Why this one exists
Both of these places are famous, and both are easy to get wrong.
Take the wrong turn around Lake Garda and you are in an unlit tunnel with cars going past your elbow. Walk into the wrong cellar in Valpolicella and you are on an industrial tasting room floor being shown a conveyor belt. Neither is the Italy anybody books a flight for. This week exists so that you spend your time in the version of these places that is worth the journey, which takes local knowledge rather than luck.
So the riding mixes the big names with the small ones deliberately, because you should taste both and understand the difference. There is a gravel plateau above the wine hills that almost nobody rides, with the vineyards laid out below you. There is a pasta masterclass, and a family restaurant tucked up in the hills that you would drive past. And there is the lake itself, which is the largest in Italy and feels like the sea when you are sitting on the edge of it.
The climbsPunta Veleno. Monte Baldo. The Lessinia plateau. The Ponale road.
Food and wineAmarone and the rest of the Valpolicella reds. Risotto made with Amarone. Gnocchi up on the gravel plateau. Bolliti, which is slow boiled meat and much better than it sounds. Fish from the lake. An olive oil tasting on the Garda side. Bardolino. Carne salada and grana from over the Trentino border.
CultureVerona. Riva del Garda. Malcesine.
What only we can say
Our mission here was to build a week that keeps you away from the places the coaches go, and shows you the families, the artisans and the growers that most visitors never meet. We know the big names too, and we will take you there for the contrast. What we are really selling is the half of this region you could not easily find on your own.
Shape of the week
This is the rhythm, not a timetable. You pick the riding days from the menu below, and we build the week around which ones you want and what the weather is doing.
The riding days
We publish the days rather than a fixed itinerary, because that is how the trip actually works. Distances are what we ride, not a brochure total. Every week has one easy day in it on purpose.
East out of Bassano on quiet country roads into the wine hills of Monfumo and Castelcucco. You pass close to the plaster cast museum, which holds the original models for Canova's sculptures and is worth the detour if you have the legs. Then up into Asolo itself, a walled hilltop town, for lunch in the centre before the ride home. Road.
West instead, through the vineyards and olive groves on the gravel tracks north of town, then into Marostica, where the castle walls still run up the hillside and the main square is a giant chessboard. On from there into the hills above Breganze, which is bold red wine on volcanic soil, and back to Bassano over the La Rosina climb. Works on gravel or road.
South out of Bassano and almost entirely off the road: gravel tracks, cycle paths and the lanes that follow the waterways down to Cittadella. The town is a perfect circle inside its medieval walls and you ride the last stretch with them in front of you. Flat, three hundred metres of climbing in seventy two kilometres, so it is the easy day on any week you put it in.
A transfer takes you up onto the Lessinia plateau and you ride back down. High open gravel, almost no traffic, and a landscape that looks nothing like the vineyards you came from. Lunch is gnocchi at a malga up on the plateau, made that morning. Then a long asphalt descent back into the warm valley, finishing with a picnic among the olive trees at a winery.
No bike. A driver takes you between producers chosen around what you said you wanted on the planning calls, and the point is comparison rather than collecting. You start with a vertical tasting of Amarone at a traditional house, go on to a boutique grower working half a hectare, and finish somewhere architecturally striking and completely different. Lunch in between, up in the hills with the valley below.
The climb of the week, up to San Giorgio, a hilltop village with the Valpolicella valley on one side and Lake Garda in the distance on the other. Lunch is risotto made with Amarone, which is the dish this region argues about. Rolling vineyard roads afterwards, and an optional sting of a climb near the end if you want it.
The point to point day. You leave the wine hills on compact gravel and quiet valley roads, heading steadily north until the lake appears at Malcesine. Lunch on the water, then the ferry across to Limone and on to Riva del Garda, which is where you sleep for the rest of the week. Your luggage goes ahead.
The best riding around Garda and most people never see it. The Ponale road climbs away from the lake on gravel cut into the cliff face, with the water dropping away below you. Not technical, but it keeps going. At the top you are at Lake Ledro, with lunch at an agriturismo and a wine tasting overlooking the water. If you would rather not climb it, there is a transfer up and you ride the rest.
The easy day. Cycle paths and quiet roads north of Riva, through Arco and past smaller lakes with the mountains standing over them. Nothing to prove, plenty of reasons to stop. Lunch at a vineyard that does lake fish and cooked wild herbs, and an olive oil tasting in the afternoon before you roll back.
A transfer day, not a riding day. You move from the lake into the centre of Verona and the day is yours: the Arena, the side streets, a long aperitivo. After a week of vineyards and lake roads it is meant to be slow.
What is included
Guided and self-guided run on the same groundwork. The difference is whether there is a guide on the road with you, and a vehicle behind.
Price
That is the self-guided rate, for two people sharing, with everything above included.
Guided starts at €450 per person per day. It usually runs for a group of six to twelve, which is how the economics work best, and above eight we bring a second guide. Two people can travel guided if that is what you want. The price is simply different, and we will tell you what it is on the call.
We are not a booking engine and we never will be. Every trip is shaped on a conversation first, then priced. A 30 per cent deposit holds your dates and the balance is due 90 days before you arrive.
Peak dates are quoted on enquiry. All prices in euro.
“They personally checked every route beforehand to ensure the best experience. We rode quiet back roads, through charming villages, and discovered places we never would have found on our own.”Lule S · Self-guided, Valpolicella and Lake Garda
Questions
We would nudge you towards gravel, because it opens up the plateau above Valpolicella and that is one of the best days of the week. It is not technical, but it helps to have ridden gravel before. Road works perfectly well too: there are cycle paths and quiet lanes enough to wind through the vineyards without meeting traffic.
One tasting is included on every one of our holidays. After that we would rather build it with you than guess. Some people want a full day off the bike going between producers in Valpolicella. Some want one vertical tasting at a place we love and nothing else. Tell us on the call.
Yes. Fly into Verona and the week can begin and end there. Spend time in the city or head straight out into the hills, whichever suits you.
Fifteen minutes with Susi and Benji. We will ask how you ride, how you like to travel, and when you can get here. No pitch.
Book a call Or message us on WhatsApp, or email info@epicitaly.cc