Featured holiday Walking holiday at Lake Garda Lake Garda, Italy

You start the holiday by flying from London to Verona where a private car and driver will meet you and take you to your hotel. If travelling by rail you will depart London the previous day and take the Eurostar to Paris. Change stations in Paris and the sleeper train departs at 7.15pm and arrives into Verona around 8am. Alternatively, day-time trains take you from Paris to Lausanne on the beautiful Lake Geneva to arrive around 6pm. Stay overnight here and then travel by rail via the Simplon Pass and reach Verona around 1.30pm. Your private car and driver will meet you at the train station and you spend the rest of the day settling into your hotel and exploring the lakeside town of Malcesine.

Your first self-guided walking route takes you on a beautiful panoramic trail between Busatte and Tempesta in the northern reaches of Lake Garda. The easy route is about 10 kilometres in total, starting from Torbole bus stop, and should take around 4 hours to complete, with lots of opportunities to stop and admire the view. The trail takes you along the foot of Monte Baldo, about 120 metres above the lake and leads across an impressive landscape left behind in the wake of glacial retreat. Along the route are information panels about the local flora and fauna, as well as the views of the western lake shore. Some sections of this trail are bolted directly onto the steep rock face, offering incredible vistas of Riva and Torbole, the surrounding mountains and the sparkling lake dotted with boats. You return to Busatte along a slightly higher trail which leads you through the forest above the rocky cliffs.

Your second walking route starts in the lakeside town of Molina de Ledro and takes you along the famed Strada del Ponale to Riva del Garda. The route was originally built in the second half of the 19th century and has since been replaced by a modern tunnel, leaving the historic road open for use solely by cyclists and hikers. The trail is about 10 kilometres in total and we recommend starting in Molina so that the route is mostly downhill although it is possible to start in Riva. The Strada del Ponale starts from Lake Ledro and weaves its way down quiet roads and paths along the valley heading back to Lake Garda. The second half of the route is particularly stunning as you pick up the old road which weaves right along the edge of the lake, often passing through tunnels carved directly into the cliffs, to arrive in Riva del Garda. Enjoy a late lunch here and spend some time looking around the town before heading back to Malcesine.

We include two rest days within this walking holiday, although of course you can choose to swap the days around as you please. We suggest taking the ferry to the southern shores of Lake Garda today and visiting the pretty town of Sirmione. The old town is based on a tiny peninsula which juts out into the lake, giving fantastic views across the water. Whilst in Sirmione you might like to visit the Archaeological Site of Grotte di Catullo with its Roman villa, museum and olive trees before relaxing on the rocky shores of Jamaica Beach below. Other points of interest include the thermal baths, Church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the fortress of Castello Scagliero.

Your third walking day takes you further almost directly across the lake from Malcesine to the town of Limone sul Garda. Limone is a charming town with ancient houses, narrow cobblestone streets and a picturesque harbour. It sits between the lake and the mountains and offers a rang of walks that vary from easy waterfront strolls to more challenging ascents up the steep slopes behind the town. Your walk today takes you from the ferry and up the beautiful Valle del Singó, following the San Giovanni stream for the first 2.5 kilometres between the mountains of Dosso dei Róveri and Monte Preals. From here, you turn left and pick your way up the steep southern side of the valley following a track which disappears into the woods and brings you to a beautiful clearing on the plateau which is a great place to stop for a picnic lunch. Continue in a loop from here to drop steeply down into the Valle Pura and follow this back to the lake and Limone. Spend the rest of the afternoon in Limone, visiting the old lemon grove of Limonaia del Castél and trying the local limoncello, before heading back to Malcesine.

There are plenty of options for how to spend your second rest day of this walking holiday and you may like to start the day simply unwinding by the pool at your hotel. We recommend heading to Gardone Riviera after a relaxed morning to look around here. The main attraction in Gardone Riviera is Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, the hillside residence where the eccentric writer Gabriele d’Annunzio lived from 1922 until his death in 1938. This beautiful estate includes buildings crammed full of interesting items from his life including more than 30,000 books and objects ranging from Murano glass fruit basked to Ancient Roman columns and from statues of Buddhas to icons of Christian saints. Surrounding the cluttered rooms of his life are stunning gardens which house the huge Parlaggio amphitheatre, D’Annunzio’s tomb and even the remains of a battleship cruiser. This is an opportunity to glimpse the life of a strange mind and is a unique experience. Head back into the town centre after your visit and relax in one of the many bars and restaurants which line the waterfront or maybe visit the Heller Botanical Gardens before taking the boat to Malcesine.

Your last day of walking in Lake Garda takes you to Monte Baldo – the highlight of many visitors’ trips to the region. Monte Baldo is the name of the mountain range directly above Malcesine and the day starts by taking the cable car up to a lofty height of 1,760m in rotating cabins. From the top you can see the full scope of the surrounding landscape with the lake and sky separated by soft lowlands, dramatic mountains and snowy Alpine peaks on the horizon. From the cable car station, we offer two options depending on your energy levels. The first option is a more strenuous walk which takes you uphill from the station and picks up the high mountain ridgeline passing the summits of Cima delle Pozzette, Cima del Longino, Cima Val Finestra and Cima Valdritta before dropping down into the woods below and continuing easily to the mid-level cable car station at San Michele. This route is about 15 kilometres in total and is the most difficult walk of the trip. For those who do not wish to take such a long route or are not comfortable on the rockier terrain, we recommend taking a short loop north from the cable car station to a panoramic position at the end of the ridge above the Bocca di Navene pass. You then return to the station and walk easily down though the beautiful woodland via the chapel at Piombi to reach San Michele. This route is about 10 kilometres in total with significantly less altitude gain. Have a look around San Michele and perhaps have a drink or some food at the Locanda Monte Baldo before taking the cable car back down to Malcesine for your final evening.

You enjoy a final breakfast at your hotel before starting your journey home. It is about an hour’s drive from your hotel to the airport. If travelling home on the sleeper train you don’t need to leave your hotel until the early evening before being driven back to Verona and retracing your steps home via Milan and Paris, arriving into London at lunchtime the following day. If travelling home on day-time trains you leave Malcesine around 9am and take the train from Verona to Milan before changing north onto the Gotthard route to Zurich. Stay overnight here and continue on a direct train to Paris, returning to London around 5.30pm.