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from £ 442 pp
View All DealsFor a peaceful Italian break among picture-perfect lake and mountain scenery, pick a holiday to Molveno.
The small town is pretty as a postcard, with its twisty cobbled streets, 13th-century church and brightly painted buildings huddled on the hillside. Spend those long summer days browsing independent food and craft shops, people-watching outside cafés and learning a thing or two about local history at the Museum of Costumes and Traditions.
Of course, the scenery is one of the real stars here. The town is the only one on the edge of the bright blue Lake Molveno, which is surrounded by the meadows and forest-covered peaks of the Brenta Dolomites. Take a boat trip across the water for 360-degree views, or follow your feet along waking paths around the shore. You can also hop on the cable car in town to get up into the mountains.
You can be as relaxed or active as you like on your trip here. While away your time with gentle strolls, long lunches in mountain huts and afternoons on the beach. Or get stuck into watersports like canoeing and stand-up paddleboarding, visit historic sites like Stenico Castle and have fun with the kids at the Forest Park high ropes course and Educational Farm up on the Pradel Plateau.
Here are some ideas of things to do when staying in Molveno:
• Lakeside path with cycle route
• Lake bathing and watersports
• Rowing and sailing boats
• Sports centre
• Alpine flower garden and botanical garden
• Castles and Roman ruins
• An array of museums
• Horse riding
• Outdoor pool
• Wine tasting
On the edge of town is Molveno Beach, where you can lay out your towel on the pebbles, go for dips in the lake and just soak up the sun and scenery. It’s also surrounded by 10 acres of fields packed with playgrounds, volleyball courts and even minigolf.
Also part of the beach is the Acquapark, where you can spend the day splashing around in the Olympic pool and kids’ pool, whizzing down waterslides and playing games like water polo.
The beach here is pebbly rather than sandy, so you might want to bring flip-flops or beach shoes to wear.
You’ll find plenty of independent shops around Via Roma and Piazza Scuole, where you can browse everything from local wine and cakes and crafts and souvenirs to take home.
Molveno’s all about laid-back evenings, whether you’re taking a stroll around town or relaxing in your hotel’s bar, chatting about your day over a glass of wine.
Evenings are generally quiet here, but there are a few bars where you can stop for an aperitivo before dinner or a nightcap later on.
From the restaurants in town to the mountain huts in the peaks, the menus here are full of age-old regional dishes. Don’t miss trying favourites like canederli, a kind of bread dumpling, and carne salada, which is thinly sliced cured beef. And of course, there are plenty of fresh pasta and risotto dishes too.
At the top of the Pradel-Palon chairlift, this is a must-visit for lunch with a view. Sit out on the terrace and dive into platefuls of fresh pasta, cured meats, Trentino cheeses and polenta cooked over a wood fire – all made using secret family recipes and seasonal ingredients.
For proper Italian pizza, Taverna La Botte is the place to go. It’s in the middle of town and serves up wood-fired pizzas with all kinds of toppings – like the Botte special with mozzarella, sausage, boiled egg, mushrooms and ham. And after you’ve eaten, pop downstairs to the tavern for a cool beer on the patio.
Osteria del Maso is a traditional spot in town. Choose a table inside the rustic dining room, with its stone ceiling and beams, or out on the veranda and tuck into a things like deer stew or mountain trout with lots of mushrooms and polenta. Round things off with a glass of wine – there’s over 30 on the list – or a glass of grappa.
Enjoy wandering around the little alleys and squares in town – some areas are cobbled or hilly so watch your step. Around the lake and up in the mountains, there’s a huge network of walking paths, dotted with mountain huts.
There aren’t any ferries on Lake Molveno, but you can hire motorboats, rowing boats and canoes from the beach to get out on the water. Or if you fancy learning to handle a sailing boat, book a lesson with a qualified skipper.
Take the B611 bus to Mezzocorona in about an hour – and from there, catch the Brenner Railways train to Trento in 30 minutes, Verona in 90 minutes or Innsbruck in 3 hours for a day of city sightseeing.
Free local buses run around the town every 30 minutes, with stops including the lakeside Acquapark. And you can also pay for a bus trip to the ancient town of Mezzocorona, which takes around an hour, or the city of Trento, which takes around 90 minutes.
From the centre of town, take the Panoramica cable car up to the 1,350m-high Pradel Plateau to find walking paths, a high ropes course, an educational farm and – of course – amazing views. And to go even higher, hop on the Pradel-Palon chairlift up to 1,530m.
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