La Via Claudia (Guided Leisure)

Following the Via Claudia Augusta

The route is built around a 2,000-year-old Roman road that once carried Spanish wine and olive oil, oysters from the Mediterranean and spices from Asia over the Alps. The Via Claudia Augusta was, for centuries, the main commercial artery between northern Europe and the Italian peninsula, and this eight-day ride traces its line from the Tyrolean meadows below the Zugspitze down to the shores of Lake Garda. It is a route with genuine weight to it — old churches, old villages, old vineyards — rather than a cycle path threaded through scenery for its own sake.

From Lermoos to Lake Garda

The week begins in Lermoos, in the shadow of the Zugspitze (2,692m), Germany's highest peak. The first days take in rolling forest trails and undulating countryside before the route picks up the icy blue waters of the River Inn and follows them upstream. From there it climbs to the Reschen Pass, the border with Italy, where the views open out and the descent into the Vinschgau Valley begins. South Tyrol is the heart of the trip — a German-speaking corner of Italy with its own cooking, its own wines and a string of apple orchards, vineyards and historic castles along the valley floor. Merano features along the way, billed by the operator as the jewel of South Tyrol. The final stretch follows the Etsch valley into Trento, where there is an afternoon to spend in the gelaterias and cappuccino bars, before the closing day's ride through the Sarca Valley to Lake Garda.

The riding and what to expect

Saddle Skedaddle grade this a 2 out of 5 — leisure-paced rather than flat. The week is billed as easy-paced but at times somewhat challenging, which sounds about right for a trip that crosses an Alpine pass. E-bike hire is available alongside standard bikes; confident cyclists may still want one for the climb to the Reschen, and the trade-off is more energy left for off-the-bike eating and drinking. Group pace is set by the riders without an e-bike, so the battery is for ease rather than speed. Two guides accompany the group throughout.

Bookings and logistics

The holiday costs from £2,495 per person and runs over eight days. The group meets at Munich Airport before transferring to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on June departures or Lermoos in July and August. Flights are not included; dinners and guides are. It suits riders who want a route with cultural depth as well as scenery — Roman milestones, border towns, valley vineyards — and who would rather be guided than navigate alone. A self-guided version of the same itinerary is available for those who prefer their own pace, and the standard trip can be ridden with or without an e-bike depending on how hard you want to work for the gelato at the finish.