Malcesine

Sat 20/9/25

After breakfast of fried rice and preparing packed sandwich for lunch, we walked for about 30 minutes to a nearby viewpoint of Padola to take pictures and fly the drone. There was no one here at all. 

Padola viewpoint

Padola from drone view

We then checked out at 10am to make the long drive to Malcesine, taking about 4 hours, with a distance of 230km. I decided to take the long way out of the Dolomites, passing through Gardena Pass, which was absolutely beautiful. If we could repeat our trip, we would probably stay somewhere near here.

beautiful views along the way

Those with sports / supercars were flashing their cars proudly passing through Gardena Pass. We saw groups of Mustang cars, Porche, BMW convertibles etc passing through there. We tried to find a parking spot, but it was full. People were already parking by the roadside, so we were unable to find a proper place to stop. 

Gardena Pass

near Gardena Pass

We finally found a parking spot a bit further down, but still had a beautiful view. We stopped here to have our sandwich for lunch while enjoying the views before proceeding our journey to Malcesine at Lake Garda.

stopped by a car park near Gardena Pass

at a car park near Gardena Pass

We followed googlemaps suggestion to take the highway, but alas, we were stuck in a jam for about an hour. After a wrong turn (where the U turn is a 5km detour away), we finally made it to Hotel Laura Christina (EUR 114 or RM 576) plus EUR 3 city tax (cash) for 1 night with breakfast in Malcesine at 4pm

view from our hotel room balcony in Malcesine with Lake Garda in the background

After resting, we ventured out to Malcesine town by walking from our hotel which is just a 15 min walk down the lake. We also went to take pictures at the Castello Scaligero from the outside. We managed to buy some souvenirs and chocolates here before returning back to the hotel at 8pm

by the Lake Garda

Castello Scaligero

Malcesine town

Malcesine town centre

sunset at Lake Garda

Lake Garda at night