Parco del Mincio

Motor vessel navigation from Mantua to the lower Mincio and towards the Po River

• Trail Conditions: Boat
• Interest: Flora, Wildlife, Panorama

• Departure: Mantova - Lago di Mezzo
• Duration: 1 hour/1.5 hours

The boat departs from the jetty on Lago di Mezzo and navigates a little upstream to see Diga dei Mulini (mill-dam) and Vasaron, the retaining structure designed by Alberto Pitentino. Going downstream you can admire the Burgo paper-mill designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, a grand work resulting from a patient pursuit of proportion. A little further the bus del gat, a cave along the river at the foot of the tower of Sparafucile, is an iconic place connected with the foundation of Mantua. The silhouette of the city will charm sensitive souls, with its merlon-crowned towers and its palaces. Leaving the city behind, Mincio Park shows itself in its full majesty. The boat slowly approaches white and yellow water lilies (they blossom in May), water caltrops, groves of reeds, willow-covered islets that swans often choose for nesting. Herons take off, or coypus run away from cane groves. According to season and chance, it is very likely to spot little bitterns, grebes, mallards, night herons, and kingfishers, gracing the valley in front of Andes, the ancient village where the great poet Virgil was born.
After paying tribute to the Culex mosquito, in the place where Nelumbo blossoms in July, the vessel turns back to the jetty.