Evening: Board an overnight flight.

Arrival Innsbruck/Coach to San Valentino/Bike Fitting & Testing/Welcome Dinner

Afternoon: Join your fellow travelers at the Innsbruck Airport for the coach transfer to our hotel in San Valentino alla Muta in Italy. Our route will take us through the Passo di Resia, an Alpine pass connecting the Inn River Valley with the Val Venosta. This pass was formerly part of the Via Claudia Augusta, an ancient Roman road that allowed people and goods to pass from the Adriatic Sea to Donauworth, Germany. En route to the hotel, we’ll enjoy an excursion to a fascinating site near Curon to see a striking landmark - a 14th-century church steeple towering from the lake. Lake Resia is an artificial lake created in 1950, when two smaller lakes were unified for the sake of power generation, submerging several villages and 1300 acres of cultivated land. On arrival at our hotel in San Valentino, we’ll fit your bicycle and test your biking skills to insure that you are safe and comfortable for the days ahead.

Dinner: Join us tonight in the hotel dining room for our welcome dinner.

Lodging: Hotel Stocker

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: After a typical Tyrolean breakfast of meats, cheeses, cereals, yogurt and delicious rye breads, attend a lecture on safety, rules of the road and the IBT corner system. Our cycling begins at an altitude of 1500 meters which means you’ll almost forget how to pedal your bicycle today. Vistas of the snow-covered Alps and the fresh mountain air will energize you as we follow dedicated cycle paths along the Adige River. Enjoy a visit to the intriguing village of Glorenza with its perfectly preserved city walls with parapet walks, seven towers and three gates. This smallest town in South Tyrol was an important trading center for bringing ores and salt to Innsbruck.

Lunch: Sample the local fare in Glorenza on your own.

Afternoon: We'll discover the origins of the famous pure white marble mined from the mountains near Lasa, which was used extensively in many of the world's monuments and statues. Our cycling continues to the village of Silandro, located in the heart of fruit orchards and green pastures. The landmark of the city is the 97-meter high bell tower of the parish church, believed to be one of the highest in Tyrol.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: Learn more about your fellow travelers at group introductions.

Lodging: Hotel Goldener Loewe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: We'll start the day with a lecture on the age-old tradition of fruit cultivation and its importance to this area. The Val Venosta runs from Passo di Resia to Merano and has a special micro climate of dry and sunny days that is perfect for fruit cultivation. Our route takes us through the town of Laces, sometimes called the “apple capital," where many of the largest cooperatives of the valley are located. In Naturno, we’ll visit San Procolo Chapel, home to magnificent 8th-century frescoes, the oldest in the German-speaking world.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare on own.

Afternoon: Our day culminates in the aristocratic spa town of Merano, famous for its picturesque promenades, towering cathedrals and lush gardens.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel Siegler im Thurm

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: We’ll trade our cycling shoes for walking shoes this morning for a guided walking introduction to Merano’s old town to view its elegant architecture and learn the vivid history of this former Roman crossroad. Marvel at the Street of “Portici," a corridor of arches supported by masonry columns, which connect Piazza Duomo to Piazza del Grano.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare in Bolzano.

Afternoon: After sampling some of the culinary delights of South Tyrol (try the speck and dumplings or the local asparagus), we pedal along the Adige River through acres of vineyards to Bolzano. The town feels and looks more German-Austrian than Italian, and German is the predominant language spoken.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel Scala Stiegl

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Discover the artistic and cultural treasures of Bolzano with a local historian on a guided walk of the city. Marvel at the pink sandstone and multi-colored roof tiles of the Duomo (cathedral) as you discover the delightful medieval center. Visit the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, featuring Ötzi, the Iceman, the remarkably intact 5300 year old mummy, discovered twenty years ago in Alpine ice. You are in for a special treat as a new exhibit opened recently showing the new, naturalistic reconstruction of Ötzi the Iceman. Using 3D images of his skull as well as X-ray and CT images, two Dutch artists, Adrie and Alfons Kennis have recreated Ötzi.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare in Bolzano.

Afternoon: Take the balance of the day for independent exploration of Bolzano. Wander through the market squares, take the shuttle to Runkelstein Castle to view its spectacular wall paintings, or ride the oldest levitating funicular world wide from Bolzano to the mountain village of Colle for a panoramic view of Bolzano. Your feet will welcome the rest at dinner tonight in the hotel.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel Scala Stiegl

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: We leave the German-speaking region of Southern Tyrol behind to enter the land of medieval castles, manor houses, orchards and vineyards. Wine is king in this area and we'll be cycling through scores of vineyards. There are twenty grape varieties used in the production of this region's top quality red and white wines. The most popular is the red Vernatsch grape, which accounts for 55% of the grapes grown.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare.

Afternoon: Learn about the passion of the wine-making process during a visit to a unique production facility. We cross the Italian-German speaking border at Salorno, where Italian influences surpass that of northern Italy. Take the opportunity tonight at dinner to sample some of the region's wines.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel America

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Explore Trento, whose Duomo was once the meeting ground for the Council of Trent. The remains of the old Roman town of Tridentum, complete with mosaic floors and a water heating system, remind us of the golden olden days. We'll discover the rich artistic and historic heritage of this city's elegant Renaissance style monuments and landmarks during a guided walking excursion of the archaic city center.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare.

Afternoon: Your afternoon is free for further independent exploration of this unique Alpine city.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel America

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Learn about the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during a lecture this morning. We mount our bikes and follow the bicycle path along the Adige River to Rovereto, whose surrounding mountains were heavily fought over during World War I. A former railway track leads us through a low pass to an awesome descent to the deep blue Lago di Garda, Italy's largest lake.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare.

Afternoon: Our hotel is located on the northeast corner of the lake, known for its beaches, windsurfing and sailing.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Lodging: Hotel Club La Vela

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Start the day with a ferry cruise on Lake Garda from Torbole sul Garda to Sirmione, which affords a unique perspective of the resort-studded shores lined with olive, lemon and orange trees. Watch the windsurfers skimming across its temperate waters.

Lunch: Free to sample local fare.

Afternoon: After disembarking the ferry in Sirmione, we'll explore this peninsular tourist enclave, renowned for its thermal baths and ancient villa ruins of Veronese poet Caio Valerio Catullo. Our cycling route continues to Peschiera del Garda, one of the most characteristic towns on the lake, which in Roman times was an important trading center for fish and agricultural products. Our hotel is located on the southern shore of the lake. After arriving at the hotel, you may want to visit Peschiera's old town center which is located in the middle of an enormous fortress in the shape of a five-pointed star.

Dinner: Enjoy dinner at a former historic fort which has been converted into a restaurant with magnificent lake vistas.

Lodging: Hotel Puccini

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Our last day of cycling will be on the level towpath along the Mincio River, which is Lake Garda's only outgoing stream flow. We'll explore the unique hamlet of Borghetto, the first settlement that developed near the ford across the Mincio River. The three ancient water mills that seem to rise out of the river were used during the Venetian Republic to mill wheat and rice.

Lunch: Free to explore local fare.

Afternoon: On arrival in Mantova, surrender your bicycles and explore this historical enclave bordered on three sides by lakes. Mantova is known for its cultural history and abounds with historic piazzas, palaces, and great Renaissance structures.

Dinner: Enjoy your farewell dinner at a local restaurant featuring regional cuisine.

Lodging: Hotel Casa Poli

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Group coach transfer to Verona Airport for flight departures.

Meals Included: Breakfast