Benvenuto al Lago di Garda!

Here it is, the information you have been waiting for, the III Rivers run to Lake Garda for the 17th Annual European HOG Rally. The rally takes place at St Francesco on the shores of Lake Garda in Italy from 25th – 27th September 2008.

The official chapter run will be leaving around mid day on Saturday 20th September take five nights riding through France, Germany and Switzerland and then on to Italy. We will then spend three nights in St Francesco close to the rally site and then take four nights to come home via Austria, Germany and Belgium arriving back early evening on Thursday 1st October. On most days we will travel around 200 miles, less when we are crossing the Alps. The route will be both scenic and leisurely with plenty of opportunity for stops and photographs. We will be staying in good hotels on a bed and breakfast basis throughout the trip.

For a rider and pillion sharing a double room the total cost for hotels, Channel Tunnel crossing and tolls will be around £850 for two. In addition to this it will be around £230 per bike for petrol and you will need to buy your own rally ticket direct from HOG. Rally tickets are 75 euros for members and 100 euros for non members.

You will need to budget for lunches, dinners and drinks each day and also need to ensure you have adequate insurance and breakdown assistance before we set off. Solo riders are, of course, very welcome but I would suggest that you share a room to keep down costs. The cost for Solo riders will be approximately £470 each based on sharing a twin room. This covers hotels, crossing and tolls.

If you want to get to Lake Garda by the shortest possible route in the quickest possible time then perhaps this is not the group for you, but we aim to ride at a steady pace through some spectacular scenery and the route we have chosen reflects this.

If you would prefer to make your own way to Lake Garda, but still enjoy the rally with other chapter members, I have reserved additional rooms at the Hotel Berta very close to the rally site. Bed & Breakfast for three nights 25th – 27th September will cost approximately £210 for a double room. At this stage prices are only approximate as we obviously cannot tell what the euro/pound exchange rate is going to be in 9 months time.

If you would like to reserve a place on the trip I will require £100 per person non refundable deposit. Places are limited and are available on a first come first served basis. We are going to start a secure savings scheme for Chapter trips and you can make monthly deposits into this to help spread the cost of this and other trips organised by the chapter.

The closing date to reserve a place is the end of January. If you would like more details of the hotels or the route please do not hesitate to contact me.

Zoe 07939 057225