By Duje Kaurloto
Motorcycle tour Sardinia and Corsica, at least it was going to be. It turned out even better...
Did you know how amazing Sardina is?
There are many spots in the World an individual would call astounding, delightful, dazzling, intriguing and many different words that would depict the entrancing excellence of our planet. However, some of them are genuinely exceptional in numerous perspectives. Also, when we talk about riding experience, views, noteworthy legacy and regular scenes these astounding Mediterranean islands are on top of the list of must-dos of should do in a lifetime or more exact in our cruiser language – “should ride”. Having said that, I am born and raised in Split, Croatia. Split is located on the Adriatic sea, with hundreds of islands infront. Topographical situation of the islands is the core of Mediterranean, not very a long way from the shores of Italy and effectively reachable from a few ports on the Italian central area. Sardinia is a huge Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. It has almost 2,000km of shoreline, sandy sea shores and a sloping inside crossed with climbing trails. Its tough scene is spotted with huge number of nuraghe – baffling Bronze Age stone vestiges formed like colonies of bees (we will say a piece regarding them later in the blog). Probably the main ports to arrive at Sardinia or Corsica by ship are Livorno, Piombino and obviously Civitavecchia close to Rome.
Even though, motorbike rental Croatia and myself wanted to take you there, we never made it to Sardinia. Covid and Jadrolinia ferry schedule forced us to change our plans. Motorbike rental Croatia Desmo adventure gave us a brand new BMW r 1250 GS adventure Exclusive edition for a tour. Instead of Sardinia we ended up exploring Tuscany and surrounding area.
Tuscany must be far from Split?
Well, Sardina was out of our reach. With limited time and wrong ferry schedule we never made it to Sardinia. Even though we didn’t ride Sardinia this time, I promise you we will be back. (Later on, I will let you know why back in Sardinia).
With all that said, we planed our trip to start on Tuesday. Since the departure date was coming up, we decided to buy the tickets ahead of time. Firstly, with not many people traveling off season, and Covid being still present, Jadrolinia, a Croatian Ferry carrier never updated the correct schedule. Secondly, at the time we were at the gate buying our tickets ferry schedule was completely different. Instead of 10 day for riding Sardinia, we only could have 6 riding day in Italy. Moreover, 6 days includes 2 nights on the ferry traveling back and forth from Italy and back. In conclusion we decided to make our Italy trip shorter and just explore Tuscany, instead of Sardinia. In the end, we believe we had amazing time.
Motorbike by Desmo adventure, ferry tickets, bottle of wine and you wake up in Italy...
With our BMW r1250 GS there are no limits, right? Besides the ferry schedule being completely off, everything else turned out to be fine. Moreover we were very happy to explore Tuscany one more time.
We are going to Florence first. To clarify, we just needed to hop on the ferry and get off in Ancona, Italy. Having that said, ferry is not too bad at all, you leave Split around 10 pm, and you arrive in Ancona, Italy at 7 AM next day. Most importantly, ferry ride to Italy is very comfortable with a hint of history and adventure while sailing on Marko Polo ferry. In addition to that, we would like to warn you not to expect any kind of luxury while on the ferry. It is just enough to get you to the other side of the Adriatic. For example; rooms are small and old, but just fine for 8 hour trip. In addition, you have classic bar, lounge room, restaurant, etc. But most importantly you have a secure space for your rented motorbike, so you don’t have to worry about damages.
While in Italy, do it this was...
If you are traveling by car or rented motorbike from Desmo adventure make sure you don’t rush and go step by step. Having that said, I know the time is limited, but make sure you enjoy every moment without being rushed by schedule.
While in Italy make sure you meet great people, taste amazing food, drink fabulous wine, and learn about its history.
So, as you may know, each region offers different experience. In Florence, enjoy the beauty of the old town, learn about history, eat famous Bistecca Fiorentina with a glass of red Chianti.
Since you have motorbike with you take a ride and explore each part of beautiful Chianti area, visit many vineries along the rods in Greve in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and many more beautiful villages along the way. Further more I would like to recommend wonderful restaurant La Cantinetta Di Rignana. This is a must visit place.
As a result of riding wonderful curvy rods on you BMW r 1250GS you will explore most of the Chianti region and learn about wine making. Further south you ride the scenery turns more flat and recognizable as you enter the wheat and olive fields. Everything turns either green in the spring or gold in the summer. The endless fields of wheat are decorated by cypresses roads taking you to the top of the hills with astonishing views.
Siena is just down the road. Siena is a true Tuscan city with great architecture, beautiful main square, brick architecture, and many beautiful small streets with may restaurants and bars along the way.
Most importantly, on this motorcycle tour you will be able to stop and go as you feel and explore pretty much whole Tuscany. Motorcycling in Croatia is very different since you have sea and the country to explore. In Tuscany you will be riding country roads but equally beautiful.