More Italian Lakes - Lake Garda

I am getting so late posting that I am forgetting what we’ve done! After 4 nights in Cannobio we set off for Lago D’Iseo, between Como and Garda. We found a lovely campsite right on the lake and got a pitch right by the lakeside. Iseo is a much smaller lake than Maggiore, but for us was nicer, with a lovely backdrop of mountains. The town of Iseo, a few minutes walk from the campsite was quite lively, although it is still early in the season. We found a restaurant for dinner and had the special fish from the lake barbeque for 2. Whilst we ate we noticed that the pizzas going by looked lovely – and were enormous! So we returned to the same restaurant the next night to try them!

We stayed at Iseo for 3 nights but had a couple of heavy storms, so had to play awning shuffle, including late at night, to save it being ripped off the side of the van. Despite the weather, we got chance to relax here in long sunny spells.

Next stop was Lago Garda. We decided to take a detour there and go up and over the mountains. When almost there we saw a sign indicating the Crocedomini mountain pass was closed but we were supposed to be turning down before that so we continued on. Unfortunately the turning we wanted was just after the barrier, so we had to turn back after winding our way up there. The view was pretty all the way up though, despite poor weather. As we turned round at the top, a group of motorcyclists were coming the other way and were avoiding the barrier by going across a grass verge to the side of it on the edge of the road. I watched in horror as one of them disappeared over the edge!! I was relieved to see him reappear on foot a few minutes later looking a bit shocked, as his friends all dismounted and went to work out how to retrieve his bike. Hope it worked out okay.

Anyway, after coming all the way back to where we started, we took an alternative route to Garda. We arrived in torrential rain and found a campsite in Limone Sur Garda, at the northern end. We were quite late arriving and it was raining. We went out for a walk and wondered where the village/town was. We couldn’t walk too far because of the rain – we were only overnighting so drying clothes etc would have been a nightmare. We had a beer in a bar and thought it good that we were just overnighting but the next morning we found out what we had missed! Limone is a real treat. Packed with tourists but very pretty. We drove out of the town, parked up and took the coastal footpath back. Most people approached Limone from the other side or by car/coach, so this footpath was deserted, making it all the nicer. Limone gets it’s name from its history of lemon growing and all over the place are huge stilts, constructed years ago to top with wooden frames to protect the lemons from the elements. I am glad we found it as it made a very enjoyable morning.

We then headed for Venice over the mountains. We stopped in Asiago, famous for its cheesemaking, but everything was shut and we only found one shop that was open that sold local cheese! The drive was spectacular and I was amazed at how many people live in the remoteness of the mountains in this part of Italy. It was quite cool up there, so we stopped and I made soup to warm me up! We intended to camp somewhere near Bassa Del Grappa but we couldn’t find a campsite. As it was the old mans birthday the next day, we brought it forward and took a night in the Hotel Asolo, a beautiful converted farmhouse and had a lovely supper at their local trattatoria.

We spoilt ourselves with the hotel breakfast and then departed to spend the morning at the beautiful hilltop village of Asolo. We walked up to the fort at the top and then meandered through the old cobbled streets. After some refreshments, we headed off for Venice, where we were to be staying for 4 nights. We found the campsite only by a miracle! It’s the closest one to Venice itself but the compromise is that it’s in a commercial zone, the entrance inbetween two car dealerships! Once inside however, the site backs onto fields and has the best facilities we have seen so far (although with lot of fridges on wheels!). We cooked supper and settled in for the night.