Umbria 2026

† Explanation of BAC Ride Fee – This fee is not included in the Estimated Cost and is non-refundable once submitted. The Ride Fee for US and Canada is $85 and $150 for all other countries, both are per participant.

Ride Description

OVERVIEW: We begin in Fiumicino, a fishing village where you can watch the fishing boats selling their catch to the locals from the balcony of your room. The hotel offers shuttle service into Rome. From Fiumicino we take a private coach to Montefiascone, famous for Est! Est!! Est!!! white wine. To avoid traffic and tourist-inflated prices, tour stops are in smaller villages except for Assisi. There are 4 two-night stays during the tour to offer a chance to see it all at a relaxed pace. From Montefiascone we cycle past medieval hill towns and rolling fields of grain to Orvieto, famous for its Duomo and underground dwellings. Then we have 2-night stays in Todi, Montefalco and Assisi. In Assisi, our stay is in the midst of a 4-day Renaissance festival, Calendimaggio, pitting the upper and lower parts of the city against each other. You'll ride through green pastures dotted with herds of sheep and down hillsides that offer views of castles nestled in the mist. Frequent stops for pecorino panini, hand-rolled strongozzi with porcini mushrooms and gelato are a must. In Assissi, if you want to take a day off and tour instead, the city bus is available (and inexpensive) for visits to Spoleto and Spello. Some of the most picturesque rides come at the end of the tour. Our final 2-night stay in Sorano offers apartments in a quiet setting on the edge of town. Plan a visit to the museum which is carved out of the city wall. It offers sweeping valley views where swallows dart in and out of ancient rocky ledges. You'll be tempted to whisper, the silence is so profound. Then it's a final ride back to Montefiascone along the banks of the Lago Bolsena before we depart with a toast to all things Umbrian.

LOGISTICS: Arrive in (Rome) Fiumicino on Friday, May 1, 2026 and depart on Thursday, May 14, 2026 from Leonardo da Vinci airport, Fiumicino, Italy. See the Welcome Letter in Ride Leader's Docs for details about the arrival hotel, Hotel Tiber. A hotel shuttle is available for €7 per person. Instructions on locating the shuttle are in the Ride Leader's Docs. An informal meeting will be held at 6:00 PM in the hotel roof top terrace on our arrival day, May 1. We take a private bus on May 2 to Montefiascone where bikes are unboxed or rental bikes delivered to the hotel. Bike boxes are stored at the Montefiascone hotel, La Carrozza d'Oro. On the departure day, May 14, from La Carrozza d'Oro in Montefiascone, there is a bus transfer to Fiumicino airport with projected airport arrival of 10:00 AM. The tour is mostly on quiet roads except for a few areas of heavier traffic riding through Assisi. Tour includes 13 nights of lodging starting with an overnight at the Hotel Tiber in Fiumicino.This will be the sixth time this tour is offered.

DATES for TOUR: May 1 – Arrival Day in Rome/Fiumicino; May 2 – Bus to Montefiascone to assemble bikes & Group Dinner; May 13 – Bike back to Montefiascone & Final Group dinner; May 14 – AM Bus to Fiumicino Airport for departure

RIDE RATING: The trip is rated a 3A!, with daily averages of 31 miles and 2,500 feet of climbing. The longest day is 46 miles and has 4,300 feet of climbing. Grades may exceed 8% to reach hill-towns. Roads are mostly quiet or may have moderate traffic. Using a different metric, the number of feet per mile, a difficult ride is widely recognized as 100 feet per mile. A moderate ride is 50 feet per mile. This tour averages an 85 feet per mile, or on the high side between a moderate and difficult rating. Longer options are available. Roads are mostly quiet or may have moderate traffic.

COST: Deposit of $ 1,000 + Final Payment of $1,020 due on or before January 15, 2026, based on an exchange rate of $1.20 = €1. The estimated cost includes: 13 nights lodging and breakfasts and 7 dinners, luggage van & driver, and a wine tasting. We may reduce or increase the final payment depending on the exchange rate. After the tour we will provide a report of all expenses and refund any excess.

SOLO SUPPLEMENT: Solo supplement of $480 due January 15, 2026.  Space for 2 solo rooms. Solo supplement payments, due January 15, 2026, should be made by Zelle or check. Checks should be made out to “BAC” with a notation of the tour name included on the check and mailed to:  Bicycle Adventure Club, PO Box 23998, San Diego, CA 92193.

SINGLES: Single riders who want to share a room are encouraged to sign-up. We will assist with your search for a suitable room mate. Singles who are accepted but waiting to find a room mate will have a limited time-frame to do so if there are more BAC members registered on the wait list. Once a room mate is found, both riders are added to the tour. If a single rider cannot find a room mate, they may be added to the ride on a “space available” basis.

HEALTH & SAFETY: We will invite participants to a Zoom meeting about 6 weeks prior to the tour start date to discuss health and safety rules. Up to date boosters for COVID are required. Participants are expected to come to the tour in good health and ready to ride. In short, if you are ill on the tour, be it a cold or test positive for COVID but you can ride your bike, then you can stay on the tour with precautions in place. In this case, protocols for isolation, masking, and social distancing are required. If you test positive and cannot ride your bike, then you must isolate in place. That may mean departing the tour or arranging your own transport to subsequent hotels on the tour. Protocols for isolation will be required. We will all need to be flexible as safety comes first.

TANDEMS/E-BIKES/RENTALS: Tandems and e-bikes will be accepted on a case-by-case basis. Talk with the leaders about this. Rental bikes will be available through CycleEurope (cycleeurope.com). Details in the Welcome letter. Delivery fees will depend on the number of people renting. With 10 or more delivery fees are usually waived. Each rider will pay CycleEurope directly with a credit card.

MAPS & CUE SHEETS:  A document will be posted in Ride Leader Docs that will have the link to give access to the RWGPS Event.  We recommend that you print out hard copies of both the maps and cue sheets.  This document contains instructions in case you are not familiar with Ride with GPS.

WEATHER: Temperatures are mild to warm but showers are a possibility. Plan for full rain gear including long fingered gloves, helmet and shoe covers along with a rain jacket and rain pants. Evenings can be cool so plan on long pants and a jacket.

INSURANCE: Before participating in any BAC tour, you should assess whether your medical and travel insurance coverage is sufficient. BAC maintains insurance that covers expenses related to accidents, medical emergencies such as sudden and unexpected sickness, and repatriation. This coverage applies when touring outside the US and your home country, regardless of your nationality. It will cover you door-to-door for a maximum of 90 days but will expire if you make a side trip not related to the BAC tour for more than 7 days before or after. There is limited coverage for a family member to join a covered person in an emergency. The policy covers the cost of treatment for Covid and other unexpected illnesses, but not quarantine. You should ensure that your vaccinations are up to date. Coverage is subject to a $1000 deductible.

CANCELLATION POLICY: The BAC ride registration fee and payment processing fee is not refundable unless the entire tour is canceled due to participation below stated minimum requirements. Any refunds are dependent on our finding a replacement from the wait list. If we can fill your position immediately you will get your refund less the non-refundable fees. If we are not able to fill your position, any refund will be based on the principle that costs not be increased for those who are completing the tour (singles will need to have an agreement with their roommate on how the single supplement will be handled in case of a cancellation). Your share of fixed costs like the luggage van, leader and van driver expenses will be deducted from your eventual refund. Whatever we can recover, you will get back after the tour is completed and the final accounting takes place.

PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITY: Please remember that BAC Ride Leaders are volunteers, and that successful tours depend on participants providing much of their own support. Participants are expected to come to the ride well trained, in good health and ready to accomplish the required daily riding using well-maintained bicycles. All participants should accept responsibility for a safe and enjoyable tour. We encourage you to read the ride description carefully and respond to requests from Ride Leader. While on the ride, support your Ride Leader with offers to help with various tasks such as happy hour preparation and clean-up. Please do not interfere with the ride by inviting non-participants onto any portion of the ride or tour. Please keep the Ride Leader informed of any special request you may have and respect the Ride Leader’s decisions.

SIGN UP: To register for this ride, use the sign-up links just above the Ride Description. After preliminary acceptance, you will be moved to the pending list and receive an email requesting you to go back to the BAC site to digitally accept the terms of the Release of Liability (ROL), and pay the Tour Deposit and the non-refundable BAC Ride Registration Fee by credit card. There is an $85.00 domestic ride fee and $150.00 international ride fee. As soon as your deposit has been processed, your name(s) will be added to the Participant List. BAC members with questions may contact the Ride Director by "clicking" the name at the top of this Ride Description.