No doubt avoiding the summer tourists, Archduke Albrecht preferred to build his winter palace 5km north of Riva in pretty Arco in 1872. Around it he created a magnificent arboretum, now the Parco Arciducale , planted with huge holm-oaks, sequoias and dagger-sharp cypresses. His neighbours did the same and now Arco blooms beautifully throughout the summer.
Above the tips of the cypresses you’ll spot the dramatically sighted Castello di Arco . Originally built by the Goths over a thousand years ago, it guarded the Valle di Sarca and was controlled by the Counts of Arco from the 12th century until 1703, when the French finally breached the walls.
From Arco, you can cycle north towards Drò to view the rocky desert of the Marocche – an area of huge mountain boulders which have tumbled down the steep slopes and now cover a desert-like area of 15 square kilometres between Drò, Drena and Lake Cavedine.
