Cycling Italy (Lonely Planet National Park Guides) [Paperback]

Ethan Gelber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003 | Series: Lonely Planet National Park Guides

Visit Roman ruins, study the art of the Renaissance, stay in medieval hilltowns, go mountaineering in the Alps, participate in traditional festivals and visit beautiful churches. This comprehensive guide includes a range of options for places to stay and eat, as well as details on getting around the country.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740593154
• ISBN-13: 978-1740593151
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #581,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Italian Cyclist Opinion., March 24, 2006

By 

Pallottini Mariano "Marchebreaks" (Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cycling Italy (Lonely Planet National Park Guides) (Paperback)

Lonely Planet - Cycling Italy by Ethan Gelber it is a very useful guide even for an italian like me. The guide it is also a good introduction to the general world of "cycle touring".
The limit is, for a long distance rider as me, the guide does not suggests a complete uninterrupted tour of italy. This guide in Amazon costs less than in the italian book market(importation tax included). Bye.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for any Gringo, December 4, 2005

By 

J. Stansfield (Columbia, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cycling Italy (Lonely Planet National Park Guides) (Paperback)

My decidedly American husband was able feed his bicycle addition into the Alps of Italy with this book. He bonded with the local bicylists, didn't wreck and managed to find his way back to the appartementi by dark. This book has the basic phrases and a maps that will allow you to enjoy a little adventure off the beaten track. You might even ride with a fleet of people that share a love of life, filled with riding into the anoxic elevations and descending with gusto to a glass of wine. He saw a magical bit of Italy that most tourists never see.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Italian Bike Touring "Bible", October 18, 2010

By 

John F Sabal - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Cycling Italy (Paperback)

This is SUCH a great book! My wife and I have used it for two bike trips in Italy and it has been our on-road guide all the way. We have found it to be, above all, accurate and reliable, but the author has also created great routes (we've done 5) that have led us to memorable, even epic (yes, the "e" word!), rides and vacations. All I've discovered using this book -- I'm 45 and have taken many amazing trips in the world -- is that cycling in Italy has become my FAVORITE thing to do!

A little background: my wife and I have done a lot of riding (we met on a 7-day, 910 km. trip around New England). I'd say we qualify in the "above average" quantity, but we had never done anything major self-supported with panniers.

In 2009 we got a call from a friend inviting us to a wedding in Northern Italy and when I called an Italian friend to ask him about where it was he said, "You'll be very close to Barolo. You must-a bike-a Barolo." We got on Amazon and bought this book and figured we'd bring our bikes and do one of the author's rides, a 3-day, 200 km. tour of the Langhe and Roero. (We added a fourth day, a 40 km. tour around Alba including lunch in Barolo.) IT WAS EPIC!!!!! We found exactly what the author described in terms of road cues, distances, and elevation profiles, and her recommendations for eating and lodging were spot on. Our daily itinerary over 4 days: get up, breakfast, bike a couple of hours in fantastic scenery, have an awesome lunch with lots of wine, bike a couple of more hours through more picturesque settings, hotel, shower, surprise: we're hungry again!, awesome dinner with lots of wine, bed. Repeat. (Boring, isn't it?!)

We had such a memorable trip we decided to go back in 2010 but this time ride through Tuscany.

I write this having just returned from the airport and having completed 4 of the author's rides in Tuscany ("Chianti Classic," "Siena Explorer," "Road Less Taken," and "Seascapes and Cliff Villages") in 12 days (660 km.), that has now gone down in our books as ANOTHER sweet bike trip to Italy and cemented bike touring in Italy as my favorite thing to do. I haven't even started dealing with our pictures yet as I wanted to write this review: we are SO happy to have had this book -- we feel indebted to the author and Lonely Planet -- to help us plan and guide us on the roads, from one historic town, through agelessly scenic countryside (or cityscape, for that matter), to the next, eating and drinking wine all the way.

If you can deal with bringing your own bikes and following the author's good recommendations as regards planning, what to bring, self-repair (also good sections in the book), you will have a marvelous time. For added convenience, I recommend copying and enlarging the author's cue sheets and keeping them handy while on the road. A GPS is also super handy as the 2009 edition of the book has GPS coordinates throughout. Lastly, this wasn't our only guide book -- we also used Tuscany-specific ones by Lonely Planet and Rick Steves -- but it is our only cycling guide book, and a good Michelin map and this book is all we needed.

We're already using it to plan our next trip!

PS - we found Italian drivers to be SUPER courteous to cyclists and safe. While the shoulders are typically non-existent, all you have to do for reassurance is look at the little old lady on the road in front of you on her cruiser bike with the groceries in her basket wearing a skirt and dress shoes -- and no helmet -- showing no fear. The drivers yield to you in rotaries (and we've gone through some busy rotaries!) and are respectful and patient. It's safer there than in the U.S., by far.