Bacelona to Tuscany 2020
 

Looking for recommended routes from Barcelona to Tuscany. We will be picking up our bike in Barcelona and have 6 weeks to get to Chiavaretto, Tuscany.

Would be very interested in hearing about the best routes (including towns, villages and areas we should include). We would like to avoid busy highways and large cities.

Thanks!

Six weeks is loads of time. Barcelona to Chiavaretto is an easy two-day one-night trip on the highways (or a very long one-day trip).

Basically open Google Maps, look for green splotches with white squiggly lines in them.

The Pyrenees are there for you to enjoy (Andorra is a good place for tax-free booze or electronics). There's a Route des Something that goes from Perpignan to the French Riviera via scenic back roads. But you might as well swing north as far as the Alps.

There are two routes you can take -- through mountains or along the coastline.
if the former, you can go to Andorra la Vella through Manresa and Berga, then go to Toulouse, Lyon, Torino, Milano, Bologna, Firenze or San Marino and finally you arrive at Chiaveretto. You'll see lots of places but this is a long route.
if you travel along the coast, you'll pass through Girona, Montpellier, Marseille, Nice, Genova, Pisa, Firenze and many more small towns. it will definitely take less time. a day or even less if you aren't planning to stay in any of the places along the road
both are picturesque..been to Catalonia more than four times and each time we took vespa rental in barcelona in order to see as many places as possible and mountainous areas are full of vineyards and medieval towns while coastal cities are more modern but there are also interesting sites

It's 750 miles by the shortest route. With six weeks that's almost enough time to walk it. You could certainly do it without much stress on a bicycle. So, on a motorcycle, you're going to have plenty of time for side trips.

Do you live in Barcelona or coming there from somewhere else. Do you know that area of Europe? I'm presuming the trip'll be sometime during the warmer part of 2020. If it's early (April / May) you might want to either pack some warm clothing or avoid the Alps (and some of the Pyrenees) as they'll still be snowbound.

Don't overlook the Pyrenees when focusing on the journey eastward.
N260 is the classic route east-west but there are great routes throughout Pyrenees including some of the cross-border passes.
I think the eastern section of the N260 is less dramatic and busier. So veer west a little way.

Other routes:
Gorge du Verdon (F)
Grande Route Des Alps. (F)
Have a look at any of the famous cols used on the Tour de France
Ride magazine has a useful resource of routes throughout Europe
The Ardeches and Cevennes area a bit inland are beautiful.

A few attractions:
Bessalu Moto Museum - the branch near Lerida. Excellent museum. They have one in Barca too - smaller I think. I haven't visited this one.
Historic towns: Besalu, Carcasonne
Millau bridge
Canal du Midi