Glamping in Italy: Camping at Lake Garda becomes a luxury experience

2023-07-21 07:44:51

Europe Italy

View of the stars from your bed – glamping on Lake Garda

From transparent domes with four-poster beds to energy self-sufficient mobile homes: Lake Garda in Italy shows how glamping holidays are developing. Many guests are happy to pay more for a luxury experience with VIP parking, a private jacuzzi and exquisite gastronomy.

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For romantics: The Garda Bubbles even have a heated whirlpool

Source: SRT-Archivbild/www.srt-bild.de

The Garda Bubbles are absolute eye-catchers. Hardly a camper goes past without stopping at least briefly and marveling at the transparent panorama domes. They look as if someone just placed the base of a lunar station in an olive grove. With a view of Lake Garda, of course.

But the bubbles are only the most spectacular example: especially on the largest lake in northern Italy, you can see how glamping holidays are developing and what guests are willing to dig a little deeper into their wallets for.

In glamping tents and mobile homes in particular, the trend towards more luxury is unmistakable. That surprised even the campsite operators. “Especially with the most spectacular tents and the best equipped mobile homes, the price plays a minor role,” says Riccardo Geommaroni, manager of La Rocca Camping Village near Bardolino.

It is a development that his colleagues from Lago di Garda Camping, an association of 19 sites in the region, have also noticed: “The most expensive offers are always booked up the fastest.” The site operators have noticed that some families no longer book a whole week’s holiday as they did years ago, but now only stay four or five nights. “Then you can afford a bit more with the same budget,” says Geommaroni.

More luxury at the campsite

Additional comfort and luxury in glamping mean not only a wooden terrace with stylish furniture, but also brick barbecues, private mini pools or heated whirlpools. In the morning, breakfast can be served on the terrace on request. A reserved parking space directly in front of the accommodation and private bathrooms as well as a fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher are mostly standard. In the next development step and the noblest segment, however, the kitchen is missing again: you go out to eat in the evening anyway.

A luxuriously equipped mobile home at Camping La Rocca

Source: SRT-Archivbild/www.srt-bild.de

This does not only mean the proven selection of pizza and pasta. With the boom in glamping holidays, many campsites have upgraded their gastronomic offer. The food is cooked “con passione”, with passion. This includes creative menus, high-quality ingredients and selected top wines, which many a guest on a campsite does not expect.

An example of this is the “Ristorante Flaschena” at the La Rocca campsite. With its stylish cuisine, it now even attracts locals from the area. As if the restaurateur had deliberately wanted to create a contrast to the noble overall impression, the cheapest pizza costs just under seven euros. This also pleases the many families among the campers who arrive with tents and caravans or mobile homes and sometimes don’t know what to do with glamping.

Camping Fornella has a spa overlooking Lake Garda

Source: SRT-Archivbild/www.srt-bild.de

That glamping holidays can mean more than luxurious accommodation and exceptional gastronomy was demonstrated years ago by a number of high-quality campsites in the Alps, especially in South Tyrol, and created sophisticated wellness, fitness and spa areas. Camping Fornella was one of the pioneers on Lake Garda. Here, an imposing old farmhouse, which was already on the site anyway, was converted into a spa with a lake view three years ago.

Ecotourism is also a priority on Lake Garda

It will be all the more important in the future to build ecologically and save energy. More and more campsites on Lake Garda have drinking water taps to save on disposable bottles. The water comes from the lake, is filtered and can be filled into your own reusable containers for a fee.

Brand new this season are energy self-sufficient mobile homes, which are equipped with water and energy saving systems, among other things. It is a development that also pays off for the campsite operator: in the long term, there will be fewer costs and until then, customers will be happy to pay a few euros more to have a clear conscience.

Despite all the progress, only the “Bubbles” offer a four-poster bed with a view of the moon and the stars. The clear foil domes at Camping La Rocca are a romantic dream. Next to the bedroom is the living area, in the next bubble is the bathroom and on the terrace there is a heated whirlpool. If you want to book this type of holiday, you shouldn’t be stingy. Two nights with breakfast still cost 680 euros, even in the low season in mid-September.

Additional Information:

Lake Garda: Lake Garda is the largest lake in northern Italy and can be reached by car from Munich in just over four and a half hours. There are also train connections to Rovereto, Verona, Desenzano and in 6.15 hours the southernmost station to Peschiera/Sirmione.

also read

Lake Garda Camping: The association represents 19 campsites and holiday villages between San Felice del Benaco and the town of Garda. It has committed itself to common standards, including in the area of ​​environmental protection (lagodigardacamping.com/de).

Garda-Bubbles: The Garda Bubbles are currently only available at La Rocca Camping Village near Malcesine (laroccacamp.de). That is there too Restaurant „Botanika“. A reservation is advisable ([email protected]; Tel: [phone]).

The energy self-sufficient mobile homes are on the Fornella campsite (fornella.it).

Additional Information: visitgarda.com

Participation in the trip was supported by Lago di Garda Camping. Our standards of transparency and journalistic independence can be found at axelspringer.com/de/werte/downloads.