Another year, another trip but where to?

 Dolomites 2024


Konrad, Leon and I had an epic trip to the Pyrenees in 2023, despite me getting a puncture 15 miles from home and missing the boat to Spain..... Hopefully we have no such issues this year (fingers crossed).


So why the Dolomites? Well mountain roads tend to be the best as they have lots of curves and nice views. The Pyrenees and surrounding areas are great to ride, but it's time to try somewhere new. I've done the Alps before, but never ventured deeper into the Italian Alps / Dolomites. Konrad did a hiking trip there last year and the photos were stunning so I set about trying to plan a route.


As it happens, the local RoADAR (RoSPA Advanced Drivers And Riders) group that I belong to were also planning a similar trip but not until after the summer. Using their itinerary and a route book that I have as a baseline for inspiration, I set about seeing what we can squeeze into the 11 days or so that we could spare. Konrad has since tweaked the route (which usually means making it longer and more intense), but it's looking good.


As usual, we are pre-booking nothing apart from the ferry to France and back. This gives us the ultimate flexibility / freedom - even it it means that we might end-up having to sleep in hedges.


The route takes us from the UK into the Ardennes, down to the Black Forest, through the German / Austrian Alpine passes and the Timmelsjoch pass to our base-camp of Canazei in the Italian Dolomites. We intend to explore the area for a couple of days, resting and exploring all the mountain passes (Konrad is also squeezing-in a day of hiking and a mountain lodge stay) before we make our way back. 

The return leg takes us through the Stelvio and Umbrail passes into Switzerland and onwards through Austria (more mountain passes) to Lake Constance. From here, the final leg has us returning through the Black Forest and Vosges Natural Park back to the Ardennes and home.

Expecting to do up to 2500 mostly epic miles with motorway stints only on our first and last days. Hopefully our bikes make it (same ones as last year) and the weather is kind to us!

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