Our Trip through Tuscany, Sardinia, and Corsica

[Dan C]

This spring my wife and I celebrated our anniversary, birthdays, and Christmas with a motorcycle tour in Europe.  This time it would be the Tuscany, Sardinia, and Corsica Tour through Adriatic Mototours.  The tour started in Mestre, Italy, which is on the mainland across from Venice.   It wound its way through Tuscany to the west coast, where we caught an overnight ferry to Sardinia.  After riding a couple of days on Sardinia, another ferry took us to Corsica for a few days, and then a final ferry took us back to the Italian mainland for the final dash back to Mestre (Venice).



We decide to arrive early and hang out in Venice for a couple of days before the tour started.  Venice is now a living museum of sorts, existing to serve the tourist that flock there in droves.  It reminded me of the Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia  museum without the need for period costumes.  I will admit that I am not much of a museum person, nor into shopping, so was not overly impressed with Venice.  The architecture is cool, and the canals are interesting, but the novelty, for me, wore off quickly.   I was ready to go riding.

Venice, Italy






We Started the tour in Mestre.  I was riding a BMW R1200GS.  My wife was riding a BMW R1200R.  The first day consisted of a quick motorway dash to Bologna and a visit to the Ducati factory.  The factory and museum tour was pretty interesting, and it was fun to see the bikes of Stoner, Caprirossi, Bayless, and Haga on display.





The first day ended up with us in Florence, Italy.  We arrived late afternoon, and if you have never ridden in an Italian city, it can be pretty intense.  The Italians believe in no wasted space, and any void will get filled with a scooter.   I started to view the traffic like a river:  the cars are the rocks and boulders, the motorcycles are like leaves and twigs floating in and around the boulders, and the scooters are the trout, zipping in and out of the stream in a graceful ballet..

Scooters!


Once you get used to the flow, and you accept the fact that the locals are damn good drivers, you start to embrace filtering and  riding in places that back home, would get you a ticket.  It was, dare I say, fun! At one time I got spanked by what looked like a 50-something women on a Vespa, dressed in business attire.  I had to smile.   Ego has no place in Italian rush hour traffic.

We spent a day in Florence, and did a lot of the Tourist things: visit the Academia to see Michelangelo's David, go to the open air market, and visit the Duomo.  Florence has a real lively feel to it, and I enjoyed the time we spent there.  I would go back.

Florence, Italy









From Florence, the tour headed into Tuscan countryside on the way to Siena.  Fun, curvy roads that wind through rolling green hills and picturesque villages and towns.  As pretty as the postcards.  There are a bunch of walled cities and to see, and one gets the impression that this was a pretty violent area way back when, and any high spot got a fortress  built on it.



 






 
We spent a couple of day riding around on the excellent roads of Tuscany, and then hopped an overnight ferry  to Sardinia.  Sardinia is one of the places that European motorcyclists go on vacation.  The roads are very twisty, without a whole lot of switchbacks, and the pavement quality is outstanding.  I would have to say that these roads are some of my favorites, and would put them on a "fun" level with the roads through the Dolomites.  The traffic is very light and the speed limit is high (outside the towns), making for a motorcycle playground.  

Sardinia, Italy








After spending a couple of days enjoying the charms of Sardinia, we took another ferry over to the French island of Corsica.  Corsica is visually stunning, with geographic features that range from weather-worn limestone cliffs to jagged volcanic rock formations that look like they cooled off not that long ago.  The roads are twisty and dramatically scenic, but rough, with a lot more traffic than Sardinia.

Corsica, France










Corsica appears to be a very popular motorcycle touring destination.  We saw groups from all over Europe while we were there.  The GS seems to be the touring bike of choice, with the RT probably a distant second.  On a side note, our group had three  Vee-Strom 650s that never seemed to be lacking and their riders always complimentary.  They seem to be the up-and-coming touring bike.

After Corsica, we crossed back over to Italy, and spent a couple of days working our way back to Mestre.  The highlight for me on the return trip was the town of Pisa and the Duomo with its famous leaning bell tower.  The visual impact of the Duomo and its supporting structures is one of those things that makes you  say "wow!"  I am very glad we stopped there.

Pisa, Italy






The tour itself was well run and fun.  The food and accommodations were excellent, and the guides Dusan, Niko and Jasa were a lot of fun to ride with, but at the same time were appropriately serious.   This was our second trip with Adriatic Mototours and we would not hesitate to book with them again.

[UFO - Edit for front page image display.]

[Sport-Touring]

[Orson]

Looks like a fantastic trip  

I too was struck by how little traffic there was in Sardinia compared to the mainland   fantastic riding location  

[UFO]

Dan,

If you don't allow me to make small edits to your post I won't be able to promote it on the front page of the site.

Your choice.

[Mac]

Great report! Outstanding pics as well.
Thats a part of Italy I've not spent much time in and would like to go back. Esp on a bike.

[Dan C]

Dan,

If you don't allow me to make small edits to your post I won't be able to promote it on the front page of the site.

Your choice.

You can make some edits.  I'm okay with that.

[FJR-UK]

Nice trip! Like you, I couldn't wait to get out of Venice, but thought Florence was good fun.

Did you get to Volterra or San Gimignano? Those are impressive hilltop villages near Sienna.

[james_g]

My wife and I have done the moto tour of Italy but stayed south. Looks like we gotta make a trek up north.

Thanks for posting this, great stuff!

james

[Dan C]

Nice trip! Like you, I couldn't wait to get out of Venice, but thought Florence was good fun.

Did you get to Volterra or San Gimignano? Those are impressive hilltop villages near Sienna.

I think Venice has a hard time living up to expectations.

We did stop at Volterra and San Gimignano, and a bunch more.  There are a lot of beautiful walled cities in the area.

[FJR-UK]

We were in San Gimignano the first time I saw a "Slow Food" sign in a restaurant window.

They weren't kidding. But, we didn't have to be anywhere and the food was great!

If we want to see Volterra, we'll have to go again. We got there about 11 am and it was so foggy, you couldn't see across the main square. Riding through that fog was an adventure, too.

[Scoop]

Great pics, looks like it was a very rewarding trip.  When were you there?  My wife and I are headed to Florence tomorrow to catch the Mugello GP, then to Tuscany area for 9 days.  We're just going to wander, to many of the same places it looks like.

[Dan C]

We were in San Gimignano the first time I saw a "Slow Food" sign in a restaurant window.

They weren't kidding. But, we didn't have to be anywhere and the food was great!

I always have to adjust to the pace of meals when I am outside the U.S.  We tend to look at meals as a task to be completed and checked off the list.  

I worry that McDonald's will be looked upon as the cultural contribution that the United States gave the world.  I guess it could be worse.  We could be remembered for Denny's restaurants.  

[Dan C]

Great pics, looks like it was a very rewarding trip.  When were you there?  My wife and I are headed to Florence tomorrow to catch the Mugello GP, then to Tuscany area for 9 days.  We're just going to wander, to many of the same places it looks like.

Nice!  We were there from mid-April to the first week of May.  The weather threw a little bit of everything at us.  Be prepared!  

Siena would make a nice base of operations.  You can reach a lot of beautiful places from there.

[Scoop]

We just got back from Mugello, then our 9 days in Tuscany.  Stayed right in the middle, in a little village called Monterchi.  Had a magnificent time.  No riding,    Next time though.
What a place.  Each road better than the last one!