On his journey through Italy in 1786, Johann Wolfgang Goethe was
enraptured by the beauty of Lake Garda. As a northman he described the
climate with enthusiasm, marvelling at the lemon blossoms amd palms.
This huge bowl of glacial origin with Arco, Riva and Nago-Torbole,
the threshold and border between the Dolomite area and the south, with
its typical Mediterranean climate, which is mild even in winter, has
obviously attrected travellers crossing Europe since the end of the last
century. The vegetation is rich. Olives, citrus fruits, palms and
oleanders follow one another mirrored in the waters of Italy's largest
lake surrounded by sheer mountain cliffs creating a unique landscape.
It is in this synthesis of water and rocks that a thousand opportunities
for leisure can be found, all in the presence or with the complicity
of the main subject, the lake. Sailing or windsurfing on the waves
ruffled by the daily "ora", the wind that turns this area into a
marvellous place for regattas. Or free climbing on the smooth rock faces
at the Spiaggia delle Lucertole, or parapenting off Mount Baldo and flying
for hours over the lake and a thousand other possible excursions.
The areas clod¨The areas close to Garda also benefit from this wonderful climate.
Indeed Arco, immediately inland from Riva, used to be a famous "Kurort"
a renowned health resort in Hapsburg times. The Valle dei Laghi is
also dotted with stretches of water like Cavedine, Toblino and Santa
Massenza, places in which tourism has developed indirectly, but nonetheless
rich in contents and incentives.
All places to be explored, like the Valle di Ledro traversed by Garibaldi
who, at Bezzecca, pronounced the historical "I obey", stopping his advence
in the Tyrol during the third War of Independence. The area is also known
for Ledro Lake in which a lake dwelling village was found dating back to
the bronze Age two thousand years before Christ.
Here, too, one has a precise idea of the past, of the size and prerogatives
of a "transit land" peculiar to Trentino.