Road Trip, Germany and Italian Lakes, Italy. (Aug 20)

With COVID-19, neither of us wanted to fly anywhere for our summer break, especially with the quarantine rules on return and the chances of being left stranded. But with the weather back home looking bleak we decided on a last minute tour of countries with a lower covid rate than ours – by road! The plan being simply to head south, stay outdoors, keep away from people and stick to countries that are on the “approved” list. Family members back home agreed to send us updates when things looked like they might change so we don’t end up stranded!
So…. off we trotted. Nothing booked. Just a few ideas of what might happen.

After a short stay in a quaint wooden cabin in Southern Germany we crossed Austria without stopping and then into Switzerland aiming for Thusis. Here we joined the Swiss “Grand Tour” route and the breathtaking Hinterrhein river valley. We took a left turn at Splügen which led us to one of the lesser known mountain passes into Italy – hair pin bend central!
I had printed out the Italian Government covid paperwork as required by their internal ministry, but no one was at the border to collect it, so on we pushed.

We spent the afternoon in Lake Como before arriving at our destination at the lesser know Italian Lake of “Lago d’Iseo”. So stunning and beautiful we decided to stay for two nights. The first at the quieter end near Sarnico with spectacular views from our balcony room and a meal in a restaurant tucked away in a hidden valley in the middle of nowhere. The second night was spent in the more popular and larger lakeside village of Lovere. We experienced the most breathtaking 30km cycle ride you can ever imagine, starting at Sale Marasino and ending at Piscogne (and back).The ride took us along an old disused lakeside road winding through tunnels and pretty villages. Our lunchtime meal at an empty piazza in piscogne was incredible both quality and price, only to be upstaged in the evening when we ventured to Riva di Solto. Riva di Silvio is a must-see for anyone coming to this area, even if the road to it is a little daunting with overhangs that defy gravity.

Lots of elbow room so far and not one meal eaten indoors. Social distancing bliss and some amazing weather and scenery thrown in for good measure.
Now let’s look at the map and work out what’s next…..