TWO NIGHTS AMONGST CLOUDS, STARS AND HEALTH-GIVING PLANTS

DESCRIPTION 

LAKE GARDA
It is difficult to find an original way to describe such a well-known area with such special and unique features as Lake Garda: clear waters and a mild climate, rolling hills as opposed to steep-sided cliffs overlooking the water, small villages and churches, and lemon groves, olive groves, bougainvillea and oleanders. The villages overlooking the waters, certainly the best known, are magnets for beach tourism, but there is more than the lakeside basin to discover. Garda invites the traveller to get lost among the paths, to walk down offbeat paths that lead to isolated monasteries, to sit at a table and rediscover the flavours of a time when genuine products enhance the Italian culinary tradition, to walk among the olive trees, to breathe in the fresh air while admiring a clear landscape. The Western Gardesana (state road 45 bis) is the path to discovering the area: a mythical, sometimes inaccessible road which skirts the banks of the lake and runs from Sirmione to Riva del Garda. The unique Alto Garda Natural Park, characterised by contrasts: the area is one that runs from Limone to Salò where it passes quickly by the waters of the lake to the rugged peaks of the Alpine region. 
In the Park between the peaks and water is the best way to discover and appreciate all aspects of the landscape. You can follow paths and dirt trails that reward you with unexpected glimpses on foot, by bicycle or on horseback from every village. 
The secret garden to discover is Valvestino, a small valley leading to the artificial lake, created in the early 60s, overlooked by Mount Tombea. Valvestino is easily reached from Gargnano, the road runs into the heart of the valley, to the wonderful villages of Magasa and Turano, curiosity to discover the landscape plans will lead to the Plains of Mount Rest, places characterised by the presence of barns with thatched roofs unchanged over time . The landscape is magical, a fairy-tale, a continuous succession of forests, rocks, valleys and streams.
 

ITINERARY
 

Day 1 
You reach Magasa where, while dining together, you will receive the first information on the valley and its traditions. The accommodation for Friday and Saturday night, with breakfast, is in the Cima Rest Barns: an example of unique rural architecture, with definite influences from Eastern European countries, seen in the particular style of construction, the barns are the main feature of the village of Cima Rest in the municipality of Magasa. The oldest date back to the 1600s.

Day 2
Free day to explore the many trails in Cima Rest.
The supplementary package provides for a professional guide to accompany you in the mountains. On Saturday evening, after the dinner of traditional dishes served in the Lodge, a visit to the Astronomical Observatory of Cima Rest is planned: the features of the valley's sky, bright and free from air pollution, allow for observations in ideal conditions for both experts, and those who for the first time have the opportunity to see the special tools made available by the Amateur Astronomers Association of Salò, in collaboration with the Municipality of Magasa and the Alto Garda Bresciano Park.

Day 3
Wake up and breakfast in the barn, morning dedicated to walks in the meadows around the village; Picnic lunch, you can collect a basket with typical products. In the afternoon there is a visit to the Ethnographic Museum of Valvestino and then you leave for Moerna, where we have planned a visit to the "Don Pietro Porta" botanical museum, dedicated to the illustrious botanist from Valvestino. The museum aims to recover the area's botanical and artistic traditions linked to the flowers.
Through direct and active use, visitors can discover the production cycle linked to essences, the work of pressing and drying of the products.
The same property houses an exhibition dedicated to the ancient art of cheese making, with original equipment in a restored setting.
 

LOCATION

Valvestino - Alto Garda Natural Park