At first glance, Garda Ronda might make you think of a quick lap around the lake on the road. That would be almost exactly 158 kilometres without any significant metres in altitude. Road cyclists can do it in a day. But the concept of this Garda Ronda for bikers and e-bikers is far from that. Apart from the fact that the main roads around the lake are very busy, the Gardesana Orientale and Occidentale in the east and west lead through long, sometimes dark tunnels. The risk of being run over by a car here is simply too high. On this Garda Ronda, however, you don't touch these roads, at most you cross them in the main towns.
Instead, the idea of this Garda Ronda lies in the magnificent landscape and trail experience around the lake. The route connects almost all the highlights: from Monte Baldo to Monte Caplone and Tremalzo. The route can be organised in many different ways. The clockwise route described here is one of the most beautiful and is specially designed for e-mountain bikers: The maximum of six stages can be completed with a normal battery - with the use of all kinds of muscle power.
GARDA RONDA - THE ROUTE
If you look at Lake Garda from a bird's eye view, you can see the rugged, striking mountains to the east and west, the Sarca Valley to the north between Riva and Torbole and the large, flat part of the northern Po Valley to the south between Garda and Salo. Experienced mountain bikers will turn up their noses at this southern part - it's all very flat, lots of tourism and traffic, not interesting for bikers. Wrong. Here, the Garda Ronda leads away from the main traffic routes, partly directly along the lake, but mainly through olive groves and vineyards, through lonely cypress avenues, for the most part on trails and forest paths. This part in particular is more beautiful and exciting than you might think. Of course, you could skip all this by taking the ferry from Torri del Benaco to Toscolano Maderno. That would shorten the journey by two days. But you would miss something.
The routing in the east and west, on the other hand, is not so easy to organise. Let's start with the east: The first bulwark is Monte Altissimo, the northern flank of which you can easily roll up, especially on an
E-MTB on a narrow tarmac path. If you want to ride back down to the lake from there via the well-known, challenging Navene trail, you can only continue southwards from here on the cycle path along the lake - beautiful, but not a thrilling ride. The few gravel paths and trails on the western flank of Monte Baldo above Malcesine to Brenzone are all so rough and steep that even on an e-MTB you can only manage them with long push sections.
The solution for this part of the Lago circuit is clearly on the eastern side of Monte Baldo. There are several options here, from the narrow Strada Graziani between Rifugio Graziani and Spiazzi to the pretty trails at Lago Pra da Stua, Madonna della Neve and Passo Cerbiolo. Don't know it all? All the more reason to tackle the Garda Ronda. You may not have a panoramic view of the lake on this side, but the views down into the Adige Valley are just as fascinating. Only further south do you cross the shoulder of Monte Baldo towards the lake. On the long descent from Malga Zocchi to the village of Campo, the views across Lake Garda are all the more intoxicating. There are places where you can see Monte Brione in the far north and Sirmione in the far south at the same time. It doesn't get any better than this.
The western side of the lagoon offers significantly more options: The fascinatingly rugged mountains in the Lombardy part of Lake Garda are criss-crossed by gravel roads and trails. For the most part, you cycle on military roads from the First World War. Here you have a wide choice of routes - from very easy ones along the lake to long climbs and descents through dreamlike landscapes on Monte Caplone and Tremalzo.
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GARDA RONDA - THE ORGANISATION
Stage tours such as the Garda Ronda are a special experience on an e-MTB. Even with a normal bike, the adventure of a stage tour consists of travelling to an unknown destination - you never know exactly where you will arrive in the evening. With an e-MTB, there is also the exciting question: Can I manage the stage with my battery capacity? Today, normal batteries offer a range of around 1200 to 1400 metres in altitude, depending mainly on the use of your own muscle power, the speed of the motor and your body weight. With a normal level of fitness, however, an e-mountain biker could easily manage 2500 metres in altitude per day with e-support. That would mean, for example, that the Garda Ronda could be shortened by one or two days. But current batteries don't allow that.
The first solution for Transalp and Garda Ronda bikers is therefore a spare battery. This doubles the range height, but has the decisive disadvantage that you not only have to carry the charger and the second battery in your rucksack, but that the space for the seven things you need for overnight stays in huts on a stage tour is drastically reduced.
The second solution is recharging. As you have to carry the charger with you anyway, you can recharge the battery during breaks. But first you need a power socket. Even if you can find one along the way, you will need to take two to three hours to get at least the majority of the battery lights back on. This solution means setting off early, finding a suitable place to recharge after two to three hours of travelling and then waiting. You can only continue cycling in the afternoon. On most stages of the Garda Ronda - especially in the densely populated south - you are sure to find the coveted power socket. On the return journey over the lonely Monte Caplone to Tremalzo, however, things look bad - you will hardly get through without a spare battery or the use of a lot of muscle power.
The third solution: a support car. This luxury option suddenly frees you from your bulky rucksack with the weight of your luggage and spare battery. And as most people arrive at Lake Garda by car anyway, this means of transport is basically available for the tour. But of course you need a driver who wants to be looked after and whose overnight stay also costs something.
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GARDA RONDA - THE STAGES
This Garda Ronda is divided into six stages with an average elevation gain of around 1400 metres. This means that you can do it every day on a single battery if necessary with plenty of muscle power and the will to save. However, the fear of an empty battery and the constant calculation in your head as to whether you can really afford to use the turbo gear on a steep climb is a constant companion. The tour is always less stressful if you have a spare battery or an accompanying car to fall back on.
STAGE 1: From the BIKE festival site in Riva, you first roll along the shores of the lake to Torbole. From there it's uphill via Busatte along the narrow tarmac road towards Monte Altissimo, a route that offers some great views over the northern part of the lake. At Dos Remit, turn left towards the Val de Diaol freeride route. After a short while, however, you leave this on the left and continue cycling uphill on a fairly steep forest path, then downhill on the gravelled Strada Brentegagna to the village of Festa. From here, there are two options: a steep climb of around 350 metres and 70 metres of pushing uphill to the first stage destination, the Hotel San Giacomo. Or - if that's too strenuous - first to Brentonico and then uphill along the road to the Hotel San Giacomo. This is technically easy, but has more metres in altitude.
With a spare battery or a car escort, you can of course go quite a bit further, for example to the Passo San Valentino or after a very beautiful trail passage to the Lago Pra da Stua and over the Passo Pozza della Cola to the little church of Madonna della Neve. The Rifugio Monte Baldo is very close by, but a little off the beaten track. If you make it this far with a spare battery, you will have covered 42 kilometres and around 2000 metres in altitude.
STAGE 2: If you stop off at the Hotel San Giacomo, the next morning you will first have a nice trail passage and a ride to the Madonna della Neve and the Rifugio Monte Baldo, where you can recharge your batteries. The route then continues via Pian della Cenere (Plain of Ashes) and always moderately steeply uphill to Bivacco Lavacchio (unfortunately without electricity) and finally on a forest path with a few steep ramps up to Passo Cerbiolo. A dream route with beautiful views of the Adige Valley. The route continues on gravel until you reach the southern section of the narrow Strada Graziani, where you could also cover this entire section on tarmac. However, this would be much less varied.
In the village of Cambrigar, turn off the road and keep to the right on a narrow tarmac path, which is actually closed to vehicles due to a landslide. If you don't let this stop you, you will discover a few stones in the forest that have rolled onto the road - you can easily get past them on an e-MTB. This is followed by a long tarmac ascent past Malga Ime, where you can stop for a bite to eat and recharge your battery. From here, the route climbs steadily past Malga Colonei up to the ridge of Monte Baldo at Malga Zocchi at an altitude of 1350 metres. Wonderful: from here you have majestic views over Lake Garda again. After the descent on narrow gravel and tarmac paths, you reach Prada Alta at the former Albergo Al Cacciatore, which is currently closed. If you want to spend the night up here, you have to roll a little to the right on the flat road and take the Albergo Edelweiss. However, if you have enough juice in your battery, you can definitely tackle the rest of the descent, which now leads down to the ancient village of Campo via adventurous and quite challenging trails.
The little village of Campo has remained completely unspoilt, as it is barely accessible by car, but you can't spend the night here. So the only option is to continue southwards from Campo above the lagoon on a really fun trail course, which, however, always has a few steep snappers in store, which will of course drain your battery. Once you have finally reached the town of Garda, the mountains are behind you for the time being - the route continues on a very flat but beautiful cycle path along the lake to Bardolino. If you made it to the Rifugio Monte Baldo on the first stage with a spare battery, you will have 67 kilometres and 1503 metres in altitude to cover on the second day to Bardolino.
STAGE 3: For all those who had to spend the night in Prada Alta with a single battery, the third stage is a long ride. It goes through the Padanian hills around the entire southern part of the lake to Salo - that's "only" 1430 metres in altitude, but also over 96 kilometres. As a consolation, the south of the lake is densely populated. There are inns and restaurants everywhere where you can recharge your batteries. You can also spend the night in many places - for example in Peschiera or Desenzano.
However, you shouldn't think of the route in the south as a pure scooter tour, flat and without obstacles. On the contrary. From Desenzano in particular, we have chosen a challenging trail course. From Desenzano to Salo alone, there are 650 metres of elevation gain. The winding and sometimes quite challenging trails lead partly through dense forests, olive groves and cypress trees. And you have to navigate carefully to find the many turn-offs - that also takes time.
STAGE 4: After spending the night in feudal Salo with its lively lakeside promenade, we head back into the mountains on the west side of Lake Garda to the north. The first 1100 metres in altitude lead uphill on a narrow asphalt road via Vobarno and Eno to Passo Cavallino. This should be doable with one battery for the time being, especially as you can stop off at the Rifugio Passo Cavallino and recharge. Incidentally, a support car can join you on the whole route from Vobarno. From Cavallino, the route continues uphill on gravel for another 250 metres and then downhill again into Valvestino via Capovalle and Moerna to the small village of Persone. This is now the last place to recharge, stop for refreshments or spend the night before the fifth, the queen stage of the Garda Ronda. This means you have to spend the night here and set off the next morning with a fully charged battery.
STAGE 5: Now comes the most beautiful stage of the Garda Ronda - over Monte Caplone to Tremalzo. Caplone is Tremalzo's southern brother, a whole two metres higher, but much lonelier, wilder and more pristine. Here, too, the Italians built a military road during the First World War, which winds adventurously through the rugged rocks. However, this road is not used by bikers today and is rarely travelled by hikers. Over the years, the once wider military road has shrunk to a narrow trail, especially from Malga Tombea onwards. The surface is rough and bumpy, but with an e-MTB, you can ride everywhere without any problems. In addition to the riding fun, Caplone also offers an overwhelming panorama over southern Lake Garda and, from the top of the pass, which is called Bocca di Campei, an incredible view northwards to the glaciers of the Adamello. From a panoramic point of view, this is really amazing.
STAGE 6: There is only one downer in the consistently fantastic trail descent with many small tunnels: quite far up, one of these tunnels was not completed before the end of the war, and nobody continued building it afterwards. So if you enter the tunnel, you will find yourself in front of a closed wall after just a few metres. So you have to push your e-MTB up a super steep ramp for around 25 metres up to the ridge and scramble back down on the other side. A functioning push button is really useful here.
After that, everything is splendid. The route descends on flow trails to Bocca Lorina and then continues on gravel into Valle San Michele. The only devilish thing about this dream stage is that you now have to climb uphill again to the Rifugio Garda on the Tremalzo. That's another 432 metres in altitude from Valle San Michele, which brings the total altitude of the tour to a whopping 1727 metres - almost impossible to do on a battery, unless you just flex your muscles for 300 metres. It's also diabolical that a support car can't reach you here. Even if you have one, you have to carry a spare battery in your rucksack. But then you can easily manage it - we tried it out.
If you already have a spare battery in your rucksack, then you don't necessarily have to spend the night at the Rifugio Garda before the Tremalzo, but can stop here for spaghetti and cappuccino and then continue straight away. With a spare battery, the journey time of the Garda Ronda is reduced to just five days. Because from here it's only 160 metres uphill to the Tremalzo tunnel, which the second battery is sure to cover. And then it's downhill - on the route that almost all Lago bikers know. Over 1800 metres of gravel to Passo Nota, then on forest paths to Passo Rocchetta, on trail and gravel to Pregasina and to the old Ponale road, which once again offers the most beautiful Lago panoramas on the final descent to Riva.
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LAKE GARDA - THE STORY
Ice age Lake Garda was formed when the glaciers of the last ice age retreated around 15,000 years ago. The ice masses had carved out the basin of the lake. At that time, the glacier was around one kilometre thick and 30 kilometres wide. The tributary to Lake Garda is the Sarca in the north. To the south, the water flows into the River Mincio.
First colonisation The first people settled on Lake Garda around 4000 years ago in the Bronze Age. Pile dwellings have been found near Malcesine and rock paintings in the Ledro Valley.
The Romans Under the Romans, Lake Garda belonged to the province of Cisalpina. The Sirmione peninsula in particular was a popular holiday resort for Roman high society.
The sea battle At the beginning of the 15th century, part of northern Lake Garda was occupied by Milan. The Venetians therefore decided to bring six galleys across the Adige to Rovereto. From here, the ships were pulled by up to 2000 oxen on wooden rollers over the Passo San Giovanni to Torbole. A naval battle took place in 1439. The Venetians recaptured the harbour of Riva.
Red Cross In 1859, there is a battle between Austria and Italy at Solferino in the south of Lake Garda. Italy's independence was at stake. Over 40,000 soldiers lie wounded on the battlefield. Regardless of their origin, they are cared for by the civilian population - the birth of the International Red Cross.
First World War Between 1914 and 1918, a trench war between Austria and Italy raged on the northern shores of Lake Garda. Today, the military roads on the Altissimo and Tremalzo are the basis for the most beautiful bike tours on Lake Garda and for the Garda Ronda. In 1918, Trentino and South Tyrol fall to Italy.
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INFORMATION LAKE GARDA
According to a survey, 50 per cent of Germans believe that Lake Garda belongs to South Tyrol. Wrong! The northern, smaller part of Lake Garda is located in the province of Trentino, which belonged to Austria-Hungary as "Welschtirol" until the First World War. The border of Trentino across the lake is almost exactly between Capo Reamol to the north of Limone and Val Marza to the north of Navene.
of Navene. The entire eastern and southern part up to Sirmione belongs to the province of Verona in the Veneto region, the entire western part to the province of Brescia in Lombardy.
Lake Garda is exactly 65 metres above sea level, has an area of 370 square kilometres, is 52 kilometres long, is 17 kilometres wide at its widest point and is 346 metres deep at its deepest point.
It was only in more recent times that the lake was named after the village of Garda at the southern end of Monte Baldo - the Austrians called it "Gartsee". In Roman times it was called "Lacus Benacus" after a deity, later "Benaco" in Italian.
In addition to tourism, the main source of income for the inhabitants of Lake Garda is agriculture, mainly viticulture (Marzemino, Bardolino, Valpolicella, Lugana) and olive oil. In the north, the timber industry used to predominate and there were paper and furniture factories, some of which still exist today.
TRAIL LAW IN TRENTINO
Since 2015, there has been a new trail law in Trentino - i.e. only on northern Lake Garda. There are no restrictions for Veneto and Lombardy. With the new law, all trails are freely accessible unless a municipality (i.e. the mayor) issues a ban on a trail. There are clear criteria for this: The trail must either be heavily frequented by hikers or be dangerous for bikers (risk of falling) or have a special historical significance (peace trail, etc.). Which trails fulfil these criteria is determined by a committee consisting of representatives of the municipality, the forestry office, the Alpine Association, the tourism association and the bike clubs. The Garda Ronda is freely accessible.
ACCOMMODATION FOR THE LAKE GARDA ROUND TRIP
STAGE 1:
- Hotel San Giacomo, Brentonico, www.hotelsgiacomo.it, T. 0039/(0)464/391560
- Hotel Bucaneve, Brentonico, www.hotel-bucaneve.com, T. 0039/(0)464/391557
- Rifugio Graziani, www.albergorifugiograziani.it, T. 0039/(0)464/867005
- Rifugio Monte Baldo, www.rifugiomontebaldo.it, T. 0039/(0)464/391553
STAGE 2:
- Rifugio Cedron, www.albergorifugio-cedron.it, T. 0039/(0)45/6247071
- Agriturismo MalgaIme, T. 0039/(0)45/7265104
- Albergo Edelweiss, Prada alta, www.edelweiss-hotel.it, T. 0039/(0)456/289039
- Hotel Marina, Bardolino, www.hotel-marina.it, T. 0039/(0)45/7210177
STAGE 3:
- Enjoy Garda Bike Hotel, Peschiera, www.gardabikehotel.com, T. 0039/(0)45/6401050
- Hotel Nazionale, Desenzano, www.hotelnazionaledesenzano.it, T. 0039/(0)309/158555
- Hotel Duomo, Salo, www.hotelduomosalo.it, T. 0039/(0)365/21026
STAGE 4:
- Rifugio Passo Cavallino, www.facebook.com/rifugiocavallinopassofobbia, T. 0039/(0)339/4078519
- Antica Osteria Pace, Persone Valvestino, www.anticaosteriapace.it, T. 0039/(0)365/745008
STAGE 5:
- Rifugio Garda, Tremalzo, www.tremalzo.info, T. 0039/(0)464/598105
- Rifugio Passo Nota T. 0039/(0)365/951190
STAGE 6:
- Hotel Luise, Riva del Garda, www.hotelluise.com, T. 0039/(0)464/550858
- Active Hotel Santa Lucia, Torbole, www.aktivhotel.it, T. 0039/(0)464/505140
ITALIAN FOR E-MOUNTAINBIKERS
- Storeroom: deposito bici
- Recharge: ricaricare
- Battery: batteria
- Double plug: ciabatta
- E-bike: bici elettrica
- Socket: presa
- Electricity: corrente
