Bergamo, Mantova and Garda Lake

Baergamo - Mantua - Garda Lake

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BERGAMO, MANTUA, GARDA LAKE
Bergamo, Mantua, Sirmione, Gardone Riviera
5 Days – 4 nights

1st day: Bergamo
Pick up of the car at Bergamo Airport. Day free in Bergamo. The city lies on the hill overlooking the plain since Roman times. Sheltered by the imposing Venetian wall, enclosing thousand and one treasures. In the evening meeting with our RAINBOW ITALY assistant to introduce you your itinerary and Bergamo gay night life. Free dinner and overnight stay in hotel.

2nd day: Bergamo
Breakfast in hotel. Day and lunch free in Bergamo. Free dinner and overnight stay in hotel. After dinner at MAMO’S gay pub

3rd day: Mantova
Breakfast in hotel. Morning and lunch free in Mantova. Monuments, museums, churches and stimulating events. Its rich artistic and cultural heritage has won Mantua above nine other Italian cities as 2016's Culture Capital. A well-deserved title, if you think about the Ducal Palace, with the bridal chamber painted by Andrea Mantegna, the artist's house, the Rotonda di San Lorenzo, Mantua's oldest church and the Basilica, designed by Leon Battista Alberti. Afternoon dedicated to the Mincio river navigation. Water, earth, history, art, nature, legends… Here Mantua and its territory can be discovered. The Mincio originates from Garda Lake in Peschiera and runs straight through the Verona area for a few  kilometers. The river enters the Mantua territory (in the region of Lombardy) on the right bank in Ponti sul Mincio and Monzambano. This entire area is included in the moraine amphitheatre of Garda Lake, with gentle hills covered with vineyards and oak trees. Just beyond the Mincio Valleys and the village of Grazie di Curtatone, the river widens to form the first of three lakes that embrace Mantua Free dinner and overnight stay in hotel.

4th day: Garda Lake – Sirmione – Gardone Riviera
Breakfast in hotel. Day dedicated to free visit of Garda Lake with Sirmione and Gardone Riviera. Known to everyone as “the pearl of the islands and peninsulas”, thanks to the openly bisexual Latin poet Catullo, Sirmione is famous for its thermal water with its healing properties. Situated on the south bank of Lake Garda, in correspondence with a long and narrow peninsula that divides the gulfs of Desenzano and Peschiera, Sirmione was made even more famous thanks to writers such as Catullo, Stendhal, Lawrence and Goethe that honoured its artistic and environmental beauty. A famous tourist destination and resort area, Gardone Riviera can truly be considered a genuine "botanical garden", where the typical vegetation of Lake Garda alternates with Central European, Mediterranean and sub-tropical plant species. The town is famous for the Vittoriale degli Italiani, the imposing walled residence of poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, now a prestigious museum. Lunch free. Free dinner and overnight stay in hotel.

5th day: Garda Lake – Bergamo
Breakfast in hotel. Transfer to airport by GT bus or delivery of the car.

According to the number of participants, RainbowItaly can propose this itinerary in self-drive, minibus, GT bus, luxury car with private driver and everything can be personalized, starting from a basic package that includes:
- Car rental (individual) or transfer by GT bus (groups) from Airport
- Accommodation in hotel 3*/3*S or in bed and breakfast
- Mincio navigation (around 1h30)
- Full entrance to Vittoriale degli Italiani in Gardone Riviera
- Entrance and 1 drink at MAMO’S GAY PUB in Bergamo

In Bergamo we suggest these visits and activities:
• Accademia Carrara di Bergamo: you will be amazed by the beauty of its masterpieces, painted by many renowned artists such as Moroni, Pisanello, Lotto, Botticelli, Titian, Palma the Elder, Canaletto, Hayez, Piccio, Baschenis. The original artistic heritage consisted in the huge and precious collection of the Count Carrara, who left his patrimony to the maintenance of the Accademia.

• Val d’Astino: located between the Bosco dell’Allegrezza (the “Cheerfulness Wood”) and the Benaglia Hill, the Astino Valley immediately conveys a sense of piece and serenity. That’s why in 1170 the Vallombrosan monks decided to build their monastery and the Santo Sepolcro here.

• Donizetti’s birthplace: for some time now, it is possible to spend a day in Donizetti’s house, thanks to the project called “Impronte Sonore – Talking Tracks”, a multimedia route recreating the life of a typical XVIII Century family from Bergamo by means of remarkable audio tracks. An amazing and surprising immersive experience.

• Funicular to Upper Bergamo (old town): the Lower Funicular has been connecting the centre of Bergamo with the Upper Town (“Città Alta”) for more than 120 years, more precisely with Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe, where many business activities used to be carried out.

• Taste “stracciatella” flavour ice cream, consisting of milk-based ice cream filled with fine, irregular shavings of chocolate: the high quality of the raw materials, along with the dosage of the single ingredients and the skills of Enrico Panattoni, the owner of La Marianna, led to an excellent result. However, he never thought about patenting his recipe or protecting the name “stracciatella”. Currently, this ice cream flavour is well known all over the world. The “real stracciatella” is still made at La Marianna using the very same vertical machineries from 1961, the famous Carpigiani L40, with the tinned copper bell and the brine.