DAY 1: Frascati/Rome

We begin our tour in Frascati, a beautiful hill town well connected by train to nearby Rome, offering riders an opportunity to tour the Eternal City before or after the tour.

Tour Map.

The tour starts Sunday afternoon with introductions and a briefing with our AMT guides Mitja and Jure, who outline the group riding rules that will keep us all safe. Afterwards, a group dinner gave us an opportunity to begin socializing with our fellow riders.

Experienced tour guides at the briefing: Mitja & Jure.

There are seven riders, three couples and me, and we gelled right away, sharing our excitement for the trip ahead of us, swapping photos of our motorcycles back home and telling tales of any previous two-wheeled trips.

DAY 2: Frascati to Naples, 259 Km

The following day, after a filling buffet breakfast at our 4-star hotel, we head out toward our evening destination of Naples, where we are to take an overnight ferry ride to Palermo. We get out of town quickly, and I am reminded that starting the tour here instead of central Rome was a genius move by AMT because it avoids putting riders just becoming familiar with their new machines into the insane traffic in that very large city.

Our first day’s ride was filled with nice bends and sweepers through the interior countryside and its olive groves and grape vineyards. The landscape reminded me a bit of Tuscany, but maybe not quite as lush and green because the land here gets much less rain. That’s evident from the clusters of yuccas and cactus plants that dot the sides of the roads.

Beautiful riding in interior Italy. 

The highlight for me was our visit to the Benedictine monastery at Montecassino, where we traversed challenging hairpin turns on our ride up to the abbey and back down again.

Monastery at Montecassino.

Our afternoon ride to Naples bypassed nearby Pompeii, but riders have the option to visit that ancient treasure on Day 13 of our trip, on the way back to our starting point of Frascati. We arrive in Naples in time to check out the gorgeous Mastio Angioino castle, only a hundred meters away from the Naples port. After a dinner dining on world-renowned Neapolitan pizza, which everyone agreed lived up to the hype, we board our ferry for our overnight ride to Palermo, Sicily’s capital city.

Delicious Pizza Napolitana.

Day 3: Palermo loop, 130 Km

We arrive in the early morning and take a brief ride to escape the traffic mess resulting from our huge ferry disgorging hundreds of vehicles and passengers.

Early morning in Palermo.

We have a breakfast together at a quiet seaside cafe (all breakfasts and dinners are included in the tour price), and then we head out on a scenic loop that would take us to the island’s western end before returning us to our Palermo hotel for the night.

Our first stop was Erice, a magnificent medieval town high atop an imposing hill with splendid views over the west coast. Getting a chance to stretch our bodies and soak in the vistas were just what we needed after tackling the challenging, but ever so much fun, roads leading us to the day’s main destination. 

Streets of medieval Erice.

Lunch in Erice before descending back to Palermo.

After wandering about this history-soaked village, fought over by several foreign invading armies over the centuries, we take a lunch and begin our afternoon’s return journey to Palermo. Twisty secondary roads, hugging the northern coast along the Tyrrhenian Sea, cap off a second amazing day of riding. 

Incredible vistas of Tyrrhenian Sea. 

We return to Palermo early enough in the day to explore the city, including its cathedral, known for its complex architectural design, the result of centuries-long additions, alterations, and restorations in different classical styles.

 The streets of Palermo with the famous cathedral in the back.

Palermo Cathedral.