The Italian Job

A European Tour

A physical, cultural and linguistic family challenge

Well it just didn’t seem enough to just ride to Italy, so we’re hatching a more sophisticated plan. And hopefully a slightly flatter one. After hours spent staring at Google Maps I think we may have an itinerary for this summer’s family excursion. We’re going to challenge ourselves linguistically by visiting six countries, riding across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Italy on a ride from the English Channel (as we Brits call it) to the Adriatic, starting in Dover and ending in Venice (hopefully).

Once across the Straits of Dover we’re going to head across the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium to pick up the Mosel Cycle Route in Luxembourg, follow it’s winding course to Koblenz, and then pick up the Rhine or Limes Cycle Routes south, then make our way over to follow the Romantic Road Route through Bavaria then cross the Alps and Austria on the Via Claudia Augusta to reach Italy on what looks like it could be a 2000km Western European epic. Now how many maps are we going to need?