Italian Lakes Discovery

Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrive Milan | Transfer to Malcesine on Lake Garda

Meet at Milan Mapensa Airport at 10:00am and transfer to Lake Garda. You'll have time for a short afternoon exploratory walk in the area before an orientation and welcome dinner. Overnight in Malcesine (SD)

Day 2 – Lakeside and olive grove hike | Prehistoric rock carvings

We take a boat southward along the lake to the town of Garda and the start of our hike, which takes us along the lake and then up into the area’s attractive olive groves. We pass some fascinating prehistoric rock carvings before descending to pretty Torre del Benaco and its 15th century fortifications. (BSD)

Ascent: 900 feet | Descent: 900 feet | Distance: 7 miles (may vary)

Day 3 – Cable car to Monte Baldo for a panoramic hike

Take Malcesine’s panoramic cable car up to 5500 feet to the Monte Baldo ridge which dominates the lake and reveals views across the whole lake and into the Alps and Dolomites. Our hike takes us down into the verdant Lessini hills along pasture footpaths on a circuit hike on rocky paths and pastures back to our starting point. (BSD)

Ascent: 1800 feet | Descent: 1800 feet | Distance: 8 miles (may vary)

Day 4 – Transfer to Varenna on Lake Como | Sirmione | Bergamo

We leave Lake Garda for Varenna, stopping off to visit Sirmione’s stunning Roman villa on the southern tip of Lake Garda. Arrive in historic Varenna, a picture-perfect and stylish village on Lake Como. Overnight in Varenna. (BSD)

Day 5 – Varenna lakeside walk

We’ll get acquainted with the lake on a pretty lakeside walk through some of the characteristic villages that dot the shores of Lake Como. Explore footpaths and tracks with panoramic views over the lake, before getting a boat back to Varenna. (BSD)

Ascent: about 1200 feet | Descent: about 1200 feet | Distance: 7 miles (may vary)

Day 6 – Ferry across Lake Como | Panoramic walk on Monte Grona

We take a ferry across the lake to its western shores and drive up high into the hills above the lake for a hike along pasture paths to a high grassy ridge. At over 4000 feet elevation throughout we enjoy breathtaking views of the Italian and Swiss Alps and down onto both Lake Como and Swiss Lake Lugano, before taking the ferry back to Varenna. (BSD)

Ascent: 1800 feet | Descent: 1800 feet | Distance: 9 miles (may vary)

Day 7 – Lake ferry to Bellagio | Circuit hike above Bellagio

Ferry across Lake Como to historic Bellagio, the famous lakeside village, for a walk around the town before ascending above the village to its hamlets for commanding views of both branches of the lake and the surrounding hills. We conclude in one of Lake Como’s historic botanical gardens before hopping on a ferry back to Varenna. (BSD)

Ascent: 800 feet | Descent: 800 feet | Distance: 5 miles (may vary)

Day 8 – Mountain hike in the hills above Varenna | Return to Milan

We drive up into the high hills above Varenna to around 3000 feet for a bucolic hike through Alpine meadows with views taking in the Italian and Swiss Alps and Lake Como and its villages before continuing to Milan (BSD)

Ascent: 1700 feet | Descent: 1700 feet | Distance: 7 miles (may vary)

Day 9 – Depart Milan

Depart Milan on return flights or onward travel. (B)