I will be going to Italy tomorrow. First a few bike-less days in Rome then off to the Dolemites for some riding. Flats are boring, gotta get to the mountains. Will be doing the Stelvio Pass from Bormio, hoping to add in the Swiss ascent if I can make it (the starting point is far from where I will be).
Italy is very mountainous except for the plains from Venice to Milan. Never biked around the northern lakes like Como. Wanted to bike around Garda, but the traffic is too bad. There traffic might not be bad like LA, but there are pretty much no shoulders on the roads.