9 Outdoor Activities in Castel Gandolfo That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By F12MPpeters - Rome, Italy

Lago Albano, Castel Gandolfo, Lazio Lago Albano is a small volcanic lake 20 km south of Rome; it’s also the most spectacular geological feature in Lazio this close to the city. Take time from your holiday itinerary and delight in the pleasures of a day out – vista/beach/water/forest/restaurant. Like just about everything in life – it’s what you make of it; this thing about appreciating the people, places and times that impact. Sit on a rock next to Lago Albano of an early morning, and listen to the quietness of the trees/forest around you; take your swim togs and, after a comfortable walk around the lake, get into the water and swim 500 m towards the centre of the lake; tread water and take in the steep crater walls around you; put your head under and swim down a couple of metres; wear swim-goggles and you can see the light above you. Imagine that space beneath you (170 m deep). You can see why the ancients delighted in leaving the heat of the city in summer for the hills around them – modern people too. After a catastrophic splurge with water over-flowing the crater wall and flooding the surrounding countryside (around 400 BCE), the Ancient Romans controlled the level of the lake by building 1,200 m tunnel through the surrounding wall (and discharging beneath what is now Castel Gandolfo). It was fed by an over-flow/chute and remains in working order to this day (and this notwithstanding 3-4 m fall in lake level during the past 50 years). You’ll find it easier to get to the lake if you have a car – 40 minutes on the Via Appia Nuova; parking is easy wherever you are, although you pay by the hour if you remain around the beach end of the lake. There’s also that suburban rail line that skirts the lake and climbs up to Castel Gandolfo Town. Catch the train from Roma Termini. That’s what we did en famille just on 30 years back – our first time to the lake. For the past 10 years or so, a small group of us have been walking the trails around the lake once/week – social walking. This thing about the dynamics of life then – once there were a regular four (more sometimes), but this time there were just the two of us. With the mid-30sdegC heat of mid-year we’ve remained largely beneath the trees. We did the much the same last week. Started at around 08.30 close to Villa Giulia below Via delle Spiaggia del Lago. Rain from the previous night had moistened the undergrowth and there were puddles in the depressions. Easy walking then with the air fresh and moist; the sort of conditions in which you quickly develop a rhythm that would enable you to walk to the ends of the Earth (or so we tell ourselves – when starting out; later it’s the prospect of that cold drink/lunch that encourages you on.). Lago Albano has a surface area 6 km2 and it’s completely enveloped by a circular 250 m wall. A loop around the lake is about 10 km – so, about three hours walking. Begin early and catch the sun across the lip of the rim as it impacts the white facade of Castel Gandolfo Town across the lake (the Pope's original summer residence from days long passed). There are others there too – you’ll bump into around 50 people - joggers, ramblers, dog-walkers and trail bikkies - you have to watch the latter - they creep up on you fast and don't tend to give way. Hmmm We've generally walked the lower trails along the lake side given that's where you find the most shade, but if you scale the wall to reach the upper walking trails you’ll get this spectacular view across to Castel Gandolfo and to the recreational end of the lake where there are beaches and more. The rim is also where you’ll find those strategically-placed restaurants that provide an ‘eating table with a world class view’. It’s the beaches that provide all those tourist services, however, with restaurants and more to suit all tastes/budgets. Peter Steele Rome 12 August 2018