This was the eleventh summer I have visited this resort and believe me it just gets better and better! The Hotel Lorenzetti still offers its guests as warm a welcome as ever and its cuisine maintains its incredibly high standard.
Despite the occasional heavy shower and crashing thunderstorm we were able to enjoy several walks each week. The waterfall walk through the Vallesinella valley behind the hotel remained a firm favourite this summer. Following the heavy rains the waterfalls were spectacular, tons of white foaming water crashing over the distinctive grey rocks of the Dolomite mountains.
The walk to Lago Nambino also featured each week and after threading our way through the woods we enjoyed a leisurely coffee break on the lakeside. We then strolled on to one of two rifugios for lunch after which people could either walk back to the hotel or ride back in the hotel shuttle bus.
On each occasion we descended from the mountains to enjoy a day by Lake Garda we had lovely weather. I was never tempted far from the shores, coffee in Riva, lunch in Malcesine, tea in Limone all enjoyed against a stunning back drop of mountains plunging into the profoundly blue depths. I would guess from the number of shopping bags that found their way onto the bus that my companions had a more active day.
Other walks included the descent from the beautiful Lago Ritorto easily reached from the top of the Cinque Laghi cabin lift and for those who did not want to walk returning to the cabin lift and descended to the centre of Madonna for a coffee in the main square was an attractive alternative.
Market day in Pinzolo also offered two means of travelling there, by foot down the ‘old road’ an easy and enjoyable route, or the local bus. Once in Pinzolo there is a lovely old church to visit and a cabin lift and then a chair lift take you to the very top of the mountain for a nice lunch in the rifugio up there and great views back up the valley to Madonna di Campiglio.
New adventures awaited me this summer and I finally achieved a long held ambition to walk to Rifugio Brentei – a speck on the mountainside and just visible through a telescope from the balcony outside the hotel bar. It was amazing and also a little scary to be so high. I also walked from the top of Groste to the pretty Lago di Tovel, famous for once having turned red 30 years ago. This was a lovely albeit rather long walk. Having joined the local Alpine Guides on their walks with my groups I also went with them when I was enjoying a few days in the mountains on my own. We walked to Rifugio Segantini in the Val Nambrone with wonderful views of Lago Cornisello and Lago Nero on the way and seriously aching legs at the end.
it was a wonderful summer and equally enjoyed by walkers and strollers alike thanks to the convenience of cabin lifts, local buses and the hotel shuttle bus.
