Day 9 – Thursday 24 July

Modena to Peschiera del Garda

Hotel

Hotel Vecchio Viola (https://hotel-vecchio-viola-peschiera-del-garda.hotelmix.co.uk/)

Notes

I had ordered breakfast for eight o'clock in the morning and the wretched noisy family were there before me. Breakfast was good and the waitress sympathised with me about the other ‘guests’. As usual I had packed up and was ready to leave before eating, so as soon as I had finished I was away and headed north for the Po. It was raining most of the morning and I found no restaurants along my route. I got a couple of paninis at garages as I rode through one small commuter town after another. I got several sympathetic waves as I rode along in the rain. Eventually it began to dry up and I pulled over to take my wet gear off behind some Armco barriers and a small roadside chapel to the Virgin Mary. Well, I was in Italy.

I crossed the river Po and wound my through Mantua following my satnav and then slowly gained height towards Lake Garda. I followed the line of the Fiume Mincio that flows out of the lake and joins the Po further east. I got to the Camping Family Park Altomincio near Monzambano but found that they did not accept tents. It was purely a holiday camp rather than a campsite. They offered me a cabin for €100 but I thought that was going a bit far. Instead I found a cycle path along the river up to Peschiera del Garda in the hope of finding a camp site on the shore of the lake, and in hindsight I discovered there were two within a kilometer of where I ended up, but I got stuck in a road bypass network clearly designed to filter motor traffic away from the lake and I couldn't find a way down to the lake.

In the end I rode along a busy dual carriageway in what I guessed was the right direction and then followed signs to a hotel where I finally gave up. It was next to a large truck park and catered for commercial visitors, drivers and the like. I booked in and was allowed to lock my bike in a spare room. I ate with the other drivers, a set meal with a carafe of wine on the table and no nonsense. I washed everything and hung it up in my room after squeezing the water out in a large towel. Perhaps not finding a campsite occasionally has its compensations.