Italy's Cruiser Bike Tours offers half day, relaxed guided tours for 39 euros and half day self-guided bike rentals (including helmet, MP3 player with an audio guide, and a map) for 39 euros per person.
Interested in just doing your own thing? Cruiser Bike Tours will rent you a cruiser for an hour (4 euros), five hours for 10 euros, and all day for 15 euros. For more information on bicycle rentals click here.
Showing posts with label Rome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rome. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Resources for Accommodations on your Italy Bicycle Tour
The top image is of a farm house accommodation in Tuscany (an "agriturismo") while the bottom image shows bungalows in a campground near Rome.
If you are bicycling by yourself or if you are camping you can often "wing it" in finding a place to sleep at night. But as we've explained elsewhere, "when you are organizing a ride and you have one or ten other people, you need answers to questions like:
1) How long is today's ride?
2) How high is that mountain pass (or, from the engineer, "what's the total vertical today?")
3) Where are we sleeping tonight?
4) Where's the best lunch stop today?
. . . and on and on and on."
So here are a few resources for finding that lodging in advance. And even if you don't book in advance (since many people prefer not to be locked into a specific destination) you can at least get an idea of what is available.
Italian Hotel Directories:
ENIT - the Italian Government Tourist Board has the most comprehensive data base of Italian hotels. Theoretically, it is comprehensive, ranking all hotels in Italy by star class and location. It helps to know your Italian geography a bit (especially the Regional, Provincial and Communal - township - hierarchy). Using this you can find a hotel almost anywhere in Italy. And, there's an English version!
Here is an example in finding a hotel in or around Palermo, Sicily:
Type Palermo into the "Town" field and click "search."
You'll find a pretty blank screen that offers you 70 hotels in Palermo and "hotels in the municipality of Palermo." Click on the "70 hotels in Palermo" text and you'll find a list of those hotels and a further list of 40 municipalities. Both lists are very useful in finding lodging in the Palermo region. Click here to see that page.
Bicycle Friendly Hotels, Farms Lodging, and Pensions in Italy
"Albergabici" is a portal that gathers hotels, pensions, farms (agriturismi), hostels and a few campgrounds that claim to be friendly to cyclists. It is sorted by Region, then province and town. The lodging lists can then be sorted by type of lodging (4 star hotel, bed and breakfast, agriturismi, etc.)
Here's the page for Palermo.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Bikes on Trains in Europe with the Example of Italy
There are normally two occasions when you might need to take your bike on the train:
1) You've just arrived at the airport and need to get to your first hotel or other lodging;
2) You're out on the road with your bike and you need to cover some ground quickly. (Alternatively, you’ve finished your tour, arrived in Sicily and need to jump on the train to return to Rome, for example).
Regulations vary from country to country and train to train but we'll talk about bikes on Italian trains in this post. Later we'll send you to resources in other countries.
Italian trains are pretty bike friendly after years of lobbying by the Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta.
Let’s say you are headed from the Rome airport to your rental villa in Umbria or Tuscany. If your bike is in a box or bag you can take it on most trains as accompanied baggage. It’s just a question as to whether or not there is baggage
in your train car. (Most Italian trains do NOT have separate luggage cars). Fast trains, tagged ES*, ES* Fast, AV e AV Fast, in the train scheudule normally do not allow large packages such as a bike in a box (ES means EuroStar, the long-distance fast trains).
Getting your bike on the train is the least of your problems. Think, instead, about the logistics in moving your bike in a bike case or box, your luggage, and your family or traveling companions. In Rome you first have to get from luggage claim to the metro train to get into Rome, then change metros to get to the train station, then to your train. Once you arrive at destination you need to get from the local train station to your villa or rental apartment. A better option might be to rent a van or even hire a van to shuttle you to your destination.
So you’re out on the road, pedaling furiously but need to jump ahead a couple hundred kilometers. Or, you want to pedal from Venice to Florence but the only bike rental supplier is near Bologna (LINK). So pick up your rental bike near Bologna, take the train to Venice, do your bike tour from Venice to Florence, then catch the train back from Florence to Bologna with your bike and drop it off at the rental supplier.
MOST local and regional Italian trains will allow you to just wheel your bike aboard. You need a ticket and your bike needs a 3.50 euro ticket. (Be sure to validate that ticket before you board).
This is actually a great way to travel throughout Europe as long as there aren't too many travelers. Up to four bikes with panniers can usually fit on a train pretty easily. A larger group is much more difficult.
For more information on bikes on trains in Italy and Europe here are a few resources:
TrenItalia, the old Ferrovie dello Stato web site has a pretty good English explanation here.
The Italian train schedule online is actually very good and indicates which trains take bikes with a small bicycle icon and note: "Bicycle transportation service."
Other good resources in Italy are the Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta (FIAB)
Their English web site is a little outdated but may be useful.
For information about bikes on trains in other European countries start with the European Cycling Federation.
1) You've just arrived at the airport and need to get to your first hotel or other lodging;
2) You're out on the road with your bike and you need to cover some ground quickly. (Alternatively, you’ve finished your tour, arrived in Sicily and need to jump on the train to return to Rome, for example).
Regulations vary from country to country and train to train but we'll talk about bikes on Italian trains in this post. Later we'll send you to resources in other countries.
Italian trains are pretty bike friendly after years of lobbying by the Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta.
Getting your Bike from the Airport by Train
Let’s say you are headed from the Rome airport to your rental villa in Umbria or Tuscany. If your bike is in a box or bag you can take it on most trains as accompanied baggage. It’s just a question as to whether or not there is baggage
in your train car. (Most Italian trains do NOT have separate luggage cars). Fast trains, tagged ES*, ES* Fast, AV e AV Fast, in the train scheudule normally do not allow large packages such as a bike in a box (ES means EuroStar, the long-distance fast trains).
Getting your bike on the train is the least of your problems. Think, instead, about the logistics in moving your bike in a bike case or box, your luggage, and your family or traveling companions. In Rome you first have to get from luggage claim to the metro train to get into Rome, then change metros to get to the train station, then to your train. Once you arrive at destination you need to get from the local train station to your villa or rental apartment. A better option might be to rent a van or even hire a van to shuttle you to your destination.
Taking your Bike on the Train without a Box or Case
So you’re out on the road, pedaling furiously but need to jump ahead a couple hundred kilometers. Or, you want to pedal from Venice to Florence but the only bike rental supplier is near Bologna (LINK). So pick up your rental bike near Bologna, take the train to Venice, do your bike tour from Venice to Florence, then catch the train back from Florence to Bologna with your bike and drop it off at the rental supplier.
MOST local and regional Italian trains will allow you to just wheel your bike aboard. You need a ticket and your bike needs a 3.50 euro ticket. (Be sure to validate that ticket before you board).
This is actually a great way to travel throughout Europe as long as there aren't too many travelers. Up to four bikes with panniers can usually fit on a train pretty easily. A larger group is much more difficult.
For more information on bikes on trains in Italy and Europe here are a few resources:
TrenItalia, the old Ferrovie dello Stato web site has a pretty good English explanation here.
The Italian train schedule online is actually very good and indicates which trains take bikes with a small bicycle icon and note: "Bicycle transportation service."
Other good resources in Italy are the Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta (FIAB)
Their English web site is a little outdated but may be useful.
For information about bikes on trains in other European countries start with the European Cycling Federation.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Our Single Most Important Piece of Advice: Begin Planning NOW!
If you are experienced at bicycle touring you know that planning ahead, especially for an overseas trip, is critical.
I'll never forget in 2001 when we were in Italy for the summer and were headed to Ireland to develop a new escorted bike tour. We flew into Shannon Airport and had been in touch with a bike shop in Ennis to rent bikes. I had been talking with this fellow for two weeks and was satisfied that he could provide good quality bikes for our ride.
We arrived in Ennis with panniers, as usual, and a duffel bag with shoes, helmets, locks, tools, and so on. When we got on our bikes the duffel would be strapped astride the panniers to collect the daily flotsam and jetsam you tend to collect: jackets, lunch, maps, and on.
We shuttled to our hotel, spent the night and headed off to the bike shop. "Oh that's right," says he. "You were coming today, now weren't you?" The bikes weren't ready. "Come back after lunch," says he. After lunch, the bikes weren't ready. We finally got them about 5 p.m. and lost an entire day of riding.
The moral, of course, is: make sure you can depend on your rental suppplier OR make sure to bring your own bikes. But if you bring your own bikes you need to:
1) Know where you are arriving and how you'll get to your inbound base (by train? by car? van? or will you pedal?)
2) If you pedal, where will you leave your cases or bike boxes?
3) And if you are pedaling, how's the route from the airport? Is it doable?
In short, think ALL of this through before you get on the airplane.
One last story: We had an acquaintance here in Colorado who had found three weeks to fly to Rome and do some cycling in October one year. We talked at length about his plans. He would: fly to Rome with his own bike, begin pedaling right at Leonardo da Vinci Airport, head north, and then maybe take the train back to fly home.
His bike didn't arrive on his flight. And it didn't arrive the next day. He waited four days for his bike to arrive and he was so paranoid that it might come in and he wouldn't connect with it that he spent a bundle of money staying in a hotel near the airport shuttling back and forth twice a day to see if it arrived.
He was so demoralized with having spent so much money in the hotel and for having missed out on four days of cycling that he changed his ticket and came home on day 5!
I'll never forget in 2001 when we were in Italy for the summer and were headed to Ireland to develop a new escorted bike tour. We flew into Shannon Airport and had been in touch with a bike shop in Ennis to rent bikes. I had been talking with this fellow for two weeks and was satisfied that he could provide good quality bikes for our ride.
We arrived in Ennis with panniers, as usual, and a duffel bag with shoes, helmets, locks, tools, and so on. When we got on our bikes the duffel would be strapped astride the panniers to collect the daily flotsam and jetsam you tend to collect: jackets, lunch, maps, and on.
We shuttled to our hotel, spent the night and headed off to the bike shop. "Oh that's right," says he. "You were coming today, now weren't you?" The bikes weren't ready. "Come back after lunch," says he. After lunch, the bikes weren't ready. We finally got them about 5 p.m. and lost an entire day of riding.
The moral, of course, is: make sure you can depend on your rental suppplier OR make sure to bring your own bikes. But if you bring your own bikes you need to:
1) Know where you are arriving and how you'll get to your inbound base (by train? by car? van? or will you pedal?)
2) If you pedal, where will you leave your cases or bike boxes?
3) And if you are pedaling, how's the route from the airport? Is it doable?
In short, think ALL of this through before you get on the airplane.
One last story: We had an acquaintance here in Colorado who had found three weeks to fly to Rome and do some cycling in October one year. We talked at length about his plans. He would: fly to Rome with his own bike, begin pedaling right at Leonardo da Vinci Airport, head north, and then maybe take the train back to fly home.
His bike didn't arrive on his flight. And it didn't arrive the next day. He waited four days for his bike to arrive and he was so paranoid that it might come in and he wouldn't connect with it that he spent a bundle of money staying in a hotel near the airport shuttling back and forth twice a day to see if it arrived.
He was so demoralized with having spent so much money in the hotel and for having missed out on four days of cycling that he changed his ticket and came home on day 5!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Why this blog
We know you. You would like to take a European bicycle tour without the huge cost of an escorted tour. You'd like to:
- design your own route;
- find your own lodging;
- use your own bike.
Problem is:
- you're not familiar with the territory;
- you'd like suggestions on lodging;
- taking your bike can be a real pain.
So you've found us and we can help.
We can:
- help you plan your route because we know the territory (or can find someone who does);
- we know the hotels, B&Bs, and agritourist lodgings;
- tell you where to find rental bikes (all types of bikes from the lightest and fastest to the most sophisticated mountain bikes to simple, quality touring bikes to take you down the road.)
For most of the above services you should visit www.BikeRentalsPlus.com.
But check with us regularly or sign up for our e-mail newsletter to get all the latest hints and comments on bicycle touring.
On this blog you'll find:
1) Comments and thoughts from people who've already done it themselves.
2) Ideas on where to rent a bike for a quick and easy day tour or half day tour on your own.
3) Suggestions for tour operators who offer escorted day or half-day tours in wonderful places like Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Florence and the Chianti Hills.
And a lot more! So let's get mowing, moving, pedaling. . . . whatever!
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