Altitude (Italian Alps)

A navigational road trip through the Italian Alps in the guest’s own car, with four nights split between Lake Garda and Merano, and the price quoted on application.

The two bases are well chosen and quite different. Riva del Garda sits at the northern tip of the lake where the cliffs come down to the water, and Merano is a spa town up in South Tyrol with palms in the gardens and mountains immediately behind.

The days are given to the best mountain roads in the region, which from these two bases is a remarkable list: the Gardesana along the western shore of the lake, the passes of the Brenta and the Adamello to the west, and the Dolomite circuits within reach to the east. The Merano hotel runs to ten and a half thousand square metres of spa and wellness facilities, which after a day of hairpins is the right thing to come back to.

Hand-picked luxury hotels including the two nights at Riva del Garda and the two at Merano, and a suggested daily route with the loan of a preprogrammed satnav, are included; fuel, most meals, the car itself, tips and insurance are not. The price is given on application, as is the total length of the trip, which the operator had not specified. Late spring to early autumn is the window, since the high passes close in winter and the lake in August is both hot and busy. The format throughout is navigational rather than guided: a destination and a suggested route each day, and the rest is the driver’s own.