“Ride along Italy's north-west best bikers roads”
12 Day Cinque Terre and Piedmont's Vineyards - Premium PRIVATE Guided Motorcycle Tour in Italy
Milan, Lombardy, Italy
A Sumptuous Motorcycle Tour in Italy
Only private groups. This sumptuous tour amid the Savoia family palaces with their enchanting gardens, the delightful Langhe and Roero (first rural UNESCO World Heritage Site) vineyard hills, some exhilarating stretches of the highest mountains, the extraordinary spectacle of mountain-sides plummeting to the sea, and the many colorful little harbors all along the enchanting seaside. This tour will give you a once in a lifetime experience!
Key information
- This tour is available only as a private, guided, motorcycle holiday. No public group tour. No self-guided tour. The price is merely indicative and applies to a private group of minimum 5 people. Specific quotations will be issued in accordance with the size and requirements of each private group.
- Terrain: asphalt
- Bike: personal or rental bike
- Mileage: 1,600 kilometers / 995 miles
- Daily rides: 140 - 240 kilometers / 90 - 150 miles
- Meals: 11 breakfasts, 4 lunches, and 7 dinners
Highlights
- Starts and ends in Milan
- Strolling around Genoa and its historic city center
- Go to the seat of the Italian royal family, the house of Savoy
- Ride through a national park and onto the historic seaside town of Rapallo
- Pay a visit Palazzo Rosso and emerge in the Langhe and Roero
- Visit Turin and its important Egyptian museum
- Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
- 11 nights' accommodation
Skill level
- Advanced
9 days with instruction in English
The organizer also speaks: French
Group size: Maximum of 14 participants
Accommodation
Your accommodation will be in an en-suite room with buffet breakfast in hand-picked, classy, and charming first-class hotels (4 stars) that will satisfy even the most demanding guests, for it is emphasized to all the aspects that go into making a luxury holiday.
Wherever possible, Italy on Motorbike will choose high-rated hotels with top facilities and excellent food in historic and scenic settings, often in exquisitely beautiful villages offering inviting backdrops for a romantic dinner or evening walk.
Program
This is the ideal tour for those who want a short but significant synthesis of the most typical European, elegant, and sumptuous Italy, its history and its population, which is reverberated in the cuisines that you will have the opportunity to taste. Riding with Italy on Motorbike along the most beloved roads by Ligurian and Piedmontese motorcyclists, you will discover an unknown though really amazing territory, homeland to the most sophisticated Italian cooking (haute cuisine) and to the most prestigious wines in Italy.
In harmony with Italy on Motorbike’s touring philosophy, you will visit the magnificent Italian Northwest drinking in its history through a series of enriching tours brimful with motorcycling pleasure, sweeping along superb roads where visual verve and great riding go hand in hand. These are enchanting landscapes teeming with castles, woods, and lakes, an Alpine wonderland with infinite vineyards and charming sea sceneries.
Day 1: Meeting in Milan (Milano)
You meet up in the afternoon at your hotel in Milan and pick up the rental bikes. You all meet up before dinner and get to know each other through a welcome aperitif and a short but important briefing and it is time to explain a few simple rules for organizing and synchronizing things thus ensuring that everyone has a safe holiday that is unforgettable for all the right reasons.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Milan. Dinner is included.
Day 2: Milan to Rapallo, 220 kilometers / 137 miles
You set off for Liguria, stopping first in Pavia to look around its famous Charterhouse. Then, like the good bikers, you take the least direct and most scenic route to a splendid mountain pass in the Apennines, through a national park and onto the historic seaside town of Rapallo. That will be your base for two nights, just down the coast from picturesque Portofino, a destination beloved by the Italian and international jet set.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Rapallo. Breakfast and dinner are included meals.
Day 3: Rapallo, 200 kilometers / 125 miles
You spend all day roaming the fabulous Cinque Terre National Park. With its five colorful villages cascading down to the water’s edge in a riot of pastels, the Cinque Terre deserves its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It will be focused on the southern part of this enchanting area, along with Porto Venere, taking in the unmissable seafront walk known as the Via dell’Amore (if it reopens in time). Lunch by the sea is included and you’re free to find your own place later for dinner.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Rapallo. Breakfast and lunch are included.
Day 4: Rapallo to Acqui Terme, 140 kilometers / 87 miles
You press on to Genoa and its historic city center, visiting Palazzo Rosso before heading for the hills on the road into Piedmont. You emerge in the Langhe and Roero, the first rural area to attain UNESCO World Heritage status, with its marvelous vineyards and castles. Despite being one of Italy’s most beautiful and interesting areas, it is still relatively undiscovered so enjoy it while you can.
This land of the Savoy, Italy’s last ruling royal house, includes the bulk of Piedmont’s renaissance castles and larger border fortresses. There’s no better place to savor the finest food and wine, for this is home to Italy’s most prestigious wines, from Barolo and Nebbiolo to Barbaresco and Barbera d’Asti. Piedmont is a joy not just for the eyes but also for the palate, with an endless variety of gourmet delicacies and slow-food delights ready to seduce your senses.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Acqui Terme. Breakfast and dinner are included.
Day 5: Acqui Terme to Alba, 160 kilometers / 100 miles
Today is all about exploring the beauty and history of the Langhe and Roero, with visits to the area’s most important centers in Barolo, La Morra, and Grinzane Cavour. Tasty lunch in some delightful wine village is included, and you are free to explore the excellent Piedmont cuisine for dinner in the Italian white truffle capital, Alba.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Alba. Breakfast and lunch are included.
Day 6: Alba to Turin, 165 kilometers / 103 miles
After a last look at the Langhe, you focus on another delightful slice of Piedmont, the Turin area. It is brimming with heritage from its prestigious past as the seat of the Italian royal family, the house of Savoy, and the first capital of Italy, which has been a unified country for just little more than 150 years. It would be remiss not to explore some of the many fine castles, so you’ll be visiting Stupinigi and the Royal Basilica of Superga.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Turin. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
Day 7: Rest day in Turin, 0 kilometer
Today, the bikes get a well-earned rest and so do you. It’s time to slow down and savor the delights of Piedmont with its fine food, wonderful wines, and plenty more. Here are some ideas for what to do:
- Visit Turin and its important Egyptian museum (second only to Cairo’s). The magnificent Parco del Valentino with its castle is also a lovely spot, while the National Automobile Museum, the Mole Antonelliana, and the elegant city center are also not to be missed.
- Take a chauffeur-driven minibus tour of the wineries to taste the wines, cheese, charcuterie, hazelnuts, and chocolate, to name just a few of Piedmont’s superb slow-food products.
- Ease your way into a gourmet lunch in a Michelin-starred restaurant or take a half-day cooking course where you get to eat your own work.
- Since you’re in Italy’s finest white-truffle area, grab the chance to go on a guided truffle hunt in the woods near Alba, in a quest for the most sublimely fragrant underground delicacy that nature has to offer.
The team is on hand to organize your day. Many of the proposed activities need advance booking.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Turin. Breakfast is included. No main meal is included to leave you completely bound-free on this rest day.
Day 8: Turin to Courmayeur, 240 kilometers / 150 miles
You needed a day’s rest to be ready for this. For today has the “wow” factor in spades, as you attempt the high Alps on the border between France and Italy. You climb the Piedmont uplands and speed into French Savoie with its lakes and mountain passes, including the perfect Little San Bernardo Pass and then the cherry on the top, the highest peak in Europe, the majestic Mont Blanc passes by as you head for the popular ski resort of Courmayeur in Valle d’Aosta.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Courmayeur. Breakfast and dinner are included.
Day 9: Courmayeur to Biella, 150 kilometers / 94 miles
After the magnificent landscapes rolling and swaying with vineyards, the enchanting little old towns with their castles, regal Turin and all the Savoy palaces, and the imposing high mountains (as much a joy in summer as in winter), you might think that’s all the Northwest has to offer, but no, there are plenty more gems, like Fort Bard, Fenis Castle, and Aosta, a delightful border town founded by the Romans in 25 BC. Your forays for the day conclude near Biella, where you stop for the night.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Biella. Breakfast and dinner are included.
Day 10: Biella to Lake Maggiore, 150 kilometers / 94 miles
The deliciously sinuous roads of the Biella area bring you in good spirits to the Sacred Mountain of Varallo (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), before you roll down into town for lunch. A local specialty awaits, a mouthwatering Milanese cutlet, wiener schnitzel, or, as they call it here, an “elephant’s ear” (that gives you an idea of the size). You then meander up hill and down dale amid the breathtaking views of Lakes Orta and Maggiore. Finally, you wind onto the banks of Lake Maggiore, to rest for the night. Dine wherever you please.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel on Lake Maggiore. Breakfast and lunch are included.
Day 11: Lake Maggiore to Milan, 180 kilometers
After passing Lake Orta and crossing Lake Maggiore, you have one last mouthful of bendy roads to get your teeth into. You hop into Switzerland, to Lake Lugano, then return to Italy and splendid Lake Como, whirring past its amazing array of Belle Epoque lakeside villas. Finally, you ride on for another 60 kilometers to reach Milan and check into your original hotel. After taking the hire bikes back, a lavish dinner provides a fitting end to your adventure together.
Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Milan. Breakfast and dinner are included.
Day 12: Farewells in Milan
You say your goodbye after breakfast, leaving free to go home or explore further the magic of Italy on your own. There are plenty of opportunities to continue your trip that Italy on Motorbike can help you planning.
Breakfast is included.
Notes
- On request, vast choices of motorbikes for hire.
- To hire a bike, you shall hold a valid driver’s license for motorcycles over 400cc and be at least 21 years old (25 for some models).
- Riders from non-Schengen countries are usually not allowed to ride in Europe only with their national driver’s license and therefore need to have an International Driver’s Licence issued by the local authorities.
Included staff
To ensure the utmost attention to each traveler, as well as the safety of the group, the tour is fully escorted. Specifically, the personnel traveling with the group is:
- the tour leader on his own motorcycle, opening the motorcycle line.
- luggage van with a chauffeur from 8 participants.
Difficulty: Experienced rider
- can ride for 5-6 hours
- extensive riding experience
- assistance on demand (if required)
- experienced with riding a variety of motorcycles
- comfortable with any terrain and weather conditions
Location
In Piedmont, there are late Italian kingdom castles and villas, the holy mountains spirituality, and the ancient burgs of the Barolo hills. The ex-capital city Turin (Torino) and fascinating Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore are also there, and some days of really challenging riding on the highest passes and deepest canyons of the Alps along the fortified border, with various pleasant digressions in France are also there.
In Liguria, there are the delightful coastal landscapes that characterize this fine territory, the enchanting Cinque Terre National Park with its colorful old villages and Portofino.
At just over 150 years old, modern Italy is a young nation. Unlike many other countries that have been unified for a long time, it is a multi-faceted land made up of often richly disparate regions. This variety is at the heart of its charm, indeed, there are as many Italies to discover as there are Italian regions, if not more. Piedmont, for example, is a magnificent, regal, and impressive land of unbounded appeal for the visitor, first of all, its grand food and wine culture.
Its capital city, Turin, founded by the Romans as Julia Augusta Taurinorum, vaunts over two millennia of history, it was unified in Italy’s first capital and, before that, the place where the seeds of the Italian kingdom were sown. To embellish their dynasty, the House of Savoy had a string of majestic edifices built there from the 13th century onward. They are of such splendor as to make the most famous palaces of the European courts seem almost spartan.
Piedmont has lovingly preserved not only the Savoy palaces but also their summer residences, hunting lodges, and Alpine border fortifications. It is an immense collection of architectural gems crowned with UNESCO World Heritage status. The most notable include the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Carignano, Valentino Castle, Villa della Regina (the queen’s villa), the Royal Palace of Venaria, Mandria park and the Borgo Castello, Rivoli Castle, the royal hunting lodge at Stupinigi, Moncalieri Castle, the Royal Castle of Racconigi, Pollenzo Castle, Agliè Castle, Govone Castle, and Valcasotto Castle.
As you can see, Turin and Piedmont are well worth a visit or several but Piedmont is also a synonym for fine wine. From the high mountains, you drop down among the Monferrato and Langhe hills, liberally dotted with farming villages steeped in history and wine culture, home to such world-renowned tipples as Barolo, Barbaresco, and Nebbiolo.
Piedmont has an impressive 45 DOC and 9 DOCG wines plus countless DOP (protected designation of origin) and PAT (traditional regional Italian food) products, with some dreamy meats and cheeses, and the cuisine will be unforgettable, too. Although it’s hard not to eat well wherever you happen to be in Italy, Piedmont food merits a special mention.
Enriched by the cultural and historical cross-fertilization that its proximity to France has always fostered, Piedmont is a hotbed of Italian haute cuisine. No surprises there, for this is a land of great wines, traditional old cheeses, sublime (Alba) truffles and mushrooms, home to events like Slow Food, the Salone del Gusto, and Cheese in the town of Bra.
In Piedmont, the contrast between traditional local cooking and Italian haute cuisine is at its keenest. As regards, Liguria, a small coastal strip in the most western part of the country, is a land of charming seaside villages, of amazing gulfs, of pretty and most authentic little harbors, of delightful natural panoramas as charming and glamorous as the French Riviera which it is the worthy Italian extension of, which the UNESCO World Heritage Site Cinque Terre is probably the finest expression.
Food
During this tour, you will be provided with 11 buffet breakfasts, 4 super lunches in typical restaurants, and 7 super dinners at hotels or external restaurant at walking distance.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
What's included
- Tour leader on his own motorbike
- Assistance, medical, and luggage insurance
- Luggage van (for 8 people or more)
- 11 nights’ accommodation in classy and charming 4-star hotels
- 11 buffet breakfasts
- 4 super lunches in typical restaurants
- 7 super dinners at hotels or external restaurant at walking distance
- Registration fee, branded T-shirt, and pictures of the tour
- Typical Italian welcome aperitif
What's not included
- Motorcycle rental (available on request)
- Fuel
- Entrance tickets to any site (all visits are optional)
- Any parking fee or toll on the road
- Airport transfers (available on request)
- Meals unless specifically mentioned
- Drinks
- Extras in hotels and room upgrade (available on request)
How to get there
Recommended Airports
MXP
Milan–Malpensa Airport
40 km
Transfer not provided
LIN
Linate Airport
7 km
Transfer not provided
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Linate Airport (LIN) or Milan–Malpensa Airport (MXP). Private airport transport via NCC can be organized upon request for the additional cost.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 61% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through Tripaneer.com. All major credit cards supported.
38670
Similar Holidays you might like
Why choose Tripaneer.com
Largest Selection
Friendly Customer Service
Offers for every budget
Best Price