Our September Italian trip was planned as a two week visit en route from London to Turkey. While not the usual airport for South Tyrol/Lake Garda, we arrived and left through Venice airport due to flight connections to Turkey. Coincidentally our trip conincided with Jane and Robin being in Venice for a week with friends. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening with them in Venice, returning to our airport hotel by water taxi for our flight to Turkey early the next day.

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy, with a surface area of 370 square km and a maximum depth of 346 m. It is a popular destination, with Milan to the west and close to Verona, but not as busy as Lake Como.

We stayed just outside Salo, a small town on the south west of the lake. Although a long established town, it is now remembered as the de facto capital of Mussolini’s government from 1943 to 1945, following the Italian surrender in World War 2. A highlight of our visit was a half day trip on a Riva boat, the boat equivalent of a Ferrari, where we became a tourist attraction. Our hotel was a monastery converted by a Finnish family, combining Italian history and cuisine with Scandinavian style and service

South Tyrol is the most northerly part of Italy and was part of Austro-Hungary until 1918. It borders Switzerland and it is relatively close to Munich, two hours by car from where we stayed. The main language is German, with road signs in German first and Italian second. We came across a localised third language, Ladin which is a Romance language.

The Dolomites are a major part of the South Tyrol and with peaks in excess of 3,000 m a winter favourite for skiers. In 1956 Cortina hosted the first televised winter olympics, which return in 2026. In summer the skiing infrastructure provides excellent facilities for hikers to experience the scenery and food at over 2,000 m. For a number of years the authorities have been working successfully to restore and preserve the landscape from the impact of ski infrastructure. This has enabled a year-round tourist season. We visited in September when the weather was perfect for hiking.