| Gravellona Toce - Colle Delle Finestre | 342km | ||
| 62.4km off-road | June / September |
Quick GLR 31 overview
The GLR 31 motorcycle adventure route leads you for over 342 kilometers through the Turin, Vercelli, Biella and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola regions of north-western Italy. 62 of those kilometers will traverse over off-road sections. If the going gets tough, The Back-up Tracks will support you with 9 different sections. With a total of 5 connecting GLRs to this GLR 31, you’re able to continue to Adventurise the region. Let’s get going!
GLR 31 Route info
GLR 31 Region
With GLR 31 you’re going to explore the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont of Northern Italy. To be more specific, you’ll explore the Como and Varese provinces of Lombardy and the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Biella, Novara, Vercelli, and Turin Provinces of Piedmont. Read more about these regions down Below!
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the twenty regions of Italy. Located in the northwest of the country, it almost counts 10 million inhabitants. Making it Italy’s most populated region. Combined with an on average high GDP, Lombardy is the most populated, richest, and most productive region.
Besides this modern wealth, Lombardy knows a rich historical past as well. The region was called home by two different popes, and it knows the most UNESCO World Heritage sites of the world. But where the real Adventurisers come for is Lombardy’s natural beauty.
The region can be divided into three main natural zones namely the mountains, hills, and plains. All with its distinctive features to please all of your adventure riding needs. In the north, you find the High Alpine region with a predominant Alpine climate above 1500m. More to the south, the lower alps gradually fade away into the plains surrounding Milan.
Lombardy is dotted with numerous lakes. Predominantly in the north, you find most lakes with a glacial origin. Major lakes from east to west are Lake Garda, Lake Idro, Lake Iseo, Lake Como, Lake Lugano, and Lake Maggiore.
For Adventurisers, Lombardy is a beautiful region to explore, but it knows relatively high precipitation in summer. Thunderstorms appear out of nowhere, and hailstorms are a common phenomenon around the major lakes. Please keep an eye out for the weather while in the area!
Piedmont
The name for this northwestern region of Italy comes from the old Latin and means “ at the foot of the mountains”, and at the foot of the mountains, it is indeed. Almost 45% of the region is mountainous, with the remaining 30% are hills and 25% are plains. Piedmont is the second largest region of Italy, after Sicily.
The region consists of 8 different provinces namely: Cuneo, Turin, Asti, Alessandria, Vercelli, Biella, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Each province has its very distinctive landmarks. Cuneo and Turin are known for their rugged peaks to the west and the plains to the east. As for Vercelli and Novara for its damp rice paddies.
One of the most remarkable features of Piedmont is that it has almost 60 different national parks. With almost 8% of its entire area marked as a protected area, you would think it’s hard to find sufficient routes to Adventurise. Indeed it is, but Piedmont also houses many of the famous roads among the adventure riding community!
The climate of Piedmont differs as extreme as its geological features. The mountainous area in the west knows an alpine climate where snow can be found at altitude until late in summer. The plains to the east are known for their intense heat in summer and milder temperatures in winter. While Adventurising this region, it’s highly recommended to respect the recommended period given for each GLR. Many of the off-road sections are blocked in winter.
Thank you for downloading the GLR 31! Good luck with Adventurising Europe. Speaking of Adventurising Europe, to keep the project going and free, we’re relying on a mix of sponsored advertisements and Adventuriser donations. Do you like what we’re doing and you want to support the project? Please consider a donation. You can read more about donations and support here.
The Adventurising Europe project is all about documenting Europe through the eyes of adventure riders. Do you want to contribute to this mission? Become an Adventuriser! As an Adventuriser you’re part of our community and you enjoy the benefits of accessing the back-up tracks of the GLR-Network. Also you receive our regular updates on the project. It’s completely free, so enlist now!
Continue your GLR 31 Adventure by connecting different GLRs. To make your life even simpler, I’ve put together all the options down below!
Connections in Gravellona Toce
You find yourself at Lake Maggiore, and you want to continue your journey. Great, because in Gravellona Toce, there are starting to GLRs!
Choose the GLR 32 to go up north. This 176-kilometer adventure route leads you up into the high Alpine mountains of Switzerland. This GLR doesn’t support any off-road sections due to the local legislation. Nonetheless, the alpine roads will treat you well!
Or choose the GLR 36 to go East. This route is part of GLRs covering the great alpine lakes of Italy and Switzerland. This 394km long adventure route crosses the border with Switzerland briefly to continue on your journey east.
Connections in Colle Delle Finestre
You’ve just conquered the beautiful road up Colle Delle Finestre and you’re looking over the Susa Valley with the old fortifications to your left and the Ligurian Alps to your back. You’re ready for more! Let’s look at your options to continue your motorcycle adventure.
First, take the GLR 29 up north. This GLR will go down the same way you’ve come up. So if you’re not in for some extra off-road kilometers at altitude, I would recommend continuing your journey in Susa, before you head up Colle Delle Finestre. This 303-kilometer long GLR leads you into France and ends near Chamonix. The Alpine capital of Europe.
Or, you take the grand tour of the region with the GLR 30. This adventure route crosses all the major roads in the region like Strada dell’Assietta, Forte Jafferau, and Col del Sommeiller. This is a must-do route in the region, maybe even a must-do in Europe!
At last, I have the GLR 9 as an option for you. This massive 742-kilometer GLR leads you south through the Lunguirian alps and across the border into France. With 233km of off-road sections, this is almost a week-long GLR! Keep this in mind when you want to adventurise the GLR 9.
Explore.Ride.Adventurise.
Exploring Europe through the eyes of an adventure rider. Making Europe a better place for adventure riders by creating the GLR Network.
As an Adventuriser you get access to our special Back-up Tracks for the GLR-network. These routes function as a back-up when the going gets tough. In the event you need to circumnavigate a piece of the original GLR, the Back-Up Track will lead you via paved road to the next section.
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Support the Adventurising Europe project
As a Patron, you gain access to the latest 5 GLRs before Everyone else! That's at least 2,5 months! Besides that, you support 1 kilometer of that GLR. You enable me to continue the Adventurising Europe project and keep the GLR Network free. Please consider becoming a Patron if you think I provide any value to you.
The GLR 49 Motorcycle Adventure Route
The GLR 49 motorcycle adventure route leads you for over 125 kilometers through the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia and the Inner Carniola & South-east Slovenia regions of Slovenia. 78 of those kilometers will traverse over off-road sections. If the going gets tough, The Back-up Tracks will support you with 3 different sections. With a total of 3 connecting GLRs to this GLR 49, you’re able to continue to Adventurise the region. Let’s get going!
The GLR 48 Motorcycle Adventure Route
The GLR 48 motorcycle adventure route leads you for over 361 kilometers through the Goriška Coastal–Karst regions of Slovenia and the Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County regions of Northern Croatia. 113 of those kilometers will traverse over off-road sections. If the going gets tough, The Back-up Tracks will support you with 13 different sections. With a total of 5 connecting GLRs to this GLR 48, you’re able to continue to Adventurise the region. Let’s get going!
The GLR 47 Motorcycle Adventure Route
The GLR 47 motorcycle adventure route leads you for over 88,9 kilometers through the Goriška / Inner Carniola regions of Slovenia. 65,1 of those kilometers will traverse over off-road sections. If the going gets tough, The Back-up Tracks will support you with 4 different sections. With a total of 5 connecting GLRs to this GLR 47, you’re able to continue to Adventurise the region. Let’s get going!