This tour, starting in mountainous regions and ending in the lagoon of Venezia, has been very enjoyable. We followed different cycle paths up to Turin and used the VENTO and “sinistra/destra Po” back to Venezia. Altogether about 1450 km of good cycling mainly on superb built cycling tracks. Sometimes we faced less favourable conditions, notably near Turin and along the west part of the planned VENTO, which was not finished until 2018.
2018-08-20; Exceptional good cycling. Along R1 and later the disused railway track over the saddle to Cortina. Beautiful Nature! Elevation +840m, however very easy to ride!
2018-08-21; Marvelous pedalling on different cyclepaths, perfect tour, just the last 12 km on street with moderate traffic. Again, cycling in beautiful nature.
2018-08-22; Surprisingly nice tour. We followed a mix of lanes, canals and cycle paths to the destination. Exceptional from Ponte della Prulla to Ciano del Montello.
2018-08-26; Good cycling to Trezzo sull'Adda, excellent riding along the river and later beside the canal to Crivella. Going north of Milan over Monza to Cortesse was favorable in order to avoid the traffic of Milan.
2018-08-27; I just wonder how different some regions can be, absolute outstanding nature, however a completely different network of roads no lanes and virtually no cycle infrastructure in Piedmont. Therefore riding mostly on roads.
2018-08-28; An unavoidable trip to Turin, partly nice cycling, although mainly on roads. Should have gone over Lamporo and on the north embankment of the river Po.
2018-08-30; Out of Turin on cycle tracks on the south side of the river down to Chivasso. Closed tracks, and partly lack of cycling infrastructure, however interesting navigation. VENTO wasn't completely built until 2018.
2018-08-31; Challenging tour with some surprises. Again the outlined VENTO was invisible, so we had a bit to improvise and with a bit of cross country riding and ignoring every “not entry, or dead end road” we had a good day.
2018-09-01; Rainy day, fine pedalling in appealing nature. Through the rain the navigation is difficult, my smart phones don’t like rain! A solution is urgently needed. The next day with the train to Mantova for rest and fix my broken tire.
2018-09-04; Preceding “Po sinistra” excellent cycling. For the section Cucchine to Porto Viro I have missed out the cycle paths over Adria. Outstanding half circle from Porto Viro to Rosalino.
Up to Chioggia along cycle tracks, without navigation hard to find. From there with the ferry to Pellestrina, further to Lido and finally over to Mestre. Really interesting cycling along the coast and isles. Venice is a no go area for cycling. Better stay on Lido and go ahead to Jesolo.
Riding the Drauradweg to Toblach and following Dolomites Railway through Cortina down to Pieve di Cadore is cycling in perfect surroundings. Later using Bi4 (see Cycleways in North-Italy) further to Vittorio Venetto, we had the benefit of stunning landscape and bright weather along this trip. The next six days we used a mix of local cycle paths, minor roads and on a few occasions main roads. One of the big advantages of using a bike came to the surface when we rode through the middle of the pictures Italian Cities like Verona, Bergamo, Bassano, not missing out a good coffee or glass of wine in the pedestrian zone.
dav
dav
dav
Santhia – Torino – Venezia
The part from Santhia to Torino was a bit below my expectation, in particular from Chivasso to Turin I recommend to use the south side of the river Po. From Torino to Venezia was planned to follow the river Po, on the new, 2018 partly still in construction, VENTO. Down to Monferato the cycleway VENTO, on the south side, is closed or none exist. From Pavia the conditions improved and appart from a few stretches on streets we had an excellent tripp until Chioggia. Chioggia to Venice is excellent riding over the isle Pellestrina and Lido, however you are dependent on ferries. Be careful planning a visit to Venice with bicycles! Up the train station “Santa Lucia ” it is prohibited to use, push or carry bicycles! Furthermore there is no storage place for cycles in or near the train station.
