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From Bolzano to Venice along the River Adige Cycle Path
Bolzano and Venice far apart? Naaa, by bike is a snap! Today we will ride along a piece of Italy’s first bike path and one of the most beautiful, beloved even by foreigners: the Adige Cycle Path to Verona. From here we will enter the heart of Veneto to Venice. Get in the saddle we’re off!
Officially, you can catch it as early as Merano (even at Lake Resia by taking the Vinschgau Valley bike path). However, we assembled the tour starting in Bolzano, for about 300 km of pedaling to Venice. Flat, riverside and affordable. It exploits valley bottoms and, except for a few very short stretches, is in a protected seat mainly in South Tyrol and Trentino. The Veneto part, on the other hand, also includes towpaths, country roads, or otherwise fairly quiet low-traffic roads. In short, it is also well suited to those who ride with in babies.
And now let’s find out below about the stages of the Adige Cycle Path.
DBolzano to Lake Garda
It’s also the one with the most pedaling: already Bolzano has a lot to offer, starting with that border town atmosphere. You can really breathe a bit of Austria here: bilingual signage, leisurely pace, multicolored facades, the smell of knödel.
We descend toward Trento with the river in the background and vineyards on either side. In Trento the atmosphere already changes and we make a miraculous leap from the crenellated Middle Ages of Piazza Duomo to the technology of the Muse (Science Museum) in the Renzo Piano-designed district. If you’re in the neighborhood visit it, young and old go nuts!
Rovereto to Riva del Garda
A few kilometers after Trento sprouts Rovereto, and here, too, a stop is a must. For lovers of art and architecture there is the Mart, the museum of modern and contemporary art, while for water lovers just head straight south, still on a bike path and still among rows of vineyards and fruit trees. Every so often you will find yourself almost in a courtyard, but at the next bend the view opens up over the whole valley making you feel very small.
To get to Riva del Garda, the northernmost tip of the lake, simply leave the Adige and turn off toward Mori shortly after Rovereto: you will find yourself in a picture-postcard village overlooking the water. From here ferries depart to Peschiera and Desenzano, crossing the whole of Garda in length.
Desenzano/Peschiera to Verona
Whether you land in Desenzano (on your way to Sirmione) or Peschiera (more convenient for Verona), go for an ice cream in Sirmione: a jewel-like town that seems to rest on water and enclosed first within great walls, then within a crown of mountains…nothing could be more spectacular. There are also excellent spas, take advantage of them!
From Peschiera, you could also ride down along the famous Peschiera-Mantova bike path, but we route to Verona, rejoining the Adige at Bussolengo. We are in the Po Valley, and we pedal through fields and vineyards: raise your glasses! These are the lands of great wines like Bardolino and Lugana (toward the lake), Soave, Amarone.
From Verona to Vicenza via the Berici Hills.
From Verona to Vicenza we cross the Alpone valley by bike, a must stop in Soave (in name and in fact) and head for Vicenza. We get there from above, that is, from the Berici Hills, more rustic at first, more elegant toward the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Monte Berico. Home of Palladio, Vicenza and province are a swarming of villas, not all by his hand but all true masterpieces. In Vicenza, don’t miss Villa La Rotonda; the bike path passes right by it on the way out of town.
From Vicenza to Padua via the Euganean Hills
Next stop Padua, and you can get there in 2 ways: follow the Riviera Berica bike path, made on the route of an old railroad, and at Longare follow the Bacchiglione River to Padua.
To make it really complete, however, just after Montegaldella divert to the“islands without sea” (Percy Shelley), the Euganean Hills: a pleasant regional park and a spa area of European renown with the centers of Abano and Montegrotto, you will come out regenerated.
> Around the Euganean Hills by the way there is a new bike loop of about 70 km, highly recommended!
It’s a short ride from here to Padua, and you’ll be spoiled for choice in the city: a bike ride through Prato della Valle, a walk through the ghetto, the Basilica del Santo (Antonio) and the nearby botanical garden, the oldest in the world (the new facility is truly spectacular). Oh, and the spritz. It was born here.
From Padua to Venice
Tied since the time of the Serenissima, the 2 cities are also close, and the route, despite the area being quite built/industrialized, will not disappoint: you will skirt the Brenta Canal where grand villas such as Villa Pisani in Stra are scattered.
From Mestre you can reach Venice by pedaling on the Ponte della Libertà bike path, or stop directly in Mestre, near the station there is a large bike park, and reach Venice in a few minutes by train (remember that you cannot ride a bike in the city, even if carried by hand).
What makes the beauty of this path?
1. It’s family-friendly
Especially the very first section, the one from Resia to Bolzano well suits the little ones, but even from Bolzano to Garda the bike path is in a protected, safe location and there is no shortage of playgrounds!
The whole route is free of difficulties, you just need to keep the daily mileage “affordable”.
2. Diversity
It’s not every day that you get to travel from the Alps to the sea in one go, changing so many environments,and languages, without crossing borders: the well-kept Upper Adige valleys among barns and pointed bell towers, Lake Garda with that almost year-round holiday atmosphere and perfect climate the very elegant cities of Veneto and Venice.
3. Castles
Do you have any idea how many there are?
We don’t 😂 The concentration is very high: think of the Buonconsiglio castle in Trento or Castel Beseno on an imposing rock beside the bike path.
There is the one in Arco, near Garda, the Scaliger castle in Sirmione, further on is the one in Soave, in Montebello even the 2 castles, it is said, of Juliet and Romeo.
What about Castelvecchio in Verona?
Crossing it at sunset, with the Adige flowing underneath is enchanting!
4. The cuisine
We go from Spätzle and dumplings to lake fish from Garda, enter the heart of the Veneto among asparagus from the Verona area and pearà, potato gnocchi, Vicenza-style salt cod, peas from the Berici, and down to the bacari (osterie) of Venice where fish is never lacking (sarde in saor ring a bell?).
All washed down with wine of the highest quality: from the greats of the north (Gewürztraminer, Teroldego, Müller Thurgau) to the full-bodied reds of the Veneto (Amarone, Valpolicella, Cabernet, Tai rosso dei Berici) and the sweet Moscato of the Euganean Hills.
Would you like to try it out? Here are some tours ready to ride:
