gigib

This may not be the best forum for this question, but I am just starting to plan this potential trip and need all the help I can get. It will be our first to Italy.

This race will draw thousands of rabid Valentino Rossi fans, just like my husband. The final date has not been posted yet, it will be either June 5 or July 3, but I need to start planning now. There are two villages nearby, Scarperia right NEXT to the track, and Borgo San Lorenzo a few km away. I'm afraid that these towns will sell out and we may get stuck having to travel from farther away.

If we can't walk to the track and have to take a bus, has anyone had any experience with the traffic jams I know will occur? Borgo San Lorenzo has a train station, but I can just imagine being on a bus or in a taxi in immobile traffic. I read somewhere that the track is planning on increased shuttle service and that Trenitalia is planning more trains that day. I really don't want to stay in Florence and try to get to the track for the day, we are thinking it would be fun to spend the night before and the night after the race at a nearby village.

Is Mugello a nice area for hiking? We could spend more time hiking and less time viewing Renaissance art...

Once I get this part figured out, I will plan the rest of our 2 week trip, and more questions will follow.

Thanks all.

Jean

(My husband is in the next room watching the Portugal GP on Tivo.... )

Are you sure you'll be able to buy tickets from the U.S.? You might want to look for an agency offering lodging + tickets packages.

Have you visited the Ducati factory outside Bologna? You could stay in Bologna instead of Florence. Just a thought.

http://www.ducati.com/company/visit_us/index.do

zeppole

You might find this interesting to read

http://www.discovertuscany.com/forum...ace-track.html

and this

http://www.aboutmugello.com/municipalities-mugello.html

Have you contacted hotels and agriturismi in the two locations you mentioned? You say you are afraid they will sell out, so you should contact them.

I would book for the week to make sure you have both dates covered, and rent a car, even though you will not be driving it to the race track, or into Firenze. (You can use train to get into Firenze.) But the car will come in handy for other touring.

The Mugello area of Tuscany is prime Chianti wine country and (apart from its outlet malls and the Mugello race track) a very undertouristed area of Tuscany, and were I there, I would want to visit the Chini museum, but you might have different interests.

In July, I would expect it to be quite hot in the Mugello area of Tuscany, so if you have another week to spend in Italy, you might consider a cooler spot, away from the madhouse crowds. If you don't want to go far and like hiking, think about exploring the Garfagnana mountain area of Tuscany, and perhaps also dropping down from the mountains to the area just south of le Cinque Terre, and hiking by the sea above Portovenere, Lerici and Tellaro.

http://www.50hikesintuscany.com/Alpi%20Apuane.htm

http://www.50hikesintuscany.com/Cinq...an%20Coast.htm

http://www.ingarfagnana.it/category/...lla-garfagnana

http://massacarrara.guidatoscana.it/...ni/default.asp

http://www.liguriaguide.com/tellaro.html

gigib

Thanks for your replies. Jean, the last race is this Saturday so your husband will be sad until next March!

We may abandon this idea after all, I'm not too happy planning a 2 week trip around this race, we may save our Italy vacation for another time when we can do nothing but sightsee and relax properly!

nochblad

I was in Florence this weekend and returning to Como I wanted to avoid the worst of the traffic around the city so I set off towards Borgo San Lorenzo and then on to Barberino di Mugello. The Mugello track is best arrived at by car or even better by bike. Give yourself plenty of time but the drive is very easy. Of note is the magnificent Medici residence just before Barberino on the road from Borgo San Lorenzo. In fact the Mugello represents the homeland of the de Medici family and on many occasion the family returned to the Mugello for safety reasons when the internecine revolts were particularly intense.

The comment about Ducati has particular relevance as Valentino Rossi will ride for this team in 2011 after having ridden for Yamaha for many years.

If you have a chance try to eat at Il Paiolo at Barberino di Mugello which is very close to the autostrada exit. It is a typical tuscan restaurant with excellent fiorentina (t-bone steaks). The husband is at the grill cooking the various cuts of meat and the wife runs the restaurant. It is always frequented by the Ferrari mechanics when they are testing the cars on the Mugello track as is evidenced by the many photos on the walls of the restaurant.

The owner (at the grill) is passionate about old cars and if you have a chance and have struck up a good relationship with him you should ask about his collection. Opposite the restaurant he has a wonderful collection of old Alfa Romeo and Lancia one of which he even brought back from a field in California.