In 1976, my father cycled from Limburg to Italy - and back again. On a steel road bike, with a leaky tent. His travelogue, which was worked out on a typewriter, came out of the attic last summer, and following in my father's footsteps, my friend Gudo and I are cycling from South Limburg to Valduggia (Piedmont). Off to the Italian Lakes, to the sun!
Bikepacks-light
It is our first time bikepacking and we decide to go for the light version, without a (puncture) tent and I end up leaving the coffee supplies at home even with pain in my heart. I leave with just a saddlebag and a small handlebar bag, packed as minimally as possible with, for example, just one set of clothes and leggings instead of leggings. No choice stress in the coming weeks! Gudo has another frame bag and a slightly larger handlebar bag, to still be able to take some materials and provisions.
Before our departure, I already booked overnight stays along the route: to keep costs down, often as basic as possible, via AirBnB and booking.com, but also via Warm Showers (the international version of Friends on the Bike).
The route
We based our route on the famous ''Benjamin route' from Amsterdam to Rome, with some adjustments: we will start in Brunssum (southern Limburg), put a bit more altimeters into the route by going straight through the Vosges Mountains, for example, instead of going around it a bit, and choose a side branch right through Luxembourg to visit friends. Our final destination is Casa Valduggia, the bed and breakfast of an acquaintance of ours (perhaps known to you as Vincent from the first season of B&B Full of Love...). The total route is 1,237 kilometres with about 14,000 altimeters.
Links to the Italian Lakes route in Komoot:
Part 1: Brunssum - Basel
Part 2: Basel - Valduggia
Stages 1 to 3: Belgium, Luxembourg and France
The typically Dutch summer weather ensures that we do not start the trip in our hometown of Groningen, but take the train to Limburg. After spending the night at my aunt and uncle's house in Brunssum, we leave under a still quite grey sky. We spend hours cycling nicely through the middle of nowhere, along a beautiful cycle path on the border between Germany and Belgium along an old railway line: the Vennbahn. There we immediately learn the important lesson that you don't just run into lunch spots or supermarkets everywhere: after already cycling for far too long, we come across a sparse kiosk that sells no food worth mentioning and where I knock over my full coffee cup. There are no further setbacks, and after 121 kilometres we arrive at our Warm Showers address in Belgium, where we sleep in the 'mobile home' of a particularly hospitable couple.
Off to a warmer place
After a very cold night, I am eager to leave for a hopefully slightly warmer place. Once on the bike, the cold is quickly out of the body and the route turns out to be truly magnificent. I had secretly expected not to see very special nature until Switzerland, but the first half of today's stage takes us on cycle paths along the here and there fairytale-like river Our. Picking blackberries in between and the holiday feeling is complete. In touristy Vianden, we decide to flee from the many Dutch people and scavenge our lunch in a supermarket a few kilometres away, just across the border in Germany. We then cycle into Luxembourg, where we are warmly welcomed by friends in the capital.
No man's land
After a day in Luxembourg, we cycle straight into the French countryside, or no man's land? Sunflowers, nuclear power stations and cows. With also finally sunshine and a temperature of 25 degrees, we can really take it easy for once. Which is also welcome as I am not having my best day on the bike. Only after the lukewarm supermarket cola at km 91 do I get into the swing of things, just before we reach our address for the night at km 102: an idyllic bed and breakfast, with hammock!
Stage 4 to 6: through the Vosges mountains to Basel
Stage 4 is a transitional stage: the first few hours we cycle through the French countryside again, not flat but undulating, and before I know it the first 1,000 altimeters are up. Not long after the first real French almond croissant of the holiday, the mountainous landscape of the Vosges starts to become more sharply defined. We finish the stage after 130 km in Fouday, where our French AirBnB hostess has already practically put the peeps on the table for us.
Route des Crêtes
After a good night, it's time for Route des Crêtes, a 'ridge route' where we cycle some 60 km high in the Vosges Mountains. It takes us a while to find the start of this route: pretty soon our gpx sends us off the main road onto a pretty steep little road that changes from tarmac to gravel a little later. Fortunately, I'm in the mood for an adventure today. We end up bike-hiking for a while, but suddenly an asphalt road emerges that takes us to the Route des Crêtes after all. We are treated to magnificent views and finally an obscure descent along a beautiful little road straight into the heat. With 130 km on the counter, we arrive in a small attic room in Mulhouse. Not the prettiest city I've ever been to, but we do find an incredibly good pizzeria there!
After the rather tough stages, we take it easy the next day. After 37 flat kilometres along a river, we arrive in Basel and the 'first part' of our journey is over! I've read that swimming in the Rhine is a thing there, so that's the first thing we do in Basel. Enjoy!
Stage 7 to 9: via Lake Constance towards the Alps
Today another relatively short and fairly flat stage. I take another swim in the Rhine on the way, we eat an ice cream, and still arrive at our AirBnB in a sleepy Swiss village early in the afternoon.
The next day, our course knowledge leaves something to be desired. 120 relatively flat kilometres we had imagined, mostly along a river, with a tailwind. This is disappointing on all counts, fortunately we still manage to keep it cosy on the way, and a 1.5-litre bottle of cold cola turns out to be our salvation! We end the stage with a dip in Lake Constance.
We turn our backs on those the very next day: the Italian lakes are calling! After 140 km through the hot air furnace, with beautiful views of the ever-closer Alps, we arrive in the mountain village of Thusis. There, our Warm Showers host treats us to a meal full of home-picked mushrooms.
Stage 10 & 11: the grand finale via the Splügenpass and Lake Como
Time for the big day: the crossing to Italy, via the Splügenpass! After a short descent, we immediately start climbing. The first stretch is immediately very cool: through a gorge on a very old road. Slowly we climb further, occasionally on a larger road, then on a glorified cycle path, and even a stretch unpaved along a reservoir.
Beautiful pass
The pass itself is beautiful; once at the top (at 2115 metres), the sun starts to shine and we enjoy the view and the sign with Italy on it. The descent is breathtaking: mountains, Italian and Swiss (reservoir) lakes, and eventually, after the first Italian espresso, we end up at Lake Como. Swimming in clear water, not even really cold, with views of mountains on all sides, it doesn't get any more beautiful than this. After a furious climb, we then arrive at a small hotel, with beautiful views over the lake and mountains. What a day!
Lake Como e basta!
The last stage takes us a bit too long through the hustle and bustle of Lake Como and feels very double: on the one hand it's cool to have the finishing line in sight, on the other hand I don't really want to reach it yet. Turns out that holiday cycling is bloody addictive!
Italian lakes are top notch!
Fortunately, our holiday is not over yet: we spend a few lazy days in Valduggia and at the lovely Lake Orta nearby. Finally, we cycle via Lago Maggiore to Lake Lugano, from where we take the train back home, because the amount of holidays unfortunately does not allow us to cycle all the way back to the Netherlands like my father did. On the train, we have plenty of time to think about our next cycling trip, because this trip obviously tastes like more!
