Italy North to Sth

Been there, done that.

Do NOT go cycling in the Dolomites during a German long weekend
holiday as 4 million motorcyclists will be all over the place. Been
there during that.

Dolomites lovely, though some passes really long and hard. The minor
main roads, as marked on map, are best in Tuscany. Quiet enough. The
really small roads are terribly hilly. Tuscany is lovely but Italian
food is not great. It gets very repetitive.

Robert Norton said:

I'm planning a tour in Italy. Starting in Salzburg Austria (yeah I know) and
crossing the Grossglockner pass into Italy and then by Dolomites and Lake
Garda and then on to Toscany etc etc. Anyone any suggestions?
Thanks
Rob

Been there, all over.

What you call the Grossglockner Pass must be the Hochtor, which by no
meamns would take you into Italy.
There are just too many pieces of advise that I could give you and it
really makes no sense to plan your entire trip, at this early stage of
your involvement.

Let me give you one, though, for the time being.
Bike down into Belluno and then take a train to hop to Firenze.

Sergio
Pisa

Robert Norton said:

I'm planning a tour in Italy. Starting in Salzburg Austria (yeah I know) and
crossing the Grossglockner pass into Italy and then by Dolomites and Lake
Garda and then on to Toscany etc etc. Anyone any suggestions?
Thanks
Rob

Been there, all over.

What you call the Grossglockner Pass must be the Hochtor, which by no
meamns would take you into Italy.
There are just too many pieces of advise that I could give you and it
really makes no sense to plan your entire trip, at this early stage of
your involvement.

Let me give you one, though, for the time being.
Bike down into Belluno and then take a train to hop to Firenze.

Sergio
Pisa

Robert Norton said:

I'm planning a tour in Italy. Starting in Salzburg Austria (yeah I
know) and crossing the Großglockner pass into Italy and then by
Dolomites and Lake Garda and then on to Tuscany etc etc. Anyone any
suggestions?

http://www.trentobike.org/Countries/Europe/Tour_Reports/Tour_of_the_Alps/2004/

I like to finish in the eastern end of the Alps and that often goes
into Slovenia and the Karavankas, the continuation of the Dolomites.
You can spend a week in the central Dolomites just riding the major
highlights. From the Großglockner, descend to Winklern and head over
the Iselsberg pass to Lienz and Toblach. From there head south to
Cortina d'Ampezzo over the Misurina and Tre Croci, and you're in.
From there it's a great ride over the Pso Giau that branches off the
Falzarego. On the south side head toward Caprile and take the
bike/hiker route to Pso Fedaia (the old road) that goes through a
fantastic gorge on its way to the hydro lake on the pass.

This gets you about as close as you want to the Marmolada Glacier and
descends to Canazei. From there, you're under the Sella and Sasso
Lungo, both magnificent mountains that bracket the Pso Sella. Get the
1:200,000 map of the Dolomites when you get to a book store in
Cortina. It is called Dolomiti (Alto Adige,Carnia,Garda,Venezia) by
the TCI (Touring Club Italiana). Loads of fantastic roads.

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

I like to finish in the eastern end of the Alps ...

Welcome back, Jobst.
My goodness, did you hand Robert some suggestion!

Sergio
Pisa