In 1976, my father cycled from Limburg to Italy – and back again. On a steel racing bike, with a leaking tent. His travel report, written on a typewriter, came out of the attic last summer, and my friend Gudo and I are cycling along in the footsteps of my father. South Limburg to Valduggia (Piëmonte). On to the Italian Lakes, to the sun!
Bikepacken-light
It’s our first time mountain biking and we decide to go for the light variant, without (leaking) tent and eventually I even leave the coffee supplies at home with a heavy heart. I leave with only a saddle bag and a small pannier, packed as minimally as possible with, for example, only one set of clothes and a legging instead of leggings. No stress over the next few weeks! Gudo has a frame bag and a slightly larger pannier to be able to bring along some more materials and supplies.
Before our departure, I already booked accommodations along the route: to keep the costs down as much as possible, I often used AirBnB and booking.com, but also Warm Showers (the international version of Friends on the Bike).
The Route
Our route was based on the famous ‘Benjamin's route from Amsterdam to Rome, With some adjustments: this is how we start in Brunssum (South Limburg), we add a few more elevation meters to the route by, for example, going through the Vosges instead of around them, and we choose a side branch through Luxembourg to visit friends. Our final destination is Casa Valduggia, the bed and breakfast of a friend of ours (you may know them as Vincent from the first season of B&B Vol Liefde…). The total route is 1,237 kilometers with about 14,000 meters of elevation gain.
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 typical Dutch summer weather means that we don’t start our trip in our hometown Groningen, but take the train to Limburg. After spending the night at my uncle and aunt’s in Brunssum, we set off under still quite overcast skies. We cycle for hours through the middle of nowhere, over a beautiful bike 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 find lunch spots or supermarkets everywhere: after cycling for a long time we come across a meager kiosk that doesn’t sell any noteworthy food and where I throw my full coffee mug aside. Further setbacks follow, and after 121 kilometers we arrive at our Warm Showers address in Belgium, where we sleep in the ‘mobilhome’ of a particularly welcoming couple.
Onward to a warmer place
After a very cold night, I can’t wait to leave for a hopefully warmer place. Once on the bike, the cold quickly takes over my body and the route turns out to be truly spectacular. I secretly expected to see no such extraordinary nature until Switzerland, but the first half of today’s stage takes us along bike paths alongside the fairytale-like Our River here and there. In between, we stop to pick some blackberries and the holiday mood is complete. In the touristy town of Vianden, we decide to flee from the many Dutch people, and we have our lunch together at a supermarket a few kilometers away, just across the border in Germany. Next, we cycle into Luxembourg, where we are warmly welcomed by friends in the capital.
No man’s land
After a day of cycling in Luxembourg, we head straight into the French countryside, or no man’s land? Sunflowers, nuclear power plants and cows. With finally some sunshine and a temperature of 25 degrees, we can really take it easy. That’s also welcome, because I’m not at my best on the bike. It’s only after the lukewarm supermarket cola at km 91 that I start to feel a bit better, just before we reach our address for the night at km 102: an idyllic bed and breakfast, complete with hammock!
Stages 4 to 6: through the Vosges to Basel
Stage 4 is a transition stage: for the first few hours we cycle through the French countryside again, not flat but hilly, and before we know it we are already at the first 1000 meters of elevation gain. Not long after the first real French almond croissant of the holiday, the mountain landscape of the Vosges starts to take shape more clearly. We finish the stage after 130 km in Fouday, where our French AirBnB host has practically put the piepers on the table for us.
Route des Crêtes
After a good night’s sleep, it’s time for the Route des Crêtes, a ‘mountain road’ where we cycle for about 60 km high in the Vosges. It takes us a little while to find the start of this route: our GPS sends us off the main road onto a pretty steep path that soon switches from asphalt to gravel. Fortunately, I’m in the mood for an adventure today. In the end, it’s a bit of a bike hike for a while, but suddenly a paved road appears that really takes us to the Route des Crêtes. We are treated to stunning views and finally a mysterious descent along a beautiful little path that really warms us up. With 130 km on the clock, we arrive at a small attic room in Mulhouse. Not the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to, but we do find a really good pizzeria there!
After the most challenging stages, we take it easy the next day. After 37 flat kilometers along a river, we arrive in Basel and the ‘first part’ of our journey is already over! I’ve read that swimming in the Rhine is quite a thing there, so that’s the first thing we’ll do in Basel. Enjoy!
Stages 7 to 9: via the Bodensee towards the Alps
Today again a relatively short and fairly flat stage. I swim in the Rhine one more time along the way, we eat an ice cream, and still arrive early in the afternoon at our AirBnB in a sleepy Swiss village.
The next day our trail knowledge leaves a lot to be desired. We had envisioned 120 relatively flat kilometers, mostly along a river, with the wind in our backs. That’s a bit disappointing in all respects, but fortunately we still manage to keep things fun along the way, and a 1.5 liter bottle of cold cola turns out to be our salvation! We end the stage with a swim in the Bodensee.
The next day we already turn our backs on that: the Italian lakes are calling! After 140 km through the oven, with beautiful views of the Alps that are getting closer and closer, we arrive in the mountain village of Thusis. Our Warm Showers host treats us there with a meal full of mushrooms picked by hand.
Stages 10 & 11: the grand finale via the Splügen Pass 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 already very exciting: through a chasm over an old road. Slowly we continue climbing, sometimes over a larger road, then again over a well-maintained cycle path, and even again a stretch of unpaved road along a reservoir.
Beautiful pass
The pass itself is beautiful; once you’re up there (at 2,115 meters altitude), the sun starts to shine and we enjoy the view and the sign that says “Italy” on it. The descent is breathtaking: mountains, Italian and Swiss (reservoir) lakes, and finally we reach Lake Como after the first Italian espresso. Swimming in clear water, not even really cold, with views of the mountains on all sides, it doesn’t get any better. After a short climb we arrive at a small hotel with beautiful views over the lake and the mountains. What a day!
The Comomeer is enough!
The last leg takes us through the hustle and bustle of Lake Como for a little too long and feels very odd: on the one hand, it’s great to have the finish line in sight, but on the other hand, I actually don’t want to reach it at all. It turns out that vacation cycling is damn addictive!
Italian lakes are top-notch!
Fortunately, our vacation isn’t over yet: we’re spending a few days relaxing in Valduggia and the lovely Ortameer nearby. Eventually, we’ll cycle through Lago Maggiore to Lake Lugano, from where we’ll take the train back home, because the amount of vacation days unfortunately doesn’t allow us to cycle all the way back to the Netherlands like my father did. On the train, we have all the time to think about our next cycling trip, because this trip naturally tastes like more!
Questions & tips
Do you have any questions about this route, or have you been there yourself? Share them here. We read everything and usually respond within a few days.