From Alto Adige to Tuscany, travel suggestions and itineraries for bicycles
The luxury of pedalling through beauty. There is a web portal specialized in upscale bike-friendly hotels, which presents a significant collection of fine hotels to offer cyclists a list of structures to stay in and create a custom-made vacation. These are four and five-star hotels, or upscale country houses, which feature fully-equipped bike rooms, rent-a-bike services with high-quality bicycles, a spa or the possibility of getting sports massages, as well as laundry service.
The Luxury Bike Hotels portal, not only has the blessing of the Italian Bicycling Federation, it was created by the web magazine Viagginbici.com with the purpose of making the most of the beauty of Italy’s landscapes, its art, culture and food and wine.
Bicycle tourism is the key to making tourism in Italy a year-round affair, and the Luxury Bike Hotel initiative began as a meeting ground between the year-round demand of an upscale cycling clientele and upscale hotels.
“For people who travel by bike, every season counts – states Ludovica Casellati Founder of LBH – especially in Italy, where the climate is moderate, and on the contrary, the “lowest” seasons are considered the best to visit the most beautiful destinations in our country on the seat of a bicycle. For those who work in the field of hospitality, this is “a commercial opportunity that cannot be missed, because it ensures a year-round clientele”. And this is just the beginning, considering that in Germany alone, there are 12 million cyclists per year, while Italy – which is far more attractive for tourists – counts only 4 million. The expansion possibilities for this phenomenon are truly promising.
From the hotel Montchalet in Ortisei, in the Alto Adige region, to Borgo di Pietrafitta in Chianti rather than Borgo Pignano, both in Tuscany. From Villa Abbazia in the Veneto region near Valdobbiadene to the Villa Cattani Stuart in the Marche region along the Adriatic Sea.
The website features an initial list of hotels and illustrates possible itineraries for e-bikes and mountain-bikes. Scenic tours or travel through history and fine cuisine,visits through urban city-centres or experiences in Nature.
“The growing interest in bicycle tourism and attention to the fthemes of environmental sustainability, wellness and respect for nature – sustains the President of Federturismo Confindustria Gianfranco Battisti – make it increasingly important to build itineraries that involve even the most suburban locations within a system of flowing accessibility and appropriate hotel proposals. Luxury Bike Hotels is an opportunity, in view of the year of Slow Tourism, to enhance and publicize the lesser-known Italian destinations and to launch them in a perspective of sustainability”.
“Tourists are increasingly on the look-out for experiences that allow them to pursue their passions at their finest – states Giorgio Palmucci, President of the Associazione Italiana Confindustria Alberghi. The Luxury Bike Hotels initiative is part of this framework, offering a specific and specialized product that responds to the needs of fans from all over the world who wish to enjoy the wonders of our country while practicing their favourite sport”.
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translation by Olga Barmine
