A smooth crossing thank goodness (the ferry looked pretty rough to me) and onto the quay in Bari before the dock gates were open. Well it is Italy and didn’t we know it once we were allowed out of the dock. The traffic was manic and totally unpredictable if on two wheels. We were glad to get out of the city and head onto the quieter roads as we travelled south. Although this is supposed to be the poorer part of Italy we understand it is a popular area for holidaymakers but we are unable to comment on that because every where connected with tourism was closed. We found a campsite in a holiday resort on the coast which the owner was getting ready to close for the season. There was one camper van there (because it had broken down) and us. Another change of plan and we headed in land to some beautiful country. The new Autostada A3-E45 which is the main route from Naples to the toe of Italy is quite stunning as it crosses the Sila Mountain Ranges by a series of towering yet elegant bridges and tunnels; the road looks as if it is flying among the mountains. The old main road is the S19 and this is the one we took. Fantastic as it climbs in and out of valleys and around mountains connecting all the towns in the region. This was like going back fifty years. That night we stayed in the mountains above Cosenza in a little farmhouse about 2Km off the road. It turned out to be an ‘Agritourism’ establishment which is a scheme to encourage farmers to open restaurants and accommodation as a further outlet for their produce. They are very individual, family run and excellent value for money. We stayed in another two during the holiday and would strongly recommend them to anyone in this part of the world. Do not think of them as an English Farmhouse B&B. This first one we stayed at had 30 people in the restaurant that night.
  Matera, Italy In the Sila mountains, Italy
We worked our way on down to the toe of Italy, lovely country side easy to explore off the beaten track and of course wonderful food and wine. We crossed on the ferry from Villa San Giovani to Messina in Sicily; just roll up and pay 9 Euros for a bike, with a ferry every 25 minutes; it really was that easy once we found the entrance to the ferry.
Sicily is fascinating; because of its strategic position in the Mediterranean there are so many influences that have shaped its history. The scenery is also stunning and the eastern side of the island is of course dominated by Mount Etna. Bearing in mind that this is an island and therefore you are never far from sea level Mount Etna at over 3300 meters high is a major lump that dominates the landscape. The fact that it’s an active volcano adds to the aura. We did the tourist thing and went up Etna as far as you can which is about 300 m from the top. There are active craters at this level but all they were producing during our stay in Sicily was steam. We were glad of our motorcycle kit on the top of Etna, 5O C and blowing a gale but there were still tourists up there in shorts and tee shirts, English of course.
Ascending Mt Etna, Sicily Mt Etna, Sicily
The Roman and Greek influences are there to see and the Villa Romana de Casales with its many mosaic floors and the Valley of Temples at Agrigento are both good sites to get a feel for these periods in the country’s history. The roads are good, the traffic light, the food and wine the best of the holiday. The temperature approaching the end of September is mid to high twenties; all round a pretty good place to motorcycle in.
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily
We gradually worked our way round to Palermo where the traffic is a bit manic but we found the port and booked ourselves onto that nights ferry to Genoa in northern Italy. We had a few hours to kill as boarding for the ferry was not till 8 pm so we wandered towards town. Just outside the port gates was a motorcycle shop. Noeline had earlier in the holiday snapped one of the locating lugs on her AGV helmet visor so in we went to see what could be done. First problem was that no one could speak English and our limited Italian went nowhere explaining what we needed. Much sign language and demonstration followed and after the initial disappointment that they were not going to sell a new helmet they got the message and searched all their stock looking for the correct visor. No luck so the boss man gets on the phone and locates one somewhere then despatches his salesman on a bike and 45 minutes later he turns up with a genuine AGV visor which he insists Noeline tries to fit. It fits (after a bit of cussing) and the cost is 53 euros (less than what we can get one for in the UK). That’s service, two and a half hours work with a couple who don’t speak the language and all for a low cost accessory. If you are in Palermo visit New Motors on Via Michele Miraglia, they are great guys.
New visor at last, Palermo, Sicily
The boat trip back to Genoa is 20 hours but very comfortable on the Grimaldi ferry and is a nice rest before our final dash home. We landed in Genoa at 6pm on a Friday night and are off the boat about 6.30pm. Genoa is hell at this time, we find the Autostrada entry and think we have cracked it, no such luck as it’s even more manic on the motorway and it’s just happening faster. We miss the turn onto the A10-E80 going west and have to exit at the next turn off where we are lucky that there is a long single carriage way slip road that allows us to perform a U turn and retrace our steps to pick up the A10 heading West. Its about 20Km before the traffic begins to thin out and the accidents stop happening. Its dark now but we decide to keep going to make France that night and reckon the Motorway down the coast past San Remo and Monte Carlo should be pretty quiet this time of night. A call to the IBIS hotel in Antibes books us a guaranteed room with the advantage they stay open 24 hours a day and you can get something to eat and drink 24 hours a day as well. The run as we suspected was fine the only problem was the 120 mph Ferraris that suddenly appear out of the darkness from nowhere. Bit of trouble finding the IBIS but by 11pm we are in the bar refreshing the bodies and discussing the last leg of our holiday. Back in France; it feels like we are on the way home.
Our reason for coming this way home was to take in the Gorges de Verdon, the French equivalent of the Grand Canyon. A good early start and we soon pick up the N85 the famous Route Napoleon. This is truly an impressive motorcycling road climbing up through the hills in great seeping curves; wonderful stuff. Too soon we have to turn off to reach the Gorges which you approach by relatively minor roads. Suddenly you are there and it is not disappointing. It must get a bit crowded at peak times but although this is a Saturday its OK. You can travel around the north or south lip and there are strategically placed stopping and viewing points at frequent intervals. It’s stunning and quite impossible to capture on film, well not from the top anyway; perhaps the ant sized people we can see at the bottom of the gorge have a more dramatic view. We spend a few hours cruising around the southern lip before striking north west to Valence for the night. The road to Valence through the western end of the French Alps just reminded us why France is such a wonderful place to motorcycle in, excellent and interesting roads and with little traffic.
 Gorge du Verdon, France
(I think this is also the place where Clarkson raced
two wirey climbers in an Audi RS4 on Top Gear - Neil)
Next morning it’s raining, bugger we must be getting near home again. A look at the weather forecast indicates a major front spreading through France with rain forecast for the next few days. A change of plan, instead of a lazy two day ride up through France we decide to make a dash for it and get a train through the Tunnel that night. It means Motorway all day but that will be a new experience for us, a chance to see how the bikes and us cope with the need to eat miles. We are on the road for 9am and apart from some light drizzle outrun the rain and reach Calais Tunnel Port just after 6pm. It’s been 535 miles, far more than we have ever done in one day before; an interesting experience but not one to do too often on a holiday. If we do not have to wait too long for a train and allowing for the hour we gain travelling back to England we should be home around 9pm with just under 700 miles under our belt for the day. No such luck; we join the ‘buy a ticket queue’, there are only four cars in front of us but a Tunnel Lady informs us that all trains till 2.30 Monday morning are full and we can’t even buy a ticket till midnight. “Go away and come back later”. We retire to a nearby hotel with view to getting something to eat when Noeline has a flash of inspiration. She’s noticed that people with booking numbers are going through the automatic barriers OK. A quick call to my son in the UK and a request to get on the internet and see the earliest train he can book us on. Five minutes later he’s back on the phone. He can get us the 12.30 (just after midnight) train but it will be £98 for each bike. If we chose to go at 10.00am next morning it will be £24 each. No contest, we book in the hotel and enjoy a good meal to celebrate the final night of our holiday.
Next morning the forecast rain is falling as we splash our way to the Tunnel. Not much traffic about and the self check-in machine offers us an earlier train. Ten cars and two motorbikes (us) is the trainload, no wonder it was only £24. Back in Folkestone it’s still raining so we decide to just head for home, M25, M3 and A303. It stops raining by Farnborough and we pass Stonehenge in glorious sunshine before dropping into the Wylye Valley and home for 11 am. Always nice to get home but what a great holiday.
Home at Last
Some holiday facts.
What bikes did we ride? Triumph Tigers which we bought earlier in the year after parting with our long term Yamaha Thunderaces. They proved to be superb bikes for the sort of touring we like. Equally at home on the smallest of mountain roads or eating miles on a motorway. Comfy, economical and good luggage carriers. We did 4375 miles each, economy was about 60mpg on non motorways and about 52 mpg on motorways travelling at 130Km/h. Total petrol expense for both bikes was £585
How much camping? We spent 10 nights camping, 18 nights in BB or Hotels and 2 nights on ferries.
Would we change anything if we did the trip again? Maybe spend longer in Bosnia and particularly Sarajevo.
Where to next year? Current thought is the Balkan States (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) via Denmark and Sweden. Always be interested to hear from anyone who has been there already.
(Thanks for the report and pics Noeline, very inspirational - Neil)
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