Il Cammino del Bardolino

Behind the Lake Garda promenade at Bardolino, a second landscape begins: morainic hills stitched with vine rows and silvery olive groves. The Cammino del Bardolino connects rural chapels, wineries and viewpoints across the wine zone that gave Bardolino its name.

Why it matters

The Cammino del Bardolino reflects the area's wine identity and the landscape of the Bardolino DOC zone. Six eastern Garda municipalities — Bardolino, Affi, Cavaion Veronese, Costermano sul Garda, Garda and Rivoli Veronese — developed the project with support from the GAL Baldo Lessinia rural development association. The network highlights the territory's historic villages, rural churches, monasteries, farm lanes and hilltop views.

What to notice

The agricultural landscape includes pergola-trained vines, the traditional Bardolino training system, and old olive terraces. Ridgelines open toward Lake Garda, while monasteries and churches punctuate the hills. The portal credits medieval monks with beginning vine and olive cultivation in the area.

Context and history

Vine growing in the Bardolino hills is far older than the DOC. The municipal wine pages record grape seeds of wild Vitis from the Bronze Age found locally, Roman-era drinking vessels, and medieval documents recording vineyard sales — with monasteries driving cultivation through land grants. Bardolino wine gained its Denominazione di Origine Controllata in 1968, and the first six municipalities of that zone, including Bardolino itself, form the "classico" heart where the trail concentrates. The Cammino was conceived as a network of routes through the denomination. Independent coverage described about 100 km at launch, later expanded, with some 60 wine estates connected to the network — figures from the first phase that explain why sources disagree on total length.