Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museo Alto Garda
(La Rocca; 0464 57 38 69;
www.museoaltogarda.it
; Piazza Cesare Battisti 3; adult/child €3/1.50; 10am-6pm
Tue-Sun Mar-Nov, to 5pm Dec-Feb)
Housed in Riva's stunted medieval castle, known locally as
La Rocca, the civic museum features a modest selection of local archaeology, frescoes
from Roman Riva, historical documents and paintings. Perhaps the most revealing exhib-
its are the antique maps dating from 1579 and 1667 and a 1774
Atlas Tyrolensis,
which
evocatively convey the area's shifting boundaries.
MUSEUM
Cascata del Varone
(
www.cascata-varone.com
; adult/reduced €5.50/ 2.50; 9am-7pm May-Aug, to 6pm Apr & Sep, to 5pm Mar & Oct)
This 100m waterfall thunders down sheer limestone cliffs through an immense, dripping
gorge. Walkways snake 50m into the mountain beside the crashing torrent, and strolling
along them is like walking in a perpetual thunderstorm. You'll find it signposted 3km
northwest of Riva's centre. It's also possible to walk there from Riva's waterfront.
WATERFALL
LAKE GARDA'S WINDS
Lake Garda has an unusual meteorological quirk - the winds that blow over its surface are almost as regular as
clockwork. The Pelèr (also called Suer or Vento) gusts gently from the north, lasts 12 hours and is normally done
by 10am, while the Ora blows from the south between noon and sunset and is felt mainly in the central and north-
ern parts of the lake. Their predictability has ensured Riva, Torbole, Campione and Malcesine are magnets for
windsurfers and sailors.
Bastione
From the centre of Riva, the Bastione is the chalk-white castle clinging to sheer cliffs high
above the west edge of town. The 3.5km hike to this picturesque ruin is as steep as it
looks and leads up hairpin bends past oleanders, cypresses and wayside shrines. The castle
was built by the Venetians in a desperate, and doomed, bid to hold onto power.
Pick up the signed path where Via Bastione joins Via Monte Oro.
LANDMARK
Arco
No doubt avoiding the summer tourists, Archduke Albrecht preferred to build his winter
palace 5km north of Riva in pretty Arco in 1872. Around it he created a magnificent ar-
boretum, now the
Parco Arciducale
(Via Lomego; 8am-7pm Apr-Sep, to 4pm Oct-Mar)
, planted
with huge holm-oaks, sequoias and dagger-sharp cypresses. His neighbours did the same
and now Arco blooms beautifully throughout the summer.
TOWN
