Ludovica Casellati, creator of the Italian cycling tourism Oscar, the annual award for green cycling routes – in the two-wheeled world she is called “Lady Bici” – she recently recounted it in the first Veneto Bike Forum organized by her in Padua. Years ago, when she asked hoteliers if they had services available for cycle tourists, she was answered candidly: “Yes, of course, we have the racks”.
Cycling holidays: the cycle tourist is often a boomer
It would almost make you smile if it weren’t for the fact that in the meantime, in just three years, cycle tourism hadn’t made a quantum leap. With bike hotels and bike tours organized from Trentino to Puglia. To realize this, just browse the data of the Isnart Report “Travelling by bike 2023” just presented at Cycle tourism fair in Bologna and anticipated at the Veneto Bike Forum in Padua. In 2022 there were over 9 million “pure” cyclists who chose to ride on 93,500 kilometers of cycle paths in our country.
Three years earlier, in 2019, there had been just over 4 million. While they have been as many as 33 million Italians and foreigners who have “also” decided to rent a bike during a holiday by the sea or in the mountains. It’s almost an “army” now. With a clear identikit: the cycle tourist is between 28 and 57 years old and is often a boomer (17.3 percent are between 58 and 72 years old).
One in three travels as a couple
On the white roads of Tuscany, ph. Victor Sciosia
It means that for accommodation, it prefers hotels in first place and only in second place agritourisms and campsites. And he spends an average of over 100 euros a day. «We are witnessing an “Italian way” to cycle tourism» he comments Sebastiano Venneri, national manager of Legambiente Turismo. In fact, traveling by bike is ecological and even fun, as the youtuber Sergio Borroni also demonstrates in his videos, who claims to have covered 130,000 kilometers wandering the world by bike.
It was the world dell’Eroica, the event with bikes and vintage looks born in 1997 in Chianti, to kick off cycle tourism on dirt roads. Just a few days ago launched Heroic Land, a portal that unites the two permanent paths, L’Eroica and Eroica Montalcinowith services for cyclists.
Bike-friendly hotels
The phenomenon of bicycle travel is becoming now an eco-system of services, hotels, tours: induced activities amount to 4 billion euros per year. And if we think that 400 million of the Pnrr have been programmed for the cycle paths, it is easy to understand why it is so interesting. Those who pedal, in fact, are no longer “satisfied” with simple racks… We are no longer in the times of the Dutch and the Germans Emilia Romagna with spartan room, piadina and towed bikes. Today, facilities must be able to offer on-site guides, e-bike or mountain bike rentals, spas, zero-kilometer protein menus or fast laundries. And exclusive experiences like the tour on the mountains of the Giro d’Italia guided by the former professional cyclist; the tasting by the starred chef; the visit to the museum or the luxury shopping.
«Precisely because today people choose to travel as a couple, there is a very strong demand for bike-friendly hotels» comments Silvia Livoni of Luxury Bike Hotels. The brand is a network that selects boutique or charming hotels in Italy and was founded by Ludovica Casellatiauthor of the book The Bike of Happiness (Sperling & Kupfer) e also creator of the Viagginbici.com portal.
The network today brings together over cinquanta structures from Lombardy to Sicily that respond to a precise decalogue.
The curious aspect is that it classifies bike-friendly hotels with wheels instead of stars.
Bike rooms and Slow menu: Best Western Villa Appiani
Best Western Villa Appiani in Trezzo sull’Adda
Among the “facilities” there must also be a mechanical workshop, a corner for the sale of cycling equipment (helmets, gloves, jerseys), a massage centre, totems and information on cycling routes and, of course, energy meals. «The aim is to combine the need for sport with well-being» observes Silvia Livoni again. And please every partner.
The latest arrival in the constellation is Best Western Villa Appiani, in Trezzo sull’Adda, a 4-star boutique hotel housed in a late eighteenth-century historic residence, a stone’s throw from the Unesco site of Crespi d’Adda. You can get there from the center of Milan pedaling in an hour with the e-bike across the embankment of the Martesana (double with the muscle). For those who love cycling holidays there are three “bike rooms” on the ground floor, overlooking the internal garden, where you can bring your bike to your room, safe.
To be enjoyed, after a day on the pedals, the delicate zero kilometer slow menu at La Cantina restaurant (belongs to the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance). The dishes also include tasty vegetarian choices, while the structure will propose also protein snacks for cyclists.
Best Western Villa Appiani is perfect for a relaxing weekend on two wheels. The atmosphere is polite but friendly. The rooms are bright and the large living room on the ground floor offers furnishings with attention to detail.
In the future, there will also be a spa with swimming pool in the structure.
From a cycling point of view it is strategic for joining the main cycle paths, such as the Adda cycle path. A stone’s throw from the town of Trezzo sull’Adda.
Spa, massages and swimming pools in the woods: the Luxury Bike Hotels network
In Tuscany among the bike-friendly hotels selected by the Luxury Bike Hotels network, the Adler hotel stands out. It is found in the ancient Borgo Bagno di Vignoni, near Siena. It is a Spa Resort for those who want to combine cycling excursions and thermal baths.
In Siena there is also the relais Palazzo del Capitano in San Quirico d’Orcia: offers a bicycle rental service and a Michelin restaurant.
The Oscar of cycling tourism
Italians are increasingly choosing cycling holidays
The Apulian Aqueduct cycle path is a very popular destination. The Marenea Suite Hotel, in the Costa Otranto natural park, offers bike tours on the sea by e-bike and gravel between two and five hours with a guide and decontracting massages on the way back. There are also charging stations for electric bikes. Veneto and Trentino in the top of the cycle paths In first place as the best cycle paths there are, with Tuscany, Trentino Alto Adige and Veneto.
The Po cycle route goes from Venice to Turin along the river. Plan de Corones is instead frequented by families. In the Dolomites, at the La Perla hotel in Corvara, you can breathe cycling: on the walls the time trial Dogma Bolide used by Chris Froome at the 2013 Tour de France and the Pinarello Espada with which Miguel Indurain scrambled the hour record in 1993. For trained sportsmen who love climbing, it offers packages ad hoc.
Also the Lungomare Bike Hotel in Cesenatico, in Emilia Romagna, he is a two-wheel “fanatic” with a hundred bike tours scheduled. Emilia Romagna was awarded the Oscar of cycling tourism last year for the Grand Tour of the Savio Valley. So much so that on June 3rd Cesena hosts the announcement of the 2023 winners. Presenters: Ludovica Casellati and the Rai correspondent, Peppone Calabrese.
The date is no coincidence: it is World Bicycle Day.
2/ Cycling holidays
Cyclists from all over the world for Nova Eroica Prosecco Hills
Thousands of subscribers from fifteen European countries, the United States and Australia. In Susegana, in Treviso, the second edition of the “Nova Eroica, Prosecco Hills” takes place. The appointment is for 30 April, at the Borgoluce estate, among the Prosecco hills considered a Unesco heritage site. The race covers gravel, cyclocross and road bikes. And it predicts three routes, the “Via dei castelli”, 50 km between Susegana and Collagù; the “Route of the heroic vines”, 93 km up to Valdobbiadene, and the “Via dei Laghi”, 120 km between lakes, mountains, vineyards up to Vittorio Veneto. The Nova Eroica Family is also planned, a route open to e-bikes. Info: eroica.cc.
A glimpse of the Chianti area where the Eroica takes place
3/ Cycling holidays
Bam!, the European gathering of bike travellers, is back in Mantua
Meetings, music, workshops, rides. Mark the date. In Mantua from 9 to 11 June Bam! returns, the largest European gathering of cycle travellers. It’s not just a movement, but a sustainable philosophy: you can get to the festival by pedaling, from home or at least the last few kilometres, using public transport. It has been calculated that in the last edition a total of 200,000 km were traveled to reach the city. The festival also includes meetings with travellers, artists and companies that have a travel story to shareand or who have simply decided to cycle far: it is the magic of the bicycle. Bam! it is a free event. You register online. Info: bameurope.it
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