My first day in Verona started early because I was very excited to see where I ended up last night arriving late from the train station by taxi in this camping with an interesting name "Castel San Pietro" located somewhere on the higher grounds of Verona. I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
I was curious to see the city of love waking up, bathed in the morning light and by good chance I was exactly in the best place for doing this from one of the camping terraces.
The camping facilities are decent, nothing fancy but correct for the 22 EUR price/adult/pitch/day in 2022 considering the location and season.
You can have breakfast on this lovely terrace with enough options to choose from their little grocery store located inside.
Before checking out with my loaded bike which I'll go to pick up later, I decided to go for a light short walk in the historic centre of Verona since it was so close to the camping and still early.
Actually Casa di Giulietta which is one of Verona's main turistic attractions was a former inn belonging to Cappello family which dates back to the 14th century. The Capulet family’s houses was not actually located here, but rather in the vicinity of the bank of the River Adige.
The famous balcony was later added in the 20th century after being retrieved from other medieval house which was demolished when the municipality had to build a dam to prevent the river from flooding the city. The director of the Verona Civic Museum at the time - Antonio Avena – placed it in the courtyard of the Cappello family’s tower-house, which had just been purchased by the city of Verona to be turned into a museum: thus Juliet’s balcony was born.
Verona, the city of love is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since November 2000 because of its urban structure and architecture. Indeed Verona is a joy to discover on foot with so many well preserved buildings to see and its rich history to learn about.
Berto Barbarani, the poet of Verona born in 1872 was one of the most significant italian poets of the 20th century.
After a short two hours first walk in the old town of Verona, I think it's now time to pick up my rented bike from Itinera Bike & Travel and start this year's adventure on EuroVelo 7.
Now let's go discover the north of Italy together on EuroVelo 7, shall we?
Since it was already in the afternoon by the time I packed everything and left the camping, I thought it's a good idea to grab something to eat on my way out of the city which luckily was through the centre where all the shops and restaurants are.
From Verona I cycled mostly on secondary roads to Peschiera del Garda where I joined the EuroVelo 7 route.
Cycling for the first time in Italy along this beautiful countryside road, a song by Toto Cutugno suddenly came to my mind which I used to listen a lot as a kid in my parents car while driving to my grandma for the holidays on the other side of my country. The good old days of the audio tape, limited songs and autoreverse.
Took this short cool off opportunity to look for a place to rest for tonight and luckily I found couple of campings outside of Peschiera on the shore of lake Garda, which is a very popular holiday destination.
Didn't have much time to explore the fortress because it was already late when I arrived and my priority was to arrive at a camping site I found on Maps, but still very lucky to witness an amazing sunset on my way there.
There are many campings north of Peschiera and luckily I found a spot for my tent in one of them just before it was getting dark outside. A shower and 30 minutes later I invited myself for dinner on this nice restaurant terrace near the lake. The menu choice was simple: pizza and beer for the cyclist!
Full sunny days like this is what I love about bike touring, what's driving me to find a way to come back on EuroVelo each year, the unique blend of local natural and cultural elements and flavours plus a drop of adventure on top is what I love about cycling on EuroVelo and also my recommendation for you.
Until next time,
©Discover EuroVelo
All photos were taken with my iPhone 11 and Sony DSC-HX60V camera.
EuroVelo, the European Cycle Route Network are registered marks of ECF asbl.
I have no affiliation with EuroVelo or other organisations mentioned here, I am just a traveller sharing his bike touring trips, views and opinions.
EuroVelo is a network of 17 long distance cycle routes connecting and uniting the whole European continent totaling over 90,000 km of cycling itineraries.