Why this ride
From Mantova it runs 188 km to Mantova; allow about 3 h of riding. The stops in between: Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli, San Sivino, Bande - Corte Carpani and back through San Sivino.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mantoue and Bande - Corte Carpani
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 188 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 02
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mantoue
Mantua rises out of three artificial lakes formed by the river Mincio, a Renaissance city set in the flat Po plain, and in summer the air carries the smell of water and reeds. The Gonzaga family ruled here for almost four centuries, and they turned a modest town into one of the most brilliant courts in Italy. In the Ducal Palace, a labyrinth of hundreds of rooms, Andrea Mantegna painted the Camera degli Sposi, a small chamber whose ceiling shows an illusionistic oculus with faces and cherubs peering down. Not far away, the Palazzo Te, built for Federico Gonzaga by Giulio Romano, is a pleasure villa with playful frescoes of giants falling.
Read the complete Mantoue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mantoue is where the day begins. Next is Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli.
2. Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli
South of Lake Garda, the land rises into a series of low hills, the moraines left behind by the glacier that carved the lake. Among them, in a hollow, lies a small heart-shaped lake, and on a ridge above it stands the walled village of Castellaro Lagusello, one of the most charming in Lombardy. The lake and its marshes are a nature reserve, and on its shore, at Fondo Tacoli, archaeologists found the remains of a Bronze Age pile dwelling settlement, part of the UNESCO group of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.
Read the complete Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is San Sivino.
3. San Sivino
On the western shore of Lake Garda, between Manerba and Moniga, the little bay of San Sivino hides something very old under its shallows. People lived here in the Bronze Age in villages built on wooden piles at the water's edge, and the remains of their posts, tools and pottery survive in the mud of the lake. The site is one of the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps that UNESCO listed in 2011, a series of more than a hundred sites spread across six countries. There is nothing to see above the water, but knowing that the shore was settled thousands of years ago adds a quiet depth to an afternoon by the lake.
Read the complete San Sivino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach San Sivino. Next is Bande - Corte Carpani.
4. Bande - Corte Carpani
Corte Carpani is the kind of place that the name tells you most about. A corte in this part of Lombardy is a farm courtyard, with a farmhouse, barns and outbuildings arranged around a square, and the old estates in the Mantuan hills often kept the names of the families who owned them for a few generations. It sits among the low moraine hills south of Lake Garda, near the villages of Solferino and Cavriana, in a country of vines, maize, cypress rows and brick farm towers.
Read the complete Bande - Corte Carpani write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bande - Corte Carpani, about halfway. Next is back through San Sivino.
5. back through San Sivino
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete San Sivino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through San Sivino sits at 116 km, about halfway. Next is back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli.
6. back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli comes up about 156 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mantoue.
7. Mantoue
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mantoue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mantoue closes the day.
Leg by leg
Mantoue to Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli
Mantoue → Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli to San Sivino
Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli → San Sivino is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
San Sivino to Bande - Corte Carpani
San Sivino → Bande - Corte Carpani is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bande - Corte Carpani to back through San Sivino
Bande - Corte Carpani → back through San Sivino is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through San Sivino to back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli
back through San Sivino → back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli to Mantoue
back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli → Mantoue is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.