Arco and Surrounding Area Rock Climbing

Arco is at the northern tip of Lago di Garda, just northeast of Riva del Garda. There are amazing limestone formations that are swarming with busy bees on the weekends. Around 1,000 long, run out multi-pitch climbs on rusted pins blot these walls. There are also a number of beginner crags to practice on (5.0 even). A car access crag is Nago wall, where wall to wall 1P sport 5.6-5.13 await. There are remote crags yet to have bolted lines betrothed to them. There are also many climbs around Lake Garda. There are climbing shops spewing into the streets from every corner of Arco where deals are good and so is the food. Guidebooks in every western language are plentiful.

Arco also hosts an outdoor climbing gym, the Master Stadium, that hosts Italian and World IFSC climbing competitions. Definitely worth checking out if in the area!While exotic and uncommon for North Americans, the Arco/Lake Garda area is a major tourist destination in Europe. Please keep this in mind as thousands of central Europeans drive down from the Netherlands, Austria and Germany clogging the roads, streets and generally everything. School breaks in nearby Germany can mean that all nearby town's double or triple in population and that often, German is as useful as Italian in the area.

Nevertheless, prices tend to be slightly cheaper than central Europe although gas prices are more expensive than Austria and Germany. Most Lake Garda tourists will not actually visit Arco, but given that it's a 10km distance away, traffic and crowds can be a real problem.