Northern Italy & the dramatic Dolomites

Frances Wolverton, one of ATG’s most popular and long standing tour leaders tells us about her recent trip to Verona & the Dolomites in northern Italy.

Many would say that my life was one long holiday. Having been a tour leader for 26 years, I have visited and learnt so much – and I frequently have to pinch myself to remind me that I am supposed to be at WORK! This summer it was time to take my tour leader hat off, and take a break, without my ATG clients this time around.

It is always such a treat to leave one’s normal existence and literally “get away from it all”. In Alain de Botton’s excellent book The Art of Travel he rightly states that even though we can completely change our surroundings and habits the one thing we cannot leave behind is ourselves. However, being away can make us see and feel differently about much. What I find is that it brings things into perspective, cares and worries fade, and our trivial pre-occupations diminish. Walking is the perfect solution to relaxing the mind – walking in the fresh air, we are much more conscious of our physical state and that of the natural world around us.

So I set off recently on what turned out to be a marvellous break. A lifetime ambition has been to go to the opera in the arena in Verona – and expectations were exceeded. It is an extraordinary experience to sit on warm marble seats as the Romans did 2,000 years ago but enjoy the modern facilities of good sound, lighting and the music of Verdi. Nabucco was the opera with a spectacular cast of thousands.

Then I headed north to stay with a friend who lives near Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites. The weather has been very hot throughout Italy so it was a treat to find cooler mountain air at night, but still sunny and very clear in the day, so the dramatic mountains all around looked almost surreal with forests, lush green meadows and many flowers at their bases. To make the most of such glorious conditions, we took the opportunity to walk the world famous UNESCO heritage site Tre Cime with breathtaking 360-degree views of some of the most famous peaks in the Dolomites’ (this area is included in our Cortina and the Dolomites escorted walking holiday – next departure is in July 2016).

On my way home to Tuscany I spent two nights on Lake Garda at Malcesine in a comfortable hotel on the waterfront. Lake swimming is magical and the waters of the lake are famously clear and clean and produce some excellent fish. Ducklings had recently hatched and busy mothers were anxiously rounding up their broods and encouraging them to swim about. At dusk, rocks were selected above the water line near the shore, where the mothers would gather their families under their bodies for protection through the night. For once they did not appear to be worried by humans but a wary eye was kept open for any passing dog!

I returned relaxed and refreshed with many happy memories – all a good holiday should do.

If you are interesting in a walking holiday in the Dolomites or this part of Northern Italy, ATG have a number of associated escorted tours:

Escorted Walking Holidays:
Cortina and the Dolomites
Lake Garda and the Brenta Dolomites
Flowers of the Brenta Dolomites