Description of the route
Now on foot go back to the cobbled street, on the wall you will see a sign for the Santuario del Rio and a Marker for route 16, follow the cobbled road through the old village. The village is small but very pretty and very old, if you look carefully at the walls of some of the buildings you can see what look like the scars of ancient battles and if you have an imagination like mine you can transport yourself back to bygone days.
Just out of the village you will come to a ‘No Through Road’ sign, after approximately 20m don’t carry on to Santuario del Rio but instead turn right (you will see a marker for San Bartolomeo and Passo La Stacca possibly obscured by the bushes). Keep following the markers for Passo La Stacca until you come to a crossroads (Passo La Stacca) with a marker to Bagnolo 17b.
Follow 17b, you will arrive at Bagnolo and it will seem like you are walking through somebody’s garden but don’t worry you are on the right path this is Azienda Agrituristica Del Bagnolo . You will eventually exit through a gated arch and then you will be on tarmac. Follow the road down until you come to a marker for S.Michele 17. Follow this down until you arrive in San Michele where you can find a restaurant, a café/bar and a shop.
When you have refreshed yourself you need to go back the way you came. When you arrive back at the marker which directed you down to S.Michele instead of turning right and going back up to Bagnolo, cross the road and follow the marker for Serniga 17.
When you arrive in the village follow the marker 17 turn left (the marker will be on the wall of a yellow house, then at the end turn right and follow the track until you arrive back at Passo La Stacca. Follow the markers to
Map of the route
View Rezano-San Michele in a larger map
St.Bartolomeo 17, when you come to the village you will come out on to the tarmacroad. Keep walking straight ahead and you will soon pick up the markers for route 17 Salo.
You will be taken back off the road, follow the track down until you see a gate on your right (a red and white marker is painted on the gate post. Climb over the gate and keep following the markers to down to Salo/Renzano 17. Watch out for a blue marker which reads Belvedere Amici del Golfo. At this marker there is a little track that leads up to an amazing view point of the Gulf of Salo. Don’t worry if you miss this as there is another view point a few hundred meters along the route, just watch out for the picnic table on the left and a track next to which takes you up to the viewpoint.
Once you have been overwhelmed by the amazing views you need to get back on track and start your descent back down to your car at Renzano. You will come to a junction where the marker 17 turns left down to Salo, don’t turn left but go straight ahead following the markers to Renzano you will arrive safely back at your car.
Just done the San Bartolomeo / San Michele circuit on routes 17 and 17b – fantastic afternoon with stunning views of the lake also wooded sections that provided a nice contrast and also shade from the sun. It took us about 3.5 hours and was just the right length / difficulty to make us feel like we’ve had a decent walk and worked up an appetite for another night on the town in Salo!
I’ll have a go at this route on mountain bike later this week – it should be doable even with my lack of fitness etc. I tried route 16 on MTB from Santuario del Rio earlier in the week which was more challenging on MTB. I ended up carrying/pushing the bike for big sections of it – discovered back muscles and pains I didn’t know I had….
Anyway, many thanks for the recommendations – really useful website! It’s has been great to discover more of what is within a short ride/drive from Salo! Stuart
Thanks for the comment Stuart, I’m glad we could help, Would love to hear what you thought of some of the restaurants.