Mountains, Lakes & Cities – Italy

After our brief and expensive stay in Switzerland, we made our way over the Simplon Pass to the bottom of Lake Maggiore, Italy’s second largest lake. We had to take the scenic route as we didn’t buy the annual pass required to go on the Swiss toll roads. It’s the only way to pay for them. The road was spectacular though so not complaining.




On our way from Switzerland, we approached the lake from the north and travelled down the western side to our accommodation on the southern shore. We stopped off at a place called Stresa for lunch. Huge rolls filled with tongue, cheese & mustard – Yummy!!



The following day we went up the eastern side of the lake to just before the Swiss border. We stopped at an old abbey built in the rock. We didn’t get many photos as we didn’t stop much. The following day we drove around nearby Lake Orta but as it was raining, we didn’t stop or get photos.
Our apartment near the lake had a vast view of the water and when it was clear we could even see some of the Swiss peaks in the distance. Up the road was a “beach” that families were enjoying.

For our last couple of days we decided to go to Verona. On our way from Lake Maggiore to Verona we took the long route and circumnavigated most of Lake Garda. Apparently, Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. We came in on the south west and drove up to Limone sul Garda – so busy! They have a short walk/cycle path along the lake just north of town and we were lucky to get a parking spot so we could walk on some of it. We continued further north through Riva del Garda and came down the east side. The west side was dramatic cliffs like the Amalfi coast and the east was rocky, more like Sicily.


Booking accommodation at the last minute often means we don’t have as many options. In the case of Verona, we were fortunate to score a great last-minute deal. Our accommodation was a conversion of a large palazzo into a number of apartments. We had a big space that had been converted to a high standard and the furnishings were also of a high standard. Such luxury. The location was also fantastic. Close to all the attractions but yet in a largely quite residential area. There is so much to like in Verona.

The city of lovers, opera, and romance in northern Italy, fair Verona has beguiled many a traveller over the centuries. Its connections with a certain Romeo and Juliet may be the most popular of reasons for a visit here, but there is so much more to Verona. What we really loved about Verona was it compact size, large roads that were largely car free and so easy to walk. Most of the Italian cities have limited access to cars within the centre. Verona we found to have even fewer cars than other cities we have visited. It really was pleasant walking around Verona.
Smaller but less battle-scarred than Rome’s colosseum, the impeccably preserved Roman amphitheatre is in the heart of old Verona. Almost two millenia old, it was constructed of blocks of marble in the first century AD by the Romans. In that era, it hosted up to 30,000 spectators



We were pleasantly surprised to discover during our visit that the Verona is a mecca for opera aficionados, and hosts a prestigious international music festival every summer. Held within the jaw-dropping, unmissable 2,000 year old Roman amphitheatre, the Arena di Verona Opera Festival runs for a couple of months and sees the cream of the crop perform to thousands each night. We enjoyed walking around seeing the props and listening to some of the performance. We did not attend an opera.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover during our visit that the Verona is a mecca for opera aficionados, and hosts a prestigious international music festival every summer. Held within the jaw-dropping, unmissable 2,000 year old Roman amphitheatre, the Arena di Verona Opera Festival runs for a couple of months and sees the cream of the crop perform to thousands each night. We enjoyed walking around seeing the props and listening to some of the performance. We did not attend an opera.
On one of the mornings, we walked to the red brick fairytale bridge, Ponte di Castelvecchio. It’s one of most popular photo spots in Verona and has great views out across the Adige. It was built in the 1350s and is still standing. On one of our runs we could not resist running along the river past this spectacular bridge and castle.



Yet another beautiful bridge was the Ponte Pietra which we used to then take a stairway up to Castel San Pietro for elevated views of Verona. From the Castel we walked further and climed the hill upto the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Lourdes. It is a newer circular shaped church.




Whilst we did have a kitchen, Glenda found a great restaurant which in their words was for the ‘philistines’ amongst us. It was a restaurant specialising in meat of all sorts. It seems horse meat is a thing in Verona. They had 18 options including, Ostrich, Zebra, Camel, Kangaroo, Deer etc. Anyway, we had a great night out with Glenda having Ostrich and Walter enjoying Deer. The next night we got to try German. Can’t go wrong with good beer and pork knuckle.

We came home via Bologna and arrived home in time to listen to Robbie Williams in concert. We did not have tickets but could listen from a distance.