Italy - Retrospective

In total, we cycled about 2000 kilometers, while the planned route had been 1500. We already expected to cycle a lot more because that is what always happens. We were definitely in worse shape this year than on previous vacations, but we still reached descent daily distances. That was mostly because we cycled until late in the day. Usually, we didn't stop until 20:30. The first few days were the hardest for me because I needed to get used to the heat and cycling in the mountains. Bram was in better shape, but he had a hard time on the two days after Pisa. Near the end, we were getting back in our usual ritm and felt like we could keep going for at least a week more.
 

The route this year was pretty, but the part in Italy wasn't as nice as I had expected. Cycling there was also not always fun because all the roads were crowded and narrow. The Italian cities were all beautiful, though. 

Eventually, there were three days on which we only cycled part of the day, which made a big difference. Probably the best cycling vacation in Italy would consist of cycling in the morning, then strolling around a city in the afternoon while it is scorching hot, and then continuing cycling in the evening. That way, we would likely still be able to reach 140 kilometers a day. Most days, we didn't cycle super far between one and four o'clock because of the heat.

The prettiest days were those in France and the Alps.