Best of Bassano del Grappa
Five nights, one base, four very different days
Monte Grappa, the Asiago plateau, Asolo and the wine hills, without packing a bag in the middle of the week.
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Home › Self-Guided
Self-guided cycling holidays in Northern Italy
No guide. No support vehicle. Everything booked, every route ridden and checked, and us on the end of a phone all week.
How it works
The work happens before you arrive.
Self-guided does not mean you are on your own. It means the planning is finished before you land, so there is nothing left to decide except where to stop for coffee.
It starts with a call. We ask how far you like to ride, what you want to eat, whether you want a day off in the middle, and what you would be disappointed to miss. Then we build the week around the answers.
Every route is one we ride ourselves, and we ride it again in the weeks before you arrive to check nothing has changed. Roads get resurfaced. Restaurants close for holidays. Bridges get closed for a month. We would rather find that out than you did.
By the time you get here, every hotel is booked, every lunch and dinner is reserved, your bike is fitted and your routes are on your computer. You ride, and we are a message away if anything moves.
- 1Call to work out what the week should be
- 2An outline and a price, usually within a week
- 3Deposit holds your dates, then we build the detail
- 4Routes checked again in the fortnight before you fly
- 5Bike fitting and a welcome briefing on arrival
What is included
Everything except the flights.
The only real difference between this and a guided holiday is that there is no guide on the road and no vehicle behind you. The groundwork underneath is identical.
In the price
- Return airport transfers from Venice Marco Polo, Treviso or Verona
- Accommodation throughout, twin share
- Breakfast at the hotel every morning
- Lunch each day, at vineyards, trattorie or restaurants along your route
- Dinner each evening at places we know personally
- Wine, water and coffee with included meals
- Welcome aperitivo and briefing on arrival
- Basso road or gravel bike, or an e bike at the same price
- Helmet and a proper bike fitting on arrival
- Mechanical support, on call throughout your stay
- Route cards and GPS files for every riding day
- Welcome pack
- Planning calls before you travel
- Every restaurant and cafe booked on your behalf
- Susi and Benji on WhatsApp and phone, 24 hours, all week
- Laundry organised where the hotel allows it
Not in the price
- International flights and travel insurance. We recommend both.
- Guiding on the road. This is the self-guided part.
- Alcoholic drinks beyond those served at included meals
- Guided experiences, workshops, factory visits and tastings, which can be added at any point
- Single occupancy supplement
- Peak dates, which are quoted on enquiry
Which holidays
All four run self-guided.
There is no separate self-guided range. Every holiday on the site can be ridden either way, and the routes are the same ones.
Bassano and the Prosecco Hills
From the hills behind our house to the terraces of Valdobbiadene
Two landscapes in one week, and a stop at the osteria where there is no landlord and you leave the money in a tin.
See this holidayBassano to the Trentino Lakes
The Valsugana line, from Bassano to Levico Terme
Fifty kilometres of traffic free path north, then two lakes you can swim in and a spa for the afternoon you decide not to ride.
See this holidayValpolicella and Lake Garda
Vineyards, a plateau, a lake and a city
Amarone country, the Lessinia plateau above it, then the long blue water of Garda and a finish in Verona.
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Romantic
Romantic, private, every detail arranged.
You keep the privacy. You still get the table we would have taken you to, the family estate where the person pouring made the wine, and the hotel we would choose if it were our anniversary rather than yours.
What that looks like in practice: a room we have slept in, a dinner booked at the right hour on the right evening, a day with almost no climbing in it when you want one, and an afternoon somewhere with water when it is hot.
- Rooms chosen for the room, not the star rating
- Dinners booked, including the one that matters
- Luggage moved between bases while you ride
- A route you can shorten without asking anyone
- Nobody else on the trip but the two of you
Price
From €365 per person per day.
Priced for two people sharing, with everything on the list above included.
We are not a booking engine and we never will be. Every trip is shaped on a conversation first, then priced, because the same week can be a gentle one or a hard one depending on who is riding it.
A 30 per cent deposit holds your dates. The balance is due 90 days before you arrive, and your full itinerary follows.
Peak dates are quoted on enquiry. All prices in euro.
What guests say
All of these rode it self-guided.
Every review here is from a guest we hosted, with their name on it. You can read the rest on our Google profile.
★★★★★
A 10/10 experience and without a doubt the best holiday we have ever had. Ben and Susi took care of everything for us, and we never felt alone even though the trip was self-guided.
Hulda SpurklandBassano, Asolo and the Prosecco Hills
★★★★★
They personally checked every route beforehand. We rode quiet back roads, through charming villages, and discovered places we never would have found on our own.
Lule SValpolicella and Lake Garda
★★★★★
They were very responsive to our emerging needs, including bike swaps and itinerary changes due to an injury unrelated to cycling.
Rose YuBassano and the Trentino Lakes
Questions
Before you book a call.
What happens if something goes wrong on the road?
You message us. We answer. One guest had an injury that had nothing to do with cycling and we changed the bikes and the itinerary around it mid-trip. That is the job.
How will we find the way?
GPS files for every day, loaded before you arrive, plus printed route cards. The routes stay on quiet roads and cycle paths, which is a navigation decision as much as a pleasant one.
Can we change the route once we are here?
Yes, and people do. Shorten a day, swap a climb for a lake, or stop for three hours at lunch and cut the afternoon. Tell us and we move the booking at the other end.
Can two of us do a guided trip instead?
You can. Guided is built around a group of six to twelve, so for two the price works out differently, and we will tell you what it is on the call. For most couples self-guided is the better trip, not the cheaper one.
Can I ride an e bike?
Yes, at the same price as a gravel bike. Several guests use one so they can ride Monte Grappa with their partner rather than instead of them.
Tell us when you can get here.
Fifteen minutes with Susi and Benji. We will ask how you ride, how you like to travel, and what you would be sorry to miss.
Book a call Or message us on WhatsApp, or email info@epicitaly.cc