Modern Vespa

We are excited about our August trip with the vespa trip tour company. Has anyone done this? Their pics and blogs are fabulous. www.thevespatrip.com

We have been looking at that, but are undecided. Keep us informed and we may sign up for next year.

Will do!

We are also undecided and will be looking forward to reading a trip report from you with pics of course!

You can rent scooters in Sorrento by yourself and ride the amalfi coast road if you want. It’s really not that bad aside from traffic sometimes. Scooters zip in and out based on your comfort. Tons of little towns along the coast with jaw dropping views everywhere.

We went exactly 1 year ago. Didn’t ride but it was fun nonetheless. I’ll definately ride it when I go back.

It is rather expensive but we like the idea of the support vehicle and the hotels already setup.

As a frequent Europe scooter renter, this looks like a great opportunity for folks not in a club already. We don't always get Vespas, in fact only in Italy, but our trips to Greece, Spain, France, and now Portugal have been absolutely amazing. We're doing Portugal in September, and hope to be back in Greece in 2020. You'll have a blast, and wonder why you didn't go sooner.

Soul Surfer,

Several years ago, I was staying at a hotel in Positano (Amalfi Coast) and
rented two Vespa 50cc scoots from Sorrento. They delivered the scoots
to our hotel and later picked them up. We went two up on the small scoots and got around just fine.

What a great time we had. Traffic was not an issue, we just scooted around it
all. If you get a chance, ride up to Ravello. It is up in the mountains above the actual city of Amalfi. Best view in the world.

Hey, if they have a scripted route - go with it. You are going to have the time of your life. Italy has a helmet law. I expect the service will provide helmets.

Please post some pics when you return.

Bob Copeland
Frost Bite Falls Minnesota

Funny, I was just talking last night about going to the Amalfi coast with my parents next summer. I joked we should rent Vespas cause they are in their 60s and have never ridden a scooter or motorcycle ever and don't really have any interest in it. I just sent this to them as an option!

After checking that site out, I am definitely thinking of renting one for myself on this trip while they can get a car!

https://www.hpmotorrad.rentals/en/vespa/157-piaggio-vespa-300-gts.html

Bonnie and I are so pumped. We’ve been working on getting the “iron butt monkey” muscles in shape, by riding as much as possible, here in Toronto.

We intend to document and chronicle the ride. We start August 26 in Naples from the hotel Virgilis. I will create a RIDE thread when that happens.

Last edited by Soul Surfer on Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

Can't wait to see the photos and read the ride report!

Interesting. And it's cheaper to rent a BMW G310GS than it is to rent a Vespa for a couple weeks.

T-minus 14 days till we depart. Oh and by the way, we are both in our 60's. Try not to let the "age", influence the fun.

Age is only a number. Your state of mind is what matters and being on a Vespa makes you as young as youy want to be.

Sitting here at the airport gate waiting for our flight to board. Stop off in Zurich for a couple hours, then off to Naples. Getting quite excited and a bit nervous 😀🛵

Have Fun, Be Safe and post some pictures when you get back

Day 1.

Visiting around Napoli for a couple days before the tour starts. A little dirty but a lotta charm.

Cool! It's already many years since I last visited Napoli... it's a city hard to describe, perhaps because it has plenty of everything in a tight packed way? From beauty to trash, from history to modern day.... can't say it is my favourite city, but definitely worth to experience.

If you'll have time, take a day boat trip to the island of Capri from Napoli - that is pure beauty. But due to the high differences, requires good nerves to take the bus ride between Capri - Anacapri.. an experience in itself

Haha, WE DID today. Beautiful isola. Tomorrow is day #1 of the Vespa trip - Amalfi style.

Ha, great!

Our group is HUGE with participants from the Nederlands, Belgium, France and even Mozambique!!! We start early tomorrow and pick out our rides and head off to Sorrento. 93KM’s for first day. The hotel is GREAT!

We feel like whales from all the wonderful pizza here. Remarkably my pants feel looser - and they are not elastic.

How many in the group?

it looks like over 30 people. I will know more tomorrow.

Day 1 - Pick your ride

Driving a car in Italy is soooooo different than riding Italy on a scooter. You gotta go “native” real fast or die. On our way to Sorrento. I’m riding without a helmet because they did not have an XXL for my big brain. Got yelled at 3X, by passers-by “casco !”, “casco!”. “Lo so, lo so”, I reply (I know).

They are mostly Primevera 125 late models. I took one with the new digital color screen. A cool feature is to pair it with your phone. I haven’t tried this and wonder if it could project GPS. Anyone know.

It is remarkable how capable these scoots are with two riders. Weighs so much less than my 300 Super Sport.

I wonder if this adventure qualifies us for an “iron-butt” award?

I must say that The Vespa Trip tour organizers really know their stuff. From basic scoot mechanics, to local laws, restaurants, etc. They look after our safety at all times.

Today was the longest leg through the Amalfi coastal roads and mountains. We stopped in Revello for a break and some took a swim. Some of these roads have really challenged my riding skills along with my man parts.




Try the lemoncello baba. It is a arty in your mouth.

The Amalfi coastline is like no other place on earth.

Where is the top photo taken, it looks like a place we stayed on the Amalfi Coast above Positano called Montepertuso.

That was Revello.

Thanks. We never made it there, next time.

We arrived in Napoli on a Saturday afternoon after a long flight by way of Zürich. The first thing we found was that we were literally diagonal to the BEST pizza in this iteration of the universe and of course, Sfogliatelle. Sadly da Michele was closed for the summer when we arrived and only opened the day we moved on to our next stop

Sfogliatele puts flaky pastry with warmed custard in an entirely different category. Add a long espresso and you may just have entered another dimension. So this was day one and two, in prep of the Vespa Trip.

Nothing really preps you for spending five days on a Vespa as you tour the Amalfi coast so we spent day 1.5 on the island of Capri.

Capri is such a jewel of an island and its appeal to the young and old alike is quite evident, judging by the broad age spectrum. Even the older folks look sexy!

Day 2
After a 15 min walk of about over a kilometre, we arrived at our next hotel with our luggage in tow. There we met up with the tour company and the rest of the group. We had no idea how large the group would be, it turns out that we are about 26 people. This makes for quite a lot of us and some logistical challenges. But, first things first – we needed to select a Vespa at the garage the following morning. Of course, I selected the most modern one with digital display and Bluetooth - no surprises there. These were Primavera 125s. Not quite as powerful as the one we have at home, but quite capable.

Day 3 - And they’re off!!!
After spending a night at our hotel, we met up the following morning in the restaurant for breakfast, and proceeded to haul our luggage into the support vehicle and make our way to the parking garage to get our rides. After a minor technical hang up where they were short one Vespa, it all got sorted out.

Riding a scooter in Italy is nothing like driving a car. Your senses must be on constant high alert! And yet in all of this madness, it seems to ebb and flow like a wonderful symphony, where everybody knows their parts, and you better know where the horn button is, as it is actually a “language” here.

Stay tuned. More to follow and I will explain why I was not wearing a helmet on the first day. I love keeping you all hanging. It does have a happy ending.

Regards,

JP

Day 2 - about that helmet....

Our first leg took us to Sorrento by way of Pompeï.

After relaxing stay, a few hours, we headed off to Sorrento. The whole bunch of us, riding our vespas as though they were “Hardly Davidson’s” - singing “Born to be Mild 🎶” in our heads.

Sorrento is one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. Even if we think Capri is stunning, Sorrento takes it. The coastal views are so breathtaking. There’s nothing in North America that comes close to this, not even the Pacific coast highway, reputed to be America’s most beautiful.

Sorrento is where my new helmet was to be waiting for me. Fear not friends, the helmet was there when we got to the hotel.

Bonnie has been a real trooper throughout all of this. As there is no top case on this first but unlike our own back home, she needs to hold on for dear life so that I don’t lose her in the turns. Should’ve worn a T-shirt that says “if you can read this, my woman fell off”.


It seems that I have a rather large head. Probably to contain this rather large brain of mine. As such, there was no helmet to fit my head on her first day out, so I got to ride without a helmet. While feeling extremely liberated, you were also crazy and





Before reaching our hotel, we stopped off at a little private beach everybody got a chance to take a dip in the sea. At this point I was still nursing my butt as some of the roads were a little more demanding on my derrière.

These are some of the members

Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it. As we did.