Things to do
7-
Monte Brione
A ridge between Arco and Riva carrying Austro-Hungarian fortifications from the First World War, with a path along the crest. It looks straight down the length of the lake. The walk along it takes about two hours end to end and is exposed to sun throughout.
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Riva del Garda
The town at the very top of Lake Garda, under vertical cliffs, with a waterfront that catches the Ora wind every afternoon. That wind is why the northern lake is a sailing and windsurfing centre rather than a swimming one.
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Cascata del Varone
A waterfall dropping about ninety metres inside a gorge it has cut for itself, viewed from walkways built into the rock wall. It is loud and wet and takes under an hour. Two galleries are built at different heights and both stay open in rain.
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Castello di Arco
A ruined medieval castle on a rock spike above the town, reached by a stepped path through olive terraces. Durer painted it in 1495 on his way back from Venice. The olive terraces below it are among the northernmost worked in Europe, and the climb up takes about twenty minutes.
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Monte Brento
A 1,544-metre wall above the Sarca valley carrying the Becco dell'Aquila exit, about 1,200 metres of vertical and by most counts the busiest BASE jumping and wingsuit exit point in the world, with something like fifteen thousand jumps a year. The Ora del Garda wind gets up through the middle of the day, so jumping is an early morning and late afternoon business.
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Monte Colodri
The crag directly above Arco, with bolted limestone from beginner grades upward and a path to a summit cross. Arco's competition wall and the Rock Master festival sit at its foot. Routes here stay in shade for part of the day, which matters in high summer.
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Torbole
A village at the head of Lake Garda where two reliable daily winds meet, the Peler from the north in the morning and the Ora from the south after midday. It is one of the main windsurfing and kitesurfing centres in Europe.
