August in Italy

[Malki]

Hi folks
Heading off on a ten country tour in the first 15 days in August 2006, planning on spending a good few days in northern Italy, near the lakes and Pisa. Does anybody have experience of accomodation in this area, must see roads Etc?

I do realise that it can be very busy in August, but not wanting to pre-book anything, because we won't even know what country we will be in on any given day never mind a town.

Any thoughts, or any previous experience of any biker friendly places, from B&B to 4 star hotels would be greatly appreciatated. Thanks in advance.

(Taking in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monacco, France, Spain, Andorra, Luxembourg, Belgium....not to mention England and Scotland. Well thats the plan anyway :D )

[kacz00]

There is a chain of hotels all across Europe called Ibis. Not necessarily fancy but clean, comfortable and relatively inexpensive ...similar to Hampton Inn. The really nice thing about the chain is the fact that they will call and reserve your next night's stay at your next destination. When my wife and I took our bike over there we stayed at Ibis almost exclusively. We never had any real success with the B&B's. Hope this helps. Sounds like a great trip. If you get into Switzerland, check out a little town called Zermatt(train only, no vehicles) where you'll the see the Materhorn. From there you can cross the Alps into Germany through Furka Pass ( this road is not for the faint of heart...there are no guardrails as the road winds through the mountains) or use the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Have fun...wish I were going.

[simon]

Hi Malki,

A friend and I are going on a trip down to Pisa in June (he's got family there)
We're going to take in the milau bridge and the Pont du Gard as well as Monaco.
We'll keep our eyes out for good accomodation for you if you like.

Simon

[Malki]

@ kacz00 - thanks for the heads up on Ibis, just reading about them now.

@ Simon - I'm hoping to take in the bridge as well, I think its a must see thingy...but not so sure how good the photo opportunities are, I hear you can't stop anywhere near or on it to take pics. Appreciate if you come up with any info on Hotels or any small private accomodation, don't bust a gut tho, I'm sure we will find something, even if we have to start looking a bit earlier in the day.
We have a thing about hairdryers, I won't allow her to carry one on the bike, so she insists on hotels...not sure if thats a fair trade..lol :think:

[Gianluigi]

Hi Gentlemen,

I just subscribed your nice web site and I'm surfing your forum.

If you want to come to italy, please vist our KLT web site www.kog.it and consider us at your disposal.

[Malki]

Thanks Gianluigi, I for one will take you up on your offer. Nice website you guys have, will need to brush up on my Italian and check back often.