Italy’s golden triangle for outdoor enthusiasts

The northern tip of Garda is the jewel in the crown of Italy’s biggest lake to me.

In the Alpine region of Trentino-Alto Adige, three towns rub up against each other amid dozens of towering rock boulders.

Above, the dramatic ruins of castles cling to the looping, fjord-like landscape along the lakefront.

What’s not to like?

Here are my quick suggestions for things to do and places to drink and eat in the region.

Riva del Garda

Hugging the northern tip of the lake is Riva del Garda, the best known of the trio. Its historic core of cobbled lakeside plazas and orderly lanes, flanked by tourist-centric restaurants, feels somehow less commercial than other major towns around Garda’s shores, and it is arranged around handsome Piazza 3 Novembre.

The main thing to see here is slightly west of the centre: the Cascate del Varone (Varone’s Falls), a pair of waterfalls falling into a vertical cave 3km north-west of town. Back to the square: OsteRiva has recipes based on fresh lake fish (pike, sardines), Trentino staples like strangolapreti (bread-and-spinach dumplings), and German-influenced dishes. For a drink, Pub all’Oca is one of the longest-running local bars, opened in 1982, where Riva’s locals regularly meet and drink.

Arco

Set beyond Mt Brione, about 5km north of Riva and surrounded by a barrage of limestone, Arco is one of Europe’s most popular climbing and outdoor destinations. Arco’s Castle (adult/reduced €5/€3.50) sits like the cherry on top of a dramatic boulder above the town, a steep climb along paths flanked by thick olive groves. Once atop the hillock, the views over the town, Mt Brione, and the northern tip of the lake are sublime.

Coming down, you’ll pass by the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, Arco’s main church, with an imposing 61m-high bell tower, one of the most significant Renaissance-style churches in the region, and nearby, the free-to-enter Arboretum of Arco, a botanical garden featuring European and Asian plants. It was built by Archduke Albrecht in 1872, and it’s still a nice walk along a looping concrete path, studded with ponds teeming with red fish and benches to relax on.

Arco, however, is known around the world for its hundreds of climbing routes of all grades. Start at Rock Master Climbing Stadium (rockmaster.com), below Mt Colodori on the eastern side of town, where artificial walls are perfectly equipped to offer vertical thrills before taking to the actual surroundings. Once a year in early October, the centre becomes the home of Rock Master Arco, a three-day event of competition and meetings attracting climbing enthusiasts from all over the world.

Advanced climbers can take to Massone (aka Polo Sud/Pubblico). Near the centre, this is a wall packing nearly 150 limestone routes from F4a to F8c, including steep, technical climbs that helped cement Arco’s global climbing reputation.

The Belvedere (Laghel) is also known for lake views and excellent beginner-friendly slabs on the lower walls, with progressively steeper and harder routes higher up.

Nago-Torbole

Across the eastern side of the impressive granite wedge Mt Brione, this small village hugs the eastern end of Garda’s northern tip and gets some of the best winds in the area. It’s world-famous as a watersports hub, from windsurfing to sailing and stand-up paddleboarding.

Feel the shore at Spiaggia Lungolago, a free, long pebble beach on the northern tip of the lake, little developed and a joy to lounge and swim at.

A handful of kilometres away on the mountainside is the Parco delle Busatte, which, besides an outdoor mountain bike park, is the beginning of the wonderful, easy 7.9km out-and-back Busatte-Tempesta trail, which snakes through Mediterranean forest along a mountain ridge. Metal staircases hanging from the mountainside connect the steepest sections, offering amazing bird’s-eye views of the lake.

There’s also some good food in Torbole: let your hair down at Gipsy Van Street Food (instagram.com/gipsyvan_street_food), a bohemian food truck on the western end of the Sarco rivermouth, with wooden benches to sit at while African blues and alternative sounds blast from speakers. Try the piadina illegale, a delight of Trentino produce, including carne salada and Dobbiaco cheese. For something a bit more refined, the cellar-like Vineria Refol Wineshop (instagram.com/vineriarefol) is an intimate wine bar with wooden partitions lined with bottles, and an outdoor space to sit and lounge in the charming piazza Alpini.