Bardolino, a town with a wine named after it, is a pretty and popular town on the shores of Lake Garda, in northern Italy. One of the southern Alpine lakes, Lake Garda and Bardolino are especially crowded in the summer. But in October, it is much quieter, and the weather is cooler, yet still sunny. In other words, ideal for hiking.
East of the built up stretch along the waterfront, the land rises, and grape vines begin. The town of Costermano, set in an area of rolling ridges, was previously drive by territory for me, as I headed to the lakeside towns. Big mistake! Costermano, beyond its main street, has timeless farm villas set in quiet scenery, nice restaurants, and beautiful vistas of Alps and lake, if you know where to go. Costermano also has a trail for wine enthusiasts that provides the perfect opportunity to explore this area beyond the waterfront, where the landscape retains its bucolic setting, and grapes for Bardolino wine grow as they have here for centuries, if not millennia.
