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Cycling
#inLombardia
Magazine
Two hundred years after the invention
of the draisine – the first bicycle,
Lombardy is rediscovering its cycling
routes, from the Alps to the Apennines.
Its cycleways invite visitors to enjoy
an authentic experience, rather than
simply to count kilometres. On these
ten routes, you encounter people, rice
fields, river banks and vineyards.
You can smell excellent food and
roses. You can explore dirt roads in the
woods. You can observe, as Leonardo
did with the Navigli canals, charming
villages and champions’ hairpin
bends. Lombardy’s routes have been
immortalized by cycling, making it the
perfect place to take your bike.
Photo
Cover_
The Ponte delle Barche di Bereguardo on the River Ticino.
The most classic
of cycle paths
Route 1
Featuring mills, lotus flowers
and strips of riverine forest, the Mincio
cycleway is the birthplace of cycling
tourism in Lombardy
Two centuries ago, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
embarked on his ‘Italian journey’ in a horse-drawn
carriage. Nowadays, many people do the Grand Tour
on a bike. Following in the footsteps of the great
writer-traveller, many choose the road that leads
from Lake Garda to the banks of the Po as their first
sweet taste of the
“country where lemon trees bloom”.
The Mincio cycleway
is one of the first routes to
be successfully established. The route is marked
as Ciclovia 1, part of the Ciclopista del Sole. Once
completed, it will form the great backbone of Italy,
from the Alps to the main islands. The route has a
gentle fellow traveller: the water of the Mincio River,
which flows out of Lake Garda and lazily meanders
through the first moraine hills, through woods,
springs, bogs and wetlands, heading along the plain
towards the river Po.
—
From Desenzano del Garda
to Mantua
One day route
Difficulty
for everyone
Length
43.5 km
Elevation profile
slightly downhill
Roads
segregated bike lane, paved
Type of bike
touring bikes with gears
and road bikes
When
from April to October
Mood
slow
Photo.
The Mincio cycle route near Marmirolo.
2
Photo
Alongside_
The lighthouse
in Desenzano del Garda.
Below_
A stretch of cycle path
in Parco del Mincio.
Below right_
Mantua’s Middle Lake.
You start at Desenzano, perhaps after a coffee
in Piazza Malvezzi, surrounded by the lake and
porticoes, with a view of the Alps, and proceed
southeast towards Pozzolengo and Monzambano,
where you join the right river bank, the true
cycleway. After a few kilometres, at Valeggio sul
Mincio and Borghetto, the river makes a wide bend
in the Mincio Regional Park. Beyond the town,
there is a slight, almost imperceptible descent,
allowing you to slightly ease off the pedals.
After the Centrale del Corno
green area, just
before Pozzolo, there is a wooded island in the
centre that divides the river. Various plants
grow wild here including broom, gentians, mint
and aquatic orchids. On closer inspection, these
plants can also be seen growing elsewhere on the
river bank. In Pozzolo, the route diverts from the
Mincio River and follows the bank of the Pozzolo-
Maglio drainage canal. A brief digression, crossing
the canal for Massimbona, leads you to a small
Romanesque church and a medieval mill that is still
in operation.
Once back on the cycleway,
after about ten
kilometres you continue along the bank of another
artificial canal, the Mincio diversion canal. From
here, traveling down a few dirt roads, you can
ride through fields and valleys or head towards
the Parco Giardino Bertone, which contains
a nineteenth-century villa and is full of paths,
ponds and flying storks. There is a magnificent
gingko tree in the villa’s garden, which is cloaked
in spectacular golden-yellow foliage in autumn.
There is another lovely alternative just outside
Soave Marmirolo, namely the Bosco della Fontana,
a former hunting ground of the Gonzagas, which
is now a State Nature Reserve, one of the rare
examples of riverine forest that has remained
untouched for centuries. Now you are near the
finish line, in the part of the route where lotus
flowers grow on the river in the summer. Leaving
the embankment road, you bear right towards rural
roads that wind through the countryside: finally,
Mantua appears.
You can observe it
from the Cittadella del Porto,
which was built in the sixteenth-century to defend
the city. The fairytale silhouette of the towers of
Castello di San Giorgio and the great white dome
of Sant’Andrea make you feel as though you are
riding a noble steed, like in the frescoes in the
Bridal Chamber. It is time to dismount and to pay
homage to the city of the Gonzagas.
5
Information on page
68
HISTORIC MEMORIES
San Martino della Battaglia
The memory of a historic
battle is conserved through
documents, relics and
reconstructions in the ossuary-
tower that stands on San
Martino hill.
TASTINGS
Sermide
The Mantuan melon capital is
home to the Consortium that
promotes it. In summer, the fruit
is celebrated with numerous
festivals, where you can enjoy it
as an appetizer and dessert.
SILENT ABBEY
San Benedetto Po
For centuries, the agricultural
landscape around San
Benedetto abbey in Polirone
has seen continuous
land reclamation and the
establishment of settlements.
From Garda to the Po
In three days
Frescoes depicting lobsters and pomegranates.
Freshwater fish and spicy ravioli. The route between
Lake Garda and the Po offers many delights
HISTORY OF THE RIVER
Revere
History, archaeology,
ethnography: The Po Museum
is a journey into the ancient
civilizations of the River Po.
Nearby, a ship mill moored to
the riverbank.
BEAUTIFUL MOSAICS
Brescia
The town’s stratigraphy is
explored in the museum, housed
in the Santa Giulia monastery.
Roman houses with remarkable
mosaics.
SWEET AND SPICY
Mantua area
Rustic tradition and court
tradition: Mantuan cuisine
embraces both popular and
aristocratic dishes. Be sure to
try the “risotto alla pilota”, a
traditional rice picker’s dish.
Photo.
Piazza Sordello in Mantua.
AMONG THE VINEYARS
Valtènesi and Basso Garda
Trebbiano di Lugana is produced
in the moraine hills. Chiaretto,
which has a floral bouquet, is
made from Groppello grapes,
grown on the slopes of the
Valtènesi, amidst castles and
lake breezes.
CASTLE WITH A VIEW
Padenghe
Ascend to the austere Padenghe
castle, with its polygonal walls
and corner towers, and let your
gaze wander over the wide
expanse of Lake Garda and the
hills.
LAKESIDE
Sirmione
A small peninsula that extends
into Basso Garda and is
separated from the mainland by
a crossable moat is home to a
charming medieval centre with
a spa.
Info
Over a weekend, you can cycle
further to the Valtènesi Brescia hills,
which feature vineyards, castles and
views of Lake Garda. You can even
head towards the city of Brescia,
with its welcoming historic squares,
where you can relax seated outside
a café. Finally, along the Po, you can
explore the Bassa Mantovana and
the Oltrepò, the land torn from the
waters of the Great River, which
abounds with testimonies of material
culture and fine dining opportunities.
Milan
Brescia
Desenzano
del Garda
Mantua
7

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