7 Cities that Every Vespa Fan Should Visit

The best way of getting a feel of a new city is to ride through the city streets, visit some of the important sites and connect with the people. Standard tourist tours have you walk around with a bunch of loud, boring people who are mostly interested in snapping pictures — preferably ones where they look like they are holding the Leaning Tower of Pizza or leaning against the Eiffel Tower. On the other hand, a scooter ride across the city allows you to explore it more freely, have tons of fun and get to know the locals who often live in areas far from the major tourist attractions. The best way to travel through a city is on a beautiful Vespa, a true classic with elegant lines and playful spirit. You can rush past the cars stuck in traffic, go through narrow streets, and park anywhere you want, and all of that for a very small price. Let’s look at some of the best cities a Vespa fan can visit.

Florence

A small and charming city with a storied history and the actual birthplace of the Vespa, Florence is the perfect destination for all Vespa enthusiasts. There are numerous historical sites and works of art to be seen — e.g. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli at the Uffizi gallery — while just south of the city you will find the Chianti region famous for its red wine. This is a great place to visit with a lover as it is romantic, visually stimulating and offers a lot of options and locations for an unusual and creative date night with your loved one.

San Francisco

San Francisco is one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S. and has everything from museums, parks, beaches, those cute cable cars and, most importantly, incredibly cheap parking for scooters. Although traffic jams are a frequent occurrence, a Vespa driver can whizz past and enjoy the city without a problem. The warm weather, pleasant people, museums and cultural sites as well as exiting areas like Chinatown, make this city a perfect vacation spot for the avid Vespa fan.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

In Vietnam everyone rides scooters and there are plenty of great looking Vespas that you can rent. Saigon has a long history and there are many interesting cultural sites from various periods, including Museum of Vietnamese History, Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Municipal Theater and the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica. A word of caution though, this is not the ideal place for inexperienced scooter drivers as the streets are often very crowded and the locals drive like professional stuntmen, so you’d better be able to keep up if you decide to ride around the city on a scooter.

Paris

Cheap Vespa rentals, Old Contin1ent charm, centuries of art and high culture, famous sites known across the globe, the unique French spirit and some of the best food and wine in the world — Paris is definitely the place to be, particularly if you are on vacation with your significant other. The Eiffel Tower and Louvre are incredibly crowded, so unless you’ve booked tickets, I would advise leaving them for last and have some fun first. A ride down the Champs-Élysées and around the Arc de Triomphe will be enough to get you hooked on this city and make you never want to leave.

Athens

Athens is one of those places you read about in history books and you can’t wrap your mind around the fact that it is a real place. Driving around on a 21st century Vespa through the city with thousands of years of history behind it is a surreal experience which will leave you breathless. There is a big scooter community in the city, some excellent Mediterranean food and tons of historical monuments including the Agora, Acropolis, and Kerameikos. There are several great beaches outside of the city, so you will want to ride around and have fun all day long.

Barcelona

I have one word for you — architecture. Oh, the marvelous architecture. There are numerous World Heritage Sites in the city and there’s a whole lot more to look at and marvel. The city is also very scooter friendly — they have scooter tours and there are plenty of places where you can rent a scooter for up to a week. Combine all this with awesome cuisine and you get a veritable heaven on earth.

Dubrovnik

A charming little city on the coast of the Adriatic, Dubrovnik is reminiscent of Italian coastal cities in many ways. The beautiful architecture, numerous historical sites, warm climate and narrow streets make it a great city to drive around on a Vespa, with the air blowing in your face as you ride down the streets of the Old City. There is a lot to see and do here — from sunbathing and swimming to fine dining and exploring the surrounding area — the atmosphere is truly fantastic and the climate is just perfect.

Very few options give tourists any real freedom and a chance to have fun, unless you have a friend who can walk you through some areas of the city. On the other hand, in any one of the city mentioned above, you can fire up a beautiful little Vespa and let the road take you to some truly incredible places. You will have enough freedom to explore the cities and find great little coffee shops, restaurants or perhaps a perfect spot for a romantic picnic.