Note: calendar days are clickable to see each day of the trip

day 0 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23

Day by Day

DateWhere and what's going on
Sun Sep 3 14:10 PDX-3h58m->ORD 20:08 UA 728 (1h7m layover Chicago) United & Lufthansa $1380 rt-pp
Mon Sep 4 21:15 ORD-8h55m->MXP 13:10 UA 416 afternoon in Milan
Tue Sep 5 Milan
Wed Sep 6 Milan
Thu Sep 7 to Como (day trip ~1hr train ride)
Fri Sep 8 Como
Sat Sep 9 Como
Sun Sep 10 to Bergamo (~1hr40m train ride (2 trains, change in Milan))
Mon Sep 11 Bergamo
Tue Sep 12 Bergamo
Wed Sep 13 to Peschiera del Garda (1h7m train ride), then Malcesine (1h30m bus ride)
Thu Sep 14 Malcesine
Fri Sep 15 Vespa ride 1 3h22m 111km, ferry ride
Sat Sep 16 Vespa ride 2 2h55m 140km
Sun Sep 17 Vespa ride 3 ~3hrs 130km round trip
Mon Sep 18 Vespa ride 4 4h17m 187km"
Tue Sep 19 Vespa ride 5 2h40m 114km"
Wed Sep 20 Vespa ride 6 4h26m 209km
Thu Sep 21 Train to Milan
Fri Sep 22 15:10 MXP-9h50m->ORD 18:00 UA 415 (2h10m layover Chicago)
20:10 ORD-4h32m->PDX 22:42 UA 1495
Sat Sep 23 Andy's birthday
Sun Sep 24
Mon Sep 25 Kathi appt

Flights

About $1380/pp-rt booked direct with United/Lufthansa.

PDX to Milan

Departing Sunday Sept 3 afternoon, arriving Milan ~1pm Monday with a short layover in Chicago.
Stay awake on the first flight to Chicago, sleep on the 9hr flight to Milan.
Flights sold by United and Lufthansa for $1380/pp-rt 
Sun, Sep  3  14:10 PDX-3h58m->ORD 20:08 UA 728 (1h7m layover Chicago) depart 21:15
Mon, Sep  4  21:15 ORD-8h55m->MXP 13:10 UA 416     afternoon in Milan

Details still being worked out

Milan

Milan hotel

$143 A hip hostel where Kathi can practice her Italian site
$154 A more conventional hotel a bit outside the city center, but with good transport site
$164 Another convetional hotel site
Sept 4,5,6,21

Milan sites

TBD

Como

Como hotel

AirBnB home for about $1200 for 3 nights

Como transport

TBD
Noleggio Moto Como rents 300cc Vespa for 87€ per day, tres giorni: 225€

Bergamo

Bergamo hotel

TBD

Bergamo sites

TBD

Lago di Garda

transport from Bergamo

Malcesine hotel

Villa Nadia

Scooter rental

Motor Agazzi 6 days of Vespa 300 gts is 455€
one day of a Brera 125cc is 55€ or Vespa 125cc 65€
Pickup 9am, dropoff by 5pm.

Vespa tour

myMap

Vespa ride 1 easy loop around Lago di Garda

~4hrs 116km, including a ferry ride across the lake

Vespa ride 2 out to Temú

We ride from ~3hrs 141km and stay for 2 nights at Albergo Veduta Dell'Adamello, a hotel I really liked when I stopped there last year.

Temú hotel

Albergo Veduta Dell'Adamello I stayed here in 2022 and really liked this place!

Vespa ride 3 up Stelvio Pass and back to Temú

This is a day ride of about 120 km (round trip) up to the top of Passo dello Stevio on the easy side of the mountain. ss300 & ss38 to Bormio and back of Stelvio ~3hrs 130km round trip. It's difficult to show the detail correctly with Google Maps right now because the roads are closed due to snow, but they will be open in September. For extra credit, you can go down the (much) more challenging side of Stevio Pass and around a big ~240km loop back to Temu. That's the reverse of what I did last year on my Ducati Multistrada. It would be a long day. Instead, I recommend going down from the top only part way, then doing a U-turn and head back to Temu the way you came.

Vespa ride 4 Temú back to Lago di Garda

We can ride back to Malcesine the same way we came in 2 days earlier, or we can take another route. ~4hrs 160km or

Vespa ride 5 Mountains east of Malcesine

Here's 2h40m 111km.

Vespa ride 6 A bigger loop around Lago di Garda

We could do a grand tour all the way around the lake ~6hrs 200km, or we could just .


Big loop around the lake

Alternate idea, away from Malcesine for 3 days

Instead of keeping a room in Malcesine while away at Adamallo, stay away for 3 nights.
  1. Sep 16, Malcesine to Temu (1st night at Albergo Veduta Dell'Adamello)
  2. Sep 17, Up Stelvio and back to Temu (2nd night at Albergo Veduta Dell'Adamello)
  3. Sep 18, Temu to Agriturismo Incanti (night at Agriturismo Incanti) Temu to Incanti
  4. Sep 19, Back to Malcesine to collect our bags and stay two more nights at Villa Nadia before departing for Milan

Agriturismo Incanti

Italy promotes Agriturismo (Agricultural tourism and farmstays). Agriturismo Incanti is a farm stay near Malcesine that looks interesting. It has loads of glowing reviews and interesting pictures suggesting awesome food and service.
No website, but
via Parone, 25070 Sabbio Chiese BS, Italy
+39 328 441 0260

Returning Home

Malcesine to Milan

A bus and a train gets us back to Milan in about 2.5 hrs.

Milan downtown to MXP airport

The R28 train goes from Garibaldi to MXP in about 45 minutes

Return flight MXP to PDX

To get back for Andy's birthday and Kathi's doctor appt, return on Friday, Sept 22.
Stay awake for as much of the 10hr first flight as possible. Land ORD subjective 1:10am, do customs and immigration in ORD, change planes, depart subjective 3:20am, probably fall asleep before takeoff and sleep until landing at PDX about 4.5 hrs. Arrive home around 11:30pm and go to bed. Try to sleep until morning. 
Fri, Sep 22  15:10 MXP-9h50m->ORD 18:00  UA 415   (2h10m layover Chicago)
             20:10 ORD-4h32m->PDX 22:42 UA 1495