe of the mountains such as Bassano or Garda might be better. You can find lots of hills (I think there are something like five paved roads up Monte Grappa - I've gone up two and down a third) but ride easy on some days and see some of Italy as well as its scenery.


Yep - for the feeling of being IN the mountains and having all of the scenery be mind blowingly huge the Dolomites are definitely the way to go.

Garda does offer some genuinely huge climbs as well as just hills, though. Arco town centre to San Giovanni on Monte Brento is over 4000ft, Mori to Rifugio Graziani on Monte Altissimo is closer to 5000!

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

I'd avoid Garda - touristy. Some nice riding though yes.

Como is much nicer IMHO

More left field, somewhere like Feltre over the other side has the land that time forgot feel. Or if you want to be in the middle of beautiful climbs, Corvara
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