Top 6 Budget-friendly Things to do in Tenno, Trentino-Alto Adige

Canale di Tenno is an obligatory stop for those who desire to immerse themselves in the magic of a place of the past, where you breathe history, art and culture.The village, entrenched on a mountain slope halfway between Lake Garda and the Alps, has recently been included in the list of the most beautiful villages in Italy: note the narrow paved alleys, arcades, small internal squares, the houses set one against the other like in the ancient villages of the 13 century.The village was abandoned after the war, but lived again in the sixties thanks to a lively artistic and cultural scene. The Casa degli Artisti (Home of the Artists), dedicated to the painter Giacomo Vittone, is found here and is a residence and meeting place for artists from all of Europe.From the 428 metres of Canale you can admire the splendid Lake Garda, and the imposing mountains behind, or you can reach Lake Tenno, one of the cleanest stretch of water in Trentino, characterized by its intense turquoise colour and small islet.

The medieval village of Frapporta used to be directly linked with the castle above, which could only be reached from within the village itself. Access to the fortified village was possible through an old arched gate, which still retains its sturdy closing mechanisms. The houses are lined up along the street leading to the hill of San Lorenzo and the church of the same name. They are defended by the cliff rising up from the Gòla path and the steep terraces running down the Magnone river valley. The walls closing off the village to the northeast form the base of a 17th century tower. In the clearing below, there is an old fountain and a tomb from the Dark Ages, which was discovered in the upper part of Tenno.

The massive form, lightened by the battlements, accentuates the austere grandeur of the underlying fortified village. The castle, vigilant over the old road of Lake Garda and the “Giudicarie Esteriori”, represents a striking ornamental and historic model integrated in Trentino’s unique landscape. A collapse in 1920 destroyed the quadrangular donjon, but the castle had already been sacked in the eighteenth century by the french troops of general Vendôme. The keep walls are rich of history and display inscriptions and coats of arms belonging to Princes and Bishops. The castle is a private estate and cannot be visited.