Lake Garda and Bardolino

The October 2017 trip always had a fairly loose itinerary to begin with. Most of our trips do. We knew that our first stop was going to be Annecy, but had talked about multiple options beyond there that included the Pyrenees, Italian Lakes, Bavaria, Tuscany and others. I had travelled for work to northern Italy on numerous occasions in the past and remembered staying in a hotel in Desenzano del Garda many years ago that I remembered being picturesque. So on the basis of my vague memory we set off from Annecy and headed for Lake Garda.

Quiet October roads at the Mont Blanc Tunnel

There are numerous places to stay around Lake Garda, but we decided that Malcesine on the northeastern shore of the lake looked like a good spot. The village has a medieval castle that looked interesting and is also the base station for a cable car that runs up to Monte Baldo. We had in mind getting our walking boots on and exploring from the top. There were a few car park camping spots without facilities in the village and there was a campsite that we eventually went for that was walking distance to the north, perched up above the main road that runs around the lake. I don't remember the lake being particularly developed when I visited in the past, but as we drove up towards Malcesine, it seems that the southern end (certainly on the eastern shore) had become home to theme parks, water parks, holiday complexes and large caravan and campsites. Things open up a little as you travel north and once past Bardolino the view of the lake from the road is less interrupted by development. Our campsite was Camping Tonini - https://www.campingtonini.com/it/ - a half hour walk north of the village.

Camping Tonini - under the olives

Camping Tonini is a small site perched on a narrow strip of land above the main road, with most of the pitches shaded by olive trees.  The pitches are tucked relatively close together, but if you are fortunate enough to be on a pitch on the lake side, the view out over Lake Garda is wonderful.  Looking to the south from the site, the lake broadens out and the sunsets we saw from our vantage point were fabulous.  Just in front of the campsite is a strip of well maintained green that we discovered was the home of the Malcesine Paragliding Club.  The Paragliders take the cable car up to Monte Baldo and aim to land safely on this little strip of land.

I spent quite a while watching them through binoculars and have always thought it would be fun to have a go.  I flew in a tandem powered hang-glider many years ago, but the quiet freedom of one of these handkerchiefs with strings always looks amazing.  Mrs B cottoned-on to my enthusiasm and was insistent that we find the local companies that offer tandem jumps and sign me up, even picking up leaflets for me to figure out which one.  

Paraglider landing (successfully) at Malcesine

We watched the para-gliders heading down one evening and whilst most made their gentle, skilful landings happily on the grass landing site, two of them didn't produce the same virtuoso performance.  A solo para-glider misjudged his approach and landed half in the lake and half on the cobblestones that fringed the landing spot.  He scrambled on to the grass embarrassed, but seemingly unhurt.  Shortly afterwards a second flyer, this time a tandem, made his approach and instead of under-cooking the landing, he overshot his approach, slamming himself and his (presumably fee-paying) passenger straight into the trees and a van that was parked beneath them.  We didn't see how they both were, but coincidentally we noticed one of our fellow campervan neighbours with a plaster cast on his arm the following day.  The slightly worrying thing about the whole paraglider crashing shenanigans was that Mrs B was still insistent that I should give it a go!  Had there been a hastily arranged insurance policy that I was unaware of?

Maybe spurred on by the notion of risking life and limb by falling from the sky, I thought it would be great idea to hire a scooter to explore a little further than our bikes would take us.  The little Piaggio was a relatively inexpensive 24 hour rent from a garage in the village and after a little reacquainting myself with powered two wheels we set of for an explore.  Malcesine so far had been a lovely place.  The castle was worth a visit, with excellent views and the beautiful contrast of old cream coloured stone and red pan-tiles against the blue of the lake.  The historical information seemed minimal, but the simplicity of not being bombarded with plaques and posters every step was quite refreshing.  The restaurants and cafes we had stopped at were also very good and it was certainly possible at this time of year to find a table in anywhere we stopped.  The scooter gave us a chance though to see some of the rest of Lake Garda without having to move the van, so we left Malcesine for a day and headed north.    

Using a shop window to take a selfie - Limone Sul Garda

We only got as far as Limone having lingered in Torbole and Riva del Garda.  Some of the buildings that surrounded small squares and jetties in Limone were beautiful; still covered in brightly-coloured trailing flowers from window-boxes this late in the year.  The restaurants and shops were very geared for tourists however, and in a "pictures of food" kind of way.  Maybe I am being snobby, but generally if the menu is full of pictures of what your food might look like then I tend to avoid.  All of the villages and towns at this end of the lake appear to be catering for coach-loads of visitors from all points north.  It felt like both the northern and southern ends of the lake were victims of their proximity to the Autostrade.  The A22 delivers you to the northern end of the lake in no time and the southern end has Italy's main East-West A4 Autostrada running just a mile or so to the south of the shore.

As the sun lowered on the day we headed back round to the eastern shore, aiming to find some quiet and an organic vineyard in the hills above Bardolino that we had read about whilst watching paragliders dice with danger on the previous evening.  My navigator has always had a minor problem with figuring out which way up to hold her phone when using Google Maps, so it took a while to find, but eventually we spotted the entrance to Villa Calicantus - http://www.villacalicantus.it/en/.  We rushed in and probably looked quite a state, having spent all day on a scooter with only a half-visor to our helmets.  I am sure flies stuck to your face and teeth are attractive in some cultures.

Villa Calicantus

Our arrival coincided with a group of British visitor's departure, as their spokesperson was making a brief thank-you speech to the owners and staff.  The tables all held the evidence of what looked like a grand afternoon.  As they left we approached the lady who seemed to be the recipient of the thank you's and explained that we had just come to visit.  She very politely explained that they only do pre-arranged tastings, but had a plan for us that might work instead.  We followed her into the house and she pulled a blanket from a cupboard, poured us two glasses of wine and ushered us to follow her outside.  She pointed to a path that lead through the vineyard to a small hill and a circular stand of tall trees.  She said that there was a bench seat up there from where we could catch the setting sun over the lake and enjoy a glass of their finest.  The short walk took us to the long bench and the promised view.  She had given us quite a gift and what a contrast to the noise of the scooter and the bustle of our day's slightly disappointing visits.  It was hard to see the lake clearly on that day, as an autumn haze fuzzed anything even in the near distance.  But the sunset was nonetheless beautiful, the wine lovely and our bench and blanket for two was a joy.  Whilst we gently chilled in the evening sun, they had cleared away the tasting glasses and were sat in the garden with family enjoying their own evening break.  What a wonderful place.  We noticed the sign on the entrance as we left that had escaped us on arrival about pre-booked visits only.  Apologies Villa Calicantus.

We chilled in a different way on the ride back to the campsite, as with the setting sun came falling temperatures and by the battering my face received, an increase in insect activity too.  Our impression of Lake Garda had been rescued for us that day, ironically by heading away from the lake shore and discovering some generous local hospitality in the hills.  Maybe there are other places around its perimeter that we were daft to miss too and maybe our Piaggio tourist dash didn't do the lake justice.  We discovered latterly that at this time of year the region around the lake often has hazy weather and it certainly meant that we didn't see the mountains alongside the lake in all their glory.  It also stopped us climbing or using the Monte Baldo cable car, as we felt there was little point if we had no view at the top.  So we didn't really get to see the area in it's true splendour.  I would go back to Garda, but pick my season and research some quieter spots, or maybe combine with one of the other lakes?  I certainly want to go back to Villa Calicantus and make sure I don't have to drive home.

As for the van on this leg of our trip, there is little to comment on, other than my continued annoyance at the size of the "garage" and the struggle to get bikes in and out.  Once we parked at Camping Tonini, we didn't move the van and as a home for a few nights it proved very comfortable.  Time to move on though and when I get a minute, time to check our insurance policies to see if Mrs B does have a cunning plan.