Welcome riders!
FINAL DATES WILL BE PUBLISHED WITHIN JANUARY 2019,
WHEN DUCATI WILL RELEASE 2019 DUCATI RIDING EXPERIENCE CALENDAR.
The Ducati Riding Experience is at Mugello World MotoGp Circuit.
In 2019 we are glad to offer the TRACK EVO COURSE on the Ducati Panigale 959 or the TRACK MASTER COURSE on the PANIGALE V4 S (Expert rider only).
This is a terrific experience which includes 6 riding days and 1 day course at Mugello MotoGP Circuit riding the new 959 Panigale or the Panigale v4 S with Ducati Racing Instructors!
You must have track experience to do BOTH COURSES (5 Sessions on the track.)
Arrive in Roma, get your touring motorcycle and then spend 6 fantastic riding days along the twisty roads in the heart of Italy, and one free day in the beautiful medieval town of Orvieto, which allows you to really take a moment after the track day intensity and recharge in a real Italian wine country town!
The endless curves, the historic small towns, the high mountain passes, the quaint little hotels, the food and wine. Yes. This is Italy! A visit to the Ducati Museum and Factory is a must. Then join Ducati Riding Experience for 1 day track time on Mugello where you get the most out of your 959 Panigale or Panigale V4 S, it’s pure adrenaline for track enthusiasts with a big heart and a great right hand! The passion of Italy is what makes this tour sexy. The food, the cars, the motorcycles, the people are all made with a passion for life.
Enrico Grassi, founder of Hear the Road Tours and Cat MacLeod, owner of Leod Escape in the USA worked together to make this tour enjoyable for our style of rider and our type of trip. Like, so many great Italian things, it turned out authentic, curvy and delicious. The Ducati supplied Panigale is wonderful on the track, it just carves turns with such ease and confidence. This year we also extended the tour by one day to have a ride in the Chianti region and a visit of Siena. The rest day in Orvieto allows you to really take a moment after the track day intensity and recharge in a real Italian wine country town.
This fabulous tour starts and ends in the beautiful, Eternal City of Roma.
Choose your Motorcycle
THE DUCATI RIDING EXPERIENCE
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- On this tour you take part in the Ducati Riding Experience at Mugello World Circuit. How else could we get something as pure Italian as riding a Panigale on an Italian MotoGP track. It’s more than that. Ducati brings out celebrity riders. It’s kind of cool to get passed by Marco Melandri or to have Andrew Pitt give you tips on your braking technique. The whole event is very polished, very organized, very well photographed and very Ducati.
Click here to see what you are going to do!
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Where We Ride – What We See – What We Hear
Day 1 – “Welcome to Roma!” – (Late morning/early afternoon arrival is recommended.)
A private car will transfer you from the airport to the hotel where you will find Enrico and Cat, waiting for you to give you a warm Italian welcome.
After you’ve put your luggage in the room and take a good refreshing shower, we convene in the bar of the hotel for a “Meet and Greet” with your tour colleagues. Then we are ready to go to pick up the bikes and bring them to the hotel garage.
Back to the hotel Enrico and Cat give you a general briefing of the tour and will be very glad to answer to all your questions.
Then we all go together for our first taste of true Roman cuisine at the “Welcome Dinner”, where you’ll learn more about what to expect for the next exciting week.
Overnight is in Roma.
HIGHLIGHTS: Meet your motorcycle, Meet your guides, Meet your fellow riders, Welcome Dinner.
Day 2 – Rome to Siena (278 km / 173 miles)
We leave Rome heading North towards Tuscia, an area once inhabited by the Etruscans. This is also one of Italy’s biggest hazelnut grove areas, the small nut that Ferrero magically transforms into the famous Nutella spread. After a short break for your first good shot of Italian espresso on the road in Ronciglione, we get back on the bikes and ride, first the beautiful coastline roads that run along the shores of Lake Vico and Lake Bolsena, and then the scenic back roads of Val D’Orcia – an UNESCO World Heritage site.
We arrive in Radicofani where we stop for lunch. Radicofani is a stunning Orange Flag awarded town (The Orange Flag Award was an idea formed by the Italian Touring Club in 1998 with the aim of promoting tourism in lesser known places in Italy) which surrounds the base of a hill on which the majestic fortress has stood since 973AD.
On the way to Siena we stop to visit Pienza, considered to be the incarnation of a Renaissance utopia and an ideal city. Today it continues to show off to the world its refined and sophisticated Renaissance urban plan: its spaces and perspective onto its 15th-Century “piazza and palazzo” are organized according to the era’s ideals of rationality and humanism.
Back on the bikes we ride the sweeping roads that cross the Crete Senesi, famous for its stunning moonscape.
For your first dinner in Siena, you will be pampered by the delicious dinner that Ms. Letizia, the owner of a lovely 16th century Inn, nestled in a quiet grove of ancient olive trees, has prepared for you to celebrate your first riding day Italy.
Overnight is in Siena. (The hotel has a swimming pool)
HIGHLIGHTS: Tuscia Viterbese, Ronciglione, Val D’Orcia, Radicofani, Pienza, Crete Senesi, Homemade Dinner.
Day 3 – Siena to Siena – Chianti loop and visit of Siena (157 km / 98 miles)
Are you ready to be blown away by the roads of Tuscany? Spectacular landscapes, art, first-class food and wine! In the first part of the morning we head north riding on roads that are a true paradise for motorcyclists: wide bends, scenic stretches of asphalt, incredible landscapes, miles of vineyards, and dozens of stately villas. Our first stop is the gorgeous hill town of San Gimignano, a splendid medieval city enclosed by its 13th-Century wall, also known as “la città delle torri” (the city of towers).
“A masterpiece of creative human genius, it is an exceptional example of both architectural complexity and landscape.” It is for such qualities that San Gimignano earned its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990.
Back on the road we ride the beautiful off-beaten small roads of the Chianti Region heading North to Greve in Chianti, the birthplace of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the famous Italian explorer who first sailed into New York Bay.
A good Panino, stuffed with the local prosciutto and cheese, at the Macelleria Falorni is a must!
Back in the saddle we motor South to Siena, for more exciting kilometers along the sweeping roads of Chianti.
We’ll spend the night strolling around the narrow streets of the beautiful town of Siena. With the perfect restaurant we’ll celebrate another day that you’ll will remember fondly when you are back home!
Overnight is in Siena.
HIGHLIGHTS: San Gimignano, Chianti, Greve in Chianti, Siena.
Day 4 – Siena to Borgo Panigale (295 km / 183 miles)
From Siena we take the Strada Statale Cassia, where to this very day you can still hear the echoes of the Mille Miglia engines roar! A short break to San Casciano Val di Pesa and then we ride the winding roads that will take us through the mountains between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. As we cross the Abetone Pass we will give our right hands a workout
As the sun begins to set, we will reach Borgo Panigale, the city of the speed…the city of Ducati!
Overnight is in Borgo Panigale.
HIGHLIGHTS: San Casciano Val di Pesa, Vinci, Abetone Pass.
Day 5 – Visit to Ducati Factories > Borgo Panigale to MUGELLO (241 km / 150 miles)
In the morning we will be visiting the Ducati Factory and Museum, to see and hear the exciting red engines of Borgo Panigale. Ducati has always represented the unique motorcycle philosophy that fuses Italian genius to contemporary and avant-garde technology. They make a damn sexy bike!
With eyes and heart full of so much beauty we get back on the motorcycle to challenge the endless curves of the Tosco-Emiliano Pennine. With adrenaline pumping, we take on the Raticosa Pass, Futa Pass, Giogo Pass, and the Sambuca Pass: all of them Italy’s most famous motorcycling venues!
Overnight in Borgo San Lorenzo.
HIGHLIGHTS: Ducati Factory and Museum, The Raticosa Pass, The Futa Pass, The Gioco Pass, The Sambuca Pass, Borgo San Lorenzo.
Day 6 – Day Track at Mugello MotoGP Circuit
Welcome to Mugello! The Italian icon of the MotoGP. Today we park the street bikes and ride this famous circuit on Ducati sport bikes. Ducati has specially prepared a group of 959 Panigale so enthusiasts like you can get a real taste of riding a MotoGP course. Now names like Savelli, Scarperia, Arrabiata 1 and Arrabiata 2 will no longer be just names on a map, they’ll be curves you’ve ridden. Compare lines and celebrate tonight as we stay in San Lorenzo.
Overnight is in Borgo San Lorenzo.
HIGHLIGHTS: Mugello, Ducati Riding Experience (TRACK EVO COURSE on Panigale 959 – TRACK MASTER COURSE on Panigale V4 S) or
Day 7 – MUGELLO – Orvieto (264 km / 164 miles)
We leave Borgo San Lorenzo heading towards Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi which, with its sweeping and twisty roads, will be another proof how Italy is sexy for riders!
A short break in Stia and then we get back on the bikes and we reach Anghiari where we will have lunch. Anghiari is a small medieval jewel enclosed in massive 13th century walls that preserve the ancient and original atmosphere of small medieval towns.
And the day is not over yet! On the way to Orvieto we stop at a bar faced on the beautiful Lake Trasimeno. Dad and son, owners of the bar, are two enthusiast riders, so they will be happy to make the best coffee of Umbria for you! Then we join the scenic SS71, plunging towards Orvieto.
Overnight is in Orvieto.
HIGHLIGHTS: Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Anghiari, Lake Trasimeno, SS71.
Day 8 – Free day in Orvieto
Orvieto is a wonderful city and our wine resort accommodations are quite luxurious. It’s been a fast paced couple of days. Sleep in today. Watch the clouds drift across the vast vineyard as you sip espresso on your balcony. Slow down and enjoy the pace of life in Italy. Roam the streets and markets of Orvieto and drink in all the local sites and flavors.
Of course, the serious motorcyclists will take an afternoon ride to examine a few more curves and ancient villages.
Overnight is in Orvieto
Highlights: It’s your free day…you can do what you want!.
Day 9 – Orvieto to Rome (193 km / 120 miles)
Today we finish in style. We leave Orvieto heading east on the exciting Strada Provinciale 79, a stretch of road called, by the locals, ‘La Strada delle Mille Curve’ (the road of 1000 curves). It’s true that the world is too big to ride the same road twice… but with ‘La Strada delle Mille Curve’, we do an exception! Yes, we will challenge the road twice: uphill from Orvieto to Colonetta di Prodo and downhill from Colonetta to Orvieto…back and forth 20 km of pure adrenaline are calling you!
On the way to Rome we stop to take a picture of Civita di Bagnoregio, an enchanted town, perched as if by magic, on a rock of tufo.
Our last lunch on the road is a picnic…yes we stop on the shores of Lake Vico surrounded by the Cimini Mountains, to devour panini padded with local prosciutto and cheese!
Then it’s time to mount up again to join the Strada Statale Flaminia, our last twisty road that bring us to Roma where we return the bikes. A quick shower and then we all go together for dinner to celebrate this wonderful Italian experience.
Overnight is in Rome
HIGHLIGHTS: ‘La Strada delle Mille Curve’ (the road of 1000 curves), Civita di Bagnoregio, Picnic at Lake Vico, Farewell Dinner, Rome.
Day 10 – Departure day
Time to say goodbye, shop for any last minute souvenirs, and pack your bags. After breakfast, guests will be transferred to the airport. Please let us know and arrangements will be made.
Roads
Landscape
Art / History
Food / Wine
2019 Prices
Prices are based on the TRACK EVO COURSE
Who wants join the TRACK MASTER COURSE needs to consider an addition of € 600.
| * Motorcycle Models |  |
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| Rider in Shared Room | Rider in Single Room | Couple | |
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Motorcycle Class 1 BMW G650 GS – BMW F700 GS – BMW F800 R MOTO GUZZI V7 |
€ 5.620 | € 6.140 | € 8.490 |
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Motorcycle Class 2 BMW F800 GS – BMW F800 GT DUCATI SCRAMBLER 800 - DUCATI MONSTER 797 |
€ 5.750 | € 6.270 | € 8.620 |
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Motorcycle Class 3 BMW R1200GS – BMW NINET – BMW R1200R - BMW R1200 RS DUCATI MULTISTRADA 950 - DUCATI SUPERSPORT 939 |
€ 5.890 | € 6.410 | € 8.760 |
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Motorcycle Class 4 BMW R1200 GS ADV - BMW R1200 RT |
€ 5.930 | € 6.450 | € 8.800 |
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Motorcycle Class 5 BMW S1000 XR – BMW R1000 R DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1260 - DUCATI DIAVEL |
€ 6.100 | € 6.620 | € 8.970 |
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Motorcycle Class 6 BMW K1600 GLT |
€ 6.200 | € 6.720 | € 9.070 |
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Own Motorcycle |
€ 4.800 | € 5.320 | € 7.670 |
*Rented Motorcycle Subject to Availability
For currency converter click here
Testimonials
“If Ernest Hemingway were alive today, he’d be All IN for the Italian Motorcycle Dream with Hear The Road and Leod Escapes. Anyone can get on a plane and be walking through Rome, Bologna or Sienna the next day, but to truly experience Italy, you must embrace the ‘possibilities!’ Traveling with Enrico and Cat you will motor though small Italian villages with pit stops for delicious espressos and grand vistas. You will re-create your own version of the famous Italian race the Millie Miglia, cresting famous mountain passes with names such as Futa, Raticossa and Muraglione. Enrico sharing unique stories about your current location, farm to table dinners with paired wines and downtime to explore the area at your own pace. Finally, a dedicated day at truly one of the most spectacular racing venues in all of motorports, Autodromo Mugello. You will drive your track-prepped Ducati faster than you have ever gone,video-taped and critiqued by Ducati’s own racers and end the day celebrating your success with your fellow travelers over thick cuts of steak and red wine. Just like Ernest would have.”
“The Italian Dream Tour was spectacular in every way. This trip was perfect for motorcycle enthusiasts who enjoy riding on twisty roads with a wide variety of gorgeous scenery. Every day was filled with a generous amount of riding combined with stops at amazing locations. The food and carefully selected accommodations at off the beaten path locations made for a true Italian experience. Spending a day riding at Mugello circuit was the ultimate way to turn a fantastic trip into a once in a lifetime memorable event. Janet and I appreciate the fact that this was a well planned and well coordinated event, yet accommodated individual preferences and desires so that it never felt regimented or rigid. This trip is a must for anyone wanting an authentic Italian vacation that reaches into places that are best be appreciated on a motorcycle.”
“The Italian Motorcycle Dream Tour was truly a dream come true for us! Great food, great roads, amazing scenery and history, and a track day to boot! Enrico, Cat, and Nancy do an excellent job of putting together the itinerary, even arranging a surprise stop at a small bar in the middle of the twisties where they seemed to expect us. After friendly greetings and introductions, we had lunch and watched MotoGP live, complete with screaming fans/patrons and a win by local favorite Valentino Rossi! The selection of accommodations was diverse and all of them good, with the highlights for us being the B&B close to Siena and the incredible Altarocca Winery Estate. The list of enjoyable experiences goes on and on…A day in Rome, castle hunting, (including the astounding fortress of Radicofani), the Ducati factory tour, Misano World Circuit and the Ducati Rider Experience, Valentino Rossi’s Club, exploring the extraordinary city of Orvieto, the truly magical “lost city” of Bagnoregio, or the medieval city of Todi. The comradery of the group was really enjoyable, and riding together, at a brisk but safe pace, was a blast. Great food, remarkable roads, incredible scenery, friendly people, marvelous history, amazing experience! There are a lot of motorcycle tour companies out there, this is the one that attaches a track experience. It is grand….. Bravi!!”
“From start to finish the communication, planning and logistics were absolutely perfect! I hardly had to think the entire trip because everything was planned out for me. All I had to do was enjoy the trip of a lifetime. We got to ride roads, eat in restaurants and stay in places only someone with local knowledge could find. Italy is a gorgeous country with a lot to offer and we got the best of it. The track day at Misano exceeded my expectations. You got one on one coaching from world champion racers on the nicest track I’ve ever ridden. Enrico and cat wanted to make sure the trip was perfect and they delivered. The execution was flawless and I can’t wait to do another country with them next year.”
Full impression in all things Italian – incredible “locals only” back roads, small Italian villages, unbelievable scenery, and of course the food. Then when you’re fully intoxicated by desmos and expresso’s, you get to ride the Pantheon of race tracks – Mugello. Riding a Ducati at Mugello with professional instruction from World champions is simply an incredible experience.Just twist your wrist and enjoy – Hear The Road and Leod Escapes have thought of everything else for you.
“Why should you tour Italy on a motorcycle? Italy will spoil you with its maze of sinuous roads, impress you with ancient ruins, and indulge you with its cuisine… Last June, six other riders and I went on Hear The Road and Leod Motorcycle Escapes’ inaugural “Mugello & Italian Backroads” tour, a 6-day moto-romp through central Italy that included the Ducati Riding Experience, a full day of track riding and instruction on 899 Panigale sportbikes at Autodromo del Mugello, the 3.26-mile, 15-turn circuit nestled in the hills of Tuscany…Tour groups are small, guides are locals and hotels and restaurants are hidden gems.Although the track day at Mugello set the hook for this tour, it was just one of six full days of riding. By the time we returned to Rome, we had covered nearly 1,000 miles on mostly small, twisty, out-of-the-way roads, and each day brought new highlights and unique experiences.”
Creation of the tour: Associazione Culturale Hear The Road.
Organization and marketing: Hear The Road srl.