FAQ

Enrico, the owner and founder of Hear The Road leads all tours. He knows Italy as the back of his hands, and has toured extensively alone and in groups, and on several continents.

You’ll need to be 21 and have a valid motorcycle license.

Italy is a progressive European Union country. It is recommended that you have an IDP – International Driver’s Permit. Rarely do you need it to ride/rent your bike, but if there is an incident, your IDP will get the insurance to cover your expenses better than a driver’s license. It is recommended to get this 2 months before your travel date.

Check this link to know how to get the IDL in your country http://www.drivers.com/article/207/

You’ll be driving on the right-hand side, and anyone coming from your right always has right of way, unless otherwise specified.

A standard day will see us on the bikes by 9/9.30 am, straight after breakfast.
We’ll be out and about for an average of 6/8 hours, so by 6 pm we will be in our hotels.
We won’t be riding all day: depending on the tour you have chosen we will stop to visit museums, food shops and wineries, or simply to chat with the locals while we drink an espresso coffee or wait for a “panino” to be made… in short, you’ll be riding at a leisurely pace, enjoying your biking holiday.

Our maximum on any tour is 12 participants. We like to have a group of maximum 10 bikes.

Of course.

Yes, absolutely.

Yes. Although Enrico and his bike will be your loyal Italian companions during the whole of your holiday, during the day, instead of riding with the group, you might like to go off on your own adventure: we’ll meet up again in the evening at our chosen hotel. If needed, Enrico will be available at any time on his cell phone.

Italy is a great place to ride, but it is not a place to learn to ride. We are NOT looking for reckless riders, but confident riders. You’ll need to be able to engage in all types of bends on a touring bike, including tight switchbacks. You need to have ridden at least 5.000km / 3,000 miles and be comfortable on your chosen ride.

Helmets are mandatory in Italy. It is essential that you bring one with you. We can supply helmets, but It would be best to use one that you are comfortable with (there’s nothing worse than a tight helmet; and nothing more dangerous than one that doesn’t fit properly).
We strongly recommend that you bring your own motorcycle boots, armoured jackets, rain gear and gloves. It will not be possible to hire this equipment in Italy.

Yes, these are a pavement only tour.

We have to arrange the hotels in advance and put down deposits, so we’ll have to ride to each night’s destination. That said, we never want to be unsafe so well make alternate arrangements if absolutely necessary.

Unless otherwise stated, all tours include bikes rental, public liability insurance for the rented bikes, Italian Tour Leader, All accommodations with breakfast, welcome and farewell dinners, transfer from and to the airport, courtesy van to pick up and leaves the bikes, van for luggage transportation, a detailed road book, map (scale 1:400.000), Hear The Road t-shirt, insurance covering most any medical issue during the trip including, doctors, ambulance, hospital and any appropriate family travel.

You’ll pay for your own gas, tolls on motorways, all meals except for the welcome and farewell dinner, spa services and entrance to parks, museums and such. You’ll also pay for your own alcoholic beverages, flights to and from Rome.

When you are in Rome you will be staying in 4-star hotels, and when you are on the road we have chosen small, 3 or 4-star family-run hotels which offer comfort, friendliness, and a welcoming atmosphere: something which the big hotels just don’t have. Our aim is to give you an intense flavour of Italy, the real Italy.

Most lunches will be light (traditional Italian panini, healthy salads, or a selection of local cheese and cold cuts and a drink), for an average price of 15 to 20 Euros.
Dinner (a good, three-course Italian meal), costs between 35 and 45 Euros, for which you’ll also get a couple of glasses of wine!

Luggage is limited to one big case and a small back-pack per person. These will be carried for you in the support van. All bikes are euipped with side cases, top case and tank bag where you can put anything you need to have with you.
The tours all take place during the warm Italian season, so all you’ll need to bring are light clothes to wear in the evening (a pair of trousers, t-shirts, shirts, a pretty dress, a pair of gym-shoes, a pair of flip-flops or sandals, a cardigan or light sweater). And don’t forget a light-weight towel or sarong, and your swim-suit!.

When traveling with cell phones, or devices that need power, you always want to have adapters for your travels. Europe adapters are easy to come by and easy to use. The voltage is not hugely different, but if you have sensitive camera equipment, you might want to have a power converter as well. Your EU adapters are the Type C, 2 prong plugs. Our favorites are the multiple USB plug devices.

We live in a digital and credit card age. When traveling Internationally, it is advisable to carry some cash in the local currency. It’s best to exchange money at your local bank or credit union, their rates are better than airport exchange rates. ATM’s are all over the world and getting more cash is easy, but will come with a foreign transaction fee which can vary widely due to country and individual bank policies. Always contact your credit cards and notify them of your travel plans and any large purchases or hold that will be placed on your card. All motorcycle rental agencies require a security hold or bond of €1500 up to €3000. These are held so that the bike returns to them and in the same condition it left. The hold for the security amount is then released. You may not want to use cash for everything but it is advisable to carry enough for food and gas where ever you are going. European credit cards operate on an EMV or “chip and PIN” technology. That means they are im-bedded with a microchip and you are required to use a PIN to verify security and authorization of payment. PIN’s on credit cards in the USA mean a cash advance and hefty percentages apply. So, use a local ATM and get the most cash you can – fees vary widely, and use cash for small purchases and your VISA or MasterCard for larger purchases, just remember to tell them to pass when they ask for your PIN.

Just click on the button BOOK NOW, which is on every the tour’s page.

Upon reserving a place on a tour you make a deposit of €800.
60 days prior to the start of the tour, we will tell you if the tour has the minimum number of participants.
The balance of the total fee will be due as soon as we confirm the Tour.

If the tour has not reached the minimum number of participants, it may run with a different format or we will refund the deposit.

If you decide to cancel the tour for whatever reason that does not depend on HEAR THE ROAD, these are the penalties that will incur:

• up to 60 days prior to the starting date, HTR holds the deposit, that you can use for another tour in the same or in the following year.
• between 59 and 10 days prior to the starting date you lose the deposit. HTR holds the balance that you can use for another tour in the same or in the following year.
• from 9 days prior to the starting date you lose 50% of the total amount. HTR holds the remaining 50% that you can use for another tour in the same or in the following year.

Traffic is hectic in busy towns, especially in Rome. Cars, motorcycles and scooters in particular dive for any available space in any one queue; in fact we might as well say that the concept of queuing doesn’t really exist! Although this can be quite unsettling for riders used to more disciplined traffic conditions, there’s no need to panic. If you don’t let the frenzy of Italian driving get to you, you will sail through quite easily, chuckling to yourself, amazed by some of the stunts you’ll witness.
However, on the tours you won’t have to deal with such madness. Our rides keep away from busy city-centres, and traffic conditions out of town are absolutely fine. When we come and go from Rome, we’ll be travelling on days and at times that avoid the rush-hour traffic.

A support vehicle and guide will be on hand at all times during the tours, so you will get all the help you need to get the bike going again. If the bike has an irreparable problem, you will continue the tour using your guide’s bike until yours is repaired. Please note that all motorcycles used are recent bikes which are meticulously checked prior to the tour by official brand dealerships, and have an unblemished track records.

We’d like to point out that our motorcycle holidays are not races, so high priority is given to safety, without obviously spoiling the ride.
Your tour guide has the authority to take a rented motorcycle off the hands of any participant at any given moment if he feels that the rider is endangering himself and/or others. Italy has a huge motorcycle and scooter community (2 millions only in Rome), and statistically, in proportion to motorcycle numbers, there are no more motorcycle accidents than in any other country.
If during the tour you are unlucky enough to have an accident on your rented motorcycle, the support vehicle and your guide will do everything they can to help you. If it is only a question of the bike being damaged, you can chose whether to continue your tour in the support vehicle or interrupt your holiday. In this instance, we will not refund your tour.
In case of personal injuries, an ambulance will be called and you will be transported to the nearest hospital and treated accordingly. First aid is guaranteed to anyone and emergency medical staff throughout Italy is well trained to cope with this kind of situation.

Please note that we strongly recommend you get your own medical insurance prior to your holiday.

We suggest that anyone traveling abroad for one of our Tours consider purchasing “Travel Insurance”. It can take the worry out of the unexpected situations that can arise in any travel plan.