Wdw 2020, 17-19 July

It just depends on what you want to do, though i would wait for Ducati to announce the actual dates ( usually in January) before making any concrete bookings.

You can do it on the bike in 4 days but it is a long slog. Better to take longer, quieter and more scenic routes.

Even better still get the bike transported and catch a plane to Bologna. There is a train from Bologna that goes straight to Cattolica/Rimini which are the best places to stay as they are on the coast and the missus can chill on the beach.
The whole area is given over to bikes for those few days, its a great atmosphere but in all honesty one day at the circuit is enough to see everything and it gets very hot that time of year with little shade.

 

The date is usually based on availability of the Misano circuit which it turn is based on the dates of WSBK meetings.

That calendar wont be fixed until the end of this year.
If you are on a Monster i would leave yourself a week each way travelling as El Toro says.

Rimini is where the nightlife is too.

 

I've been to 4 WDWs on my Monster 696s. I'd definitely recommend riding rather than just putting the bike in a van to Misano. I make a fortnight's trip out of WDW, enjoying the ride, and the opportunity to tour as much as the event.

Don't worry about your bike being the most mucky and fly encrusted if you rode down - mine will definitely win that prize! It wears its bugs as a badge of honour for not being a garage queen! But if the bugsplats worry you, there are filling stations in Cattolica with jet wash facilities.

I rode the whole way there and back for my first 2 WDWs. For my 2nd I rode all the way there and most of the way back, putting the bike on a train from Verona to Dusseldorf - I wouldn't use that service again (hot, aircon on train didn't work, slow, very little sleep). Last year I used Bikeshuttle to ship the bike to and from Geneva and picked it up there. Their base is Northampton which I guess is less useful to you if you're in Ireland. Next year I'll ride all the way there and maybe use Bikeshuttle to take the bike back from Geneva because I tend to find the last 2 days coming home through middle & northern France tedious, whether I've tried to stay off the motorway (and found myself crawling through towns) or used autoroutes to make progress.

It will be insanely hot at WDW (high 30s Celsius). Unless you and the wife are masochists and like the boil-in-the-bag experience of camping in the heat, book a hotel with aircon. Accommodation does get booked quickly.

I've always stayed in Cattolica - full of Ducatisti in the evening, background music of Termis and dry clutches for the weekend, good atmosphere. The resorts on the coast are also where lots of Italian families go for their summer hols - most of the hotels have a zone on the beach that their guests can use (Italian beaches are very organised). Book a nice hotel with a spa if your wife isn't up for going to the circuit every day. I've stayed at the Luxor Beach.

Alternatively, if you & your wife would rather stay somewhere more quainty & historic, @Pete1950 is a fan of San Marino.

If your wife is not into bikes, but prefers more cultural touristy stuff, suggest she gets the train from Cattolica up to Ravenna to see the fantastic mosaics in various churches & other historic buildings. (Change trains in Rimini). I did that as a day out on one previous WDW trip.

 

I went to my 1st this year. Took the scenic route down 5 days, motorway back 3, to Yorkshire. Came back thru Germany to avoid French tolls and Alpine tunnels which I hate with a passion.

It was really hot, especially in traffic really really hot. Italian autoroutes really expensive but almost impossible to make progress away from autoroutes, so that's a catch 22. Speed camera fines follow you home. Brush up on your scrumaging if you want to get close to any racers, they go f nuts. Queues for gear are ridiculous. I enjoyed the whole 3 days.

I stayed in Cattolica an Italian rider kept updating me on stolen bikes so accommodation with a garage is a good idea plus keep it locked.

somehow, riding there made me feel like I'd earned the entry.

TB

 

Maybe she could do Milan while you do Misano

 

Having been for the last 4, my biggest advice would be to plan it all in advance. There's a lot to do and for the limited availability bookings (like test rides, Audi taxi rides, etc) you have to book as soon as they get released otherwise you'll miss out. That doesn't make it a bad experience, it just means that you won't get the most out of it.

For hotels, get somewhere in Cattolica which is closest to the track and also on the beach front. That way the missus can enjoy the beach while you're at the track. You can go further afield south to Gabicce Mare or even Pesaro as you will have the bike to travel. We stayed in Pesaro last year and it's a 20 minute ride, but you miss the atmosphere around the northern places like Cattolica, Riccione and Rimini itself. It's very much centred around Cattolica/Riccione and places like the Dolce Vita on the seafront are great for the evening and served by buses that run the length of the seafront from Rimini to Cattolica.

Final tip - join one of the official owners clubs. There are 4 in the UK:
Ducati Owners Club GB
Ducati Sporting Club UK
Scottish Ducati Club
UK Monsters Owners Club
All of these give you a 50% discount on ticket prices and you get early bird booking. Tickets were €45 last year instead of €90 for the weekend, so paying to join a club and buying a discounted ticket is still cheaper than paying full price. The early bird booking means you get two shots at booking events as well - one with the DOC release which is a week before the public release, so if you miss out at the DOC booking you can go again on the public bookings. Or do both

Joining a club also means there will be plenty of people there you can meet up with, join in events with and get help from if you need it.

Oh and also, some of the members speculated on the WDW calendar and booked hotels in Catollica only to have their booking cancelled when the dates were officially announced and on trying to book again the price had doubled...

 

I do like San Marino, but last time I stayed in Urbino. Both being mountains, they are a trifle cooler than the roasting flat coast.

 

Italy in July can be absolutely scorching, and usually is intolerable for WDW. I have always loved warmth sunshine, but these days it's getting too much. In future I think I'll go down in May or September, which I should be able to cope with.

 

Quite like the idea of shipping the bike, does anyone know who arranges this. Is it one of the dealers, DOCGB or and independent ?

Enough interested on the forum to organise ?

 

My advice would have been ship your bike to memmingem in germany then a couple of 80 euro flights ! bikes are stored in the airport for your arrival 500-600 euro with overlanders depending on how big your bike is , one hour down the road your in the alps and pick any of the stunning routes to Rimini !! Ferry and France are a waste of 3-4 days

 

They normally sort out the bigger destinations first but I have had a bike collected from bologna ask them do they intend to do there this year ? I have done Malaga Bilbao and Memmingen with overlanders its great to get around Europe without the lost days of ferrys and motorways !