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Italy is another country I have visited by bike but only the northern part,  although I have been before by car. We entered Italy via the St. Gotthard Pass  from Switzerland. There is a tunnel that goes straight through but the pass is obviously much more enjoyable, especially on a bike. The St. Gotthard Pass picks  up with the A2 Autostrada in Italy which in turn connects with the Italian  Autostrada Network. (See Autostrada//per I'italia link for maps and info). We were heading for Lake Maggiore and the run down through  the Italian Lakes is beautiful, even on the Autostrada. However we had to come off the Autostrada to pass through the town of Varese and that was when the standard of driving in Italy became apparent. In short, the Italians are nuts. Traffic lights are no more than an indication that there is a junction there and lane markings are just there to decorate the road. Once you get used to that  just go wherever you want and rely on everyone else avoiding you, otherwise you won't get anywhere. On the way out of Italy we had to use the Autostrada early on a Monday morning and we were quite stunned to see guys on Fireblades and  R1's filtering at over 90mph from lane to lane whilst wearing shorts and  tee-shirts. Whenever we came to any sort of traffic jam or hold up all the bikes would take to the hard shoulder, (still at 90mph) and just keep on going.
 Italy is obviously a beautiful country but when we were there the temperature through the day was around 37c and wearing leathers was absolute torture. You did not dare to stop unless you were in the shade. The Italians we met were friendly, particularly the guy on a BMW with his wife on the back who stopped to guide us through Varese otherwise we might still be trying to find a way out

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