June 14: Our tour starts when you arrive in Pisa...where the famous tower leans curiously over the town's main piazza.

After taking a quick look around (we will be coming back!) we'll head to   Pontedera, home of the world-famous Piaggio factory where Vespa scooters are manufactured.

Tonight, we'll stay at the Fattoria Santa Lucia - a beautiful Tuscan wine estate where we can enjoy the wonderful Tuscan air, and, appetites piqued, we'll sit at the long table for our welcome dinner and a brief orientation.

Accommodation (1 night): Fattoria Santa Lucia
Meals: Breakfast only.  Lunch and Dinner on your own.

Pontedera to La Spezia
100 km

Optional excursion by boat to Monterosso Al Mare in the Cinque Terre - €50 Euro/person

June 15: After breakfast at the Fattoria, we'll mount our scooters and visit the Piaggio Museum where we'll enjoy a guided tour (in English). Lot's of Vespa bling in the Museum store, and photo opportunities galore.  Then it's off to La Spezia, a small city on the Bay of Poets just south of the Cinque Terre.  Feel free to ride with the group or find your own way.

On your way to La Spezia, those who are interested can take a drive through the roads that pass close to the amazing and still active marble mines at Carrara, where hundreds of years ago, Michelangelo and other ranking Tuscan sculptors found the pure white marble they carved into amazing statues like The David, now standing in Florence's Accademia Gallery.

June 16: It's a "free day" today. Have your breakfast at the hotel if you'd like or take a walk around La Spezia and find a local cafe for breakfast Italian style - an espresso e cornetto.  There are many places you can visit:

• Train or ride your scooter into the five villages of the Cinque Terre, including Monterosso Al Mare, Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Manarola, or Corniglia

• Hike in the Cinque Terre National Park

• Scooter to Portovenere and Lerici.

• Hang-out in La Spezia.

It's up to you!

Accommodations (2 nights): Hotel Ghironi, La Spezia
Meals: Breakfast only.  Lunch and Dinner on your own.

June 17:  Tonight we'll be tucking in at a hotel near San Gimignano, the city of towers..  No need to take the main roads when Tuscany's scooter-frienldy back roads are beckoning.   One of the incredible places you might visit on the way is the ancient Etruscan city of Volterra.   Arriving at the hotel there will be time to kick-back and clean-up before dinner.  The hotel has a very good restaurant, but there are many more in the surrounding area, and plenty of wonderful restaurants in San Gimignano itself.

June 18:  It's another free day, but you are in the heart of the Chianti wine district where getting lost is an art.  For over 2000 years, local varietals have produced the grapes that have been transformed into some of the world's best known wines.  So...there are vineyards, wineries, wine cellars and "enoteca" galore in the area.  Some of the places you might like to visit include Greve in Chianti, Radda and Panzano.  On your way back to the hotel at San Gimignano you might want to check-out one of the prettiest of all Tuscan towns, Castellina in Chianti or explore the still walled town of Monteriggioni or an ancient Roman outpost, the Poggio Imperiale, near Poggiobonsi.

Accommodations (2 nights): Hotel Casolare (4 stars)
Meals: Breakfast only.  Lunch and Dinner on your own.

La Spezia to San Gimignano
155 km

Optional winery tour
and tasting near San Gimignano
€50 Euro/person

San Gimignano to Cortona
115 km

Optional tour of Perugia  - €70 Euro/person

June 19: Another great day in Tuscany (and Umbria) lies ahead.  We'll be laying our heads at a monastery (now the Oasis hotel) in Cortona.  Places to visit along the way include  two more of Tuscany's fabled cities, the illustrious Siena, where you will trod the cobbles of the Campo dei Fiori below the ancient bell tower, and Montepulciano, sitting proudly on its hill top.  Cortona is another city that had it's origins in Etruscan times, well-before 1000 BC ...and a delightful place to spend an evening or two.

June 20: Cortona sits just to the north of one of Italy's largest lakes, Lago di Trasimeno, which is great scooting territory.  So today, starting shortly after we've enjoyed our breakfast we'll scout the lake and stop off in some of the Umbrian towns on its shores, like Castiglione del Lago, or close by like Panicale.  Those who like to take windy mountain roads might like to take the climb to the stunning little town of Citta della Pieve.

Accommodations (2 nights): Hotel Oasis (3 stars)
Meals: Breakfast only.  Lunch and Dinner on your own.

June 21:  No one can't visit Tuscany without exploring Florence, the city that gave birth to the Renaissance, so breakfast over, we'll be looking forward to bedding down there tonight.  Leaving Cortona, you might want to visit Arezzo, then thread our way through one of the loveliest of Tuscan's tertiary roads to the village of Loro Ciuffenna, where you might stop for lunch.  We're actually staying at a hotel in Fiesole, so one good way to get there is north through  Reggello and finally to Fiesole, on the hills above Florence, where we'll stay the next couple of nights.

Naturally, Florence offers an unbelievable array of things to do and see, and a plethora of restaurants, cafes and nightclubs offering a ton of fun and good times for all.

June 22: Some of us may enjoy a free day which we can spend in Fiesole and Florence, but some of us might want to take the Scooters to Borgo San Lorenzo to visit the Mugello Race Circuit.  Or...just take a ride in the hill country on the south side of the Arno River...up past Piazza Michelangelo where you can take in all of magnificent Florence.

Accommodations (2 nights): Hotel Villa Bosconi (3 stars)
Meals: Breakfast only.  Lunch and Dinner on your own.

Cortona to Fiesole
110 km

Optional wine tasting at Enoteca Pontevecchio
€15/person

Visit to the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries
€70/person

Fiesole to Pisa
92 km

June 23:

Today is our last day of cross country riding.  Leaving Fiesole after breakfast you will soon find yourself in the beautiful surroundings of the Val di Pesa.  Some of the places you might like to visit include San Casciano San Miniato and Montaione where we are laying on a mind-blowing lunch at the Villa Rubbiano, one of those fabulous wine estates Tuscany is famous for.  After lunch we'll all meet up at our hotel near Pisa.

June 24: It's our last day available for riding, so let's make the most of it - another day in Tuscany and a day of feasts.  Your on your own to ride, tour and explore...except tonight when we will wrap-up the Rally with a Goodbye Dinner tonight.

Accommodation (2 nights): Hotel Villa Maya
Meals: Breakfast only.  Lunch on your own.
Good bye dinner at Osteria La Posteleta in Cascina

June 25: After you've had one last breakfast we'll take one last ride back to Pontedera to drop the bikes. It's the end of the tour...and you'll have to get your land legs back.  Naturally, if you need help with transport to your next destination we'll help.  If you're joining the fun in Rome...we'll see you there!