Italy!

I have a business trip to Parma next month, and as it would also be a good opportunity to call in on some clients on the way back through France I thought I may as well take the bike. Having never even been to Italy let alone ridden through it, any advice would be much appreciated!

Keep off the roads

Must say that driving through the mountains by Lake Garda was very interesting when encountering other vehicles.

Watching an ambulance on blues and twos in Verona being carved up and brake tested by the locals.

But hey enjoy the ride.

PO valley. Rather you than me.. But it depends on how much time you have, if you loop round and approach Parma from the south, the Apennines, its not so bad... but any other direction means riding in the Po valley. If its just a business trip i would suggest you get in and out as fast as possible, use the Autostrada. And be prepared for the heat.

Personally I think Italy.. away from the hills and mountains is a little hellish. Ive been as far south as Paestum, once. I have absolutely no intention of ever going south of The Alps again.

The romans invented arrow straight roads.. The Italians seem to think this was such a spiffing idea they stuck to the original plan.. wherever possible, though when i was last there, they had discovered that traffic islands was the best way to make a bad situation worse. Its amazing how many of these islands have tyre tracks criss-crossing them. or badly damaged perimeters.

Italy holds the record for the most fatalities on a single stretch of road that Ive seen with my own eyes... very dead scooter riders. I still occasionally have nightmares about it. Not to mention the donkey pizza. something else i try not to think about.

Paestum though.. all the above was made worth it for Paestum.

never been to Italy! Enjoy!

Just got back from southern Italy (regretably in a car) The roads are in a dreadful state with potholes that would swallow a car.

On some of the motorways there were holes as if a monster had taken a bite and a 100 foot drop to the valley below

. No obvious signs of repairs in progress in the next millenium!!

OK, this is sounding interesting then!

If I bike it I'll be taking the E25/A4 to Milan and then the E35/A1 to Parma. The road through the Alps looks stunning, so hopefully it'll compensate for what seems likely to be a less enjoyable experience further south!

Be warned, in Italy they drive on the right, ----------- and the left and on the pavement.

Not taken the bike, but I clearly remember driving in Palermo. It was something like modern ballet - highly intricate close-weaved choreography directed at an inexorable exploration of unexpected and novel moves - all done in cars.

Having just come back from Italy, I can safely say i won't be driving or riding there anytime soon. It was hard to spot a car without a dent in Rome! and their highway code is... well non-existent.

But i'm sure not all of Italy is the same.. have fun !