THRILLGROUNDS Ground 29 · Lake Garda & the Dolomites · Riva · Arco · Malcesine · South Tyrol
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Looking down the cables of the Malcesine–Monte Baldo cable car onto Malcesine and Lake Garda

45° 53′ N · 10° 50′ E · From the Marmolada to the wind over Torbole · Ground 29

Lake Garda & the Dolomites

The mountain ends in the lake, and the wind arrives
every afternoon on time.

At the north end of Lake Garda the mountains rise straight out of the water, and that is what makes the ground: a cable car with a rotating cabin takes you 1,650 metres up, and a paraglider brings you down again in half an hour; via ferratas run along ridges with the lake beneath them; the canyons of the Ledro valley have jumps and abseils; and every afternoon the Ora arrives, the wind that made Torbole the windsurfing capital of Europe. Two hours north, the Dolomites: the range's highest cable car, tandem flights off Kronplatz, seven ziplines in a row. Scrolling means falling. We show every stop with real prices and say what is not on the platforms.

1 · the view3 · sweaty palms5 · heart in your throat
Jump
The Punta Rocca top station of the Marmolada cable car in snow, at 3,265 metres

Stop 1 · Cable car · Malga Ciapela – Punta Rocca, Dolomites

3,265M · PUNTA ROCCA

The Dolomites' highest cable car, onto their only glacier

Three sections from Malga Ciapela, 1,800 metres of climb, and the cabin stops at 3,265 metres above the Dolomites' last glacier. From the terrace you see the Punta Penia and the Fassa valley, and the air is noticeably thin.

Pulse 1/5 our editors' rating
Top station
Punta Rocca, 3,265 m
Summit
Punta Penia 3,343 m – the Dolomites' highest
Cable car
from 1,467 m, three sections, renewed 2004/05
Via ferrata
west ridge, since 1903 – guided only

Ticket at the base station. The Marmolada cable car is on no platform; GetYourGuide has only day tours from Bolzano or Venice for the western Dolomites. Pulse one, but 3,265 metres – coming from the lake, you have gained 3,200 metres in a day. Photo: the Punta Rocca top station in winter.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

The bald summit of Kronplatz above the forests of the Puster valley near Bruneck

The lift takes you to the bald summit, the pilot lays out the wing, a few steps downhill, and the Puster valley drops away. Twenty minutes over meadows and villages, the Dolomites to the south, landing at Reischach.

Pulse 4/5 our editors' rating
Launch
Kronplatz, 2,275 m
Drop
about 1,200–1,300 m
Flight
20–25 min
Lift
Kronplatz 2000 cable car from Reischach

Two operators on the same mountain, both on GetYourGuide, both 5.0. The lift ticket comes on top. Flying is on thermals between late morning and early afternoon; in summer Kronplatz is South Tyrol's most reliable launch. Photo: Kronplatz seen from Bruneck.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Stop 2 · Tandem paragliding · Kronplatz, Bruneck

2,275M · KRONPLATZ LAUNCH

Bruneck lies twelve hundred metres below

A paraglider over Lake Garda at Malcesine, the lake far below

Stop 3 · Cable car & tandem paragliding · Monte Baldo, Malcesine

1,700M ABOVE THE LAKE

Up in the rotating cabin, down under the wing

The cable car's second section turns a full circle, and the lake becomes a map. At the top, 1,760 metres up, the launch meadow, a few steps, then half an hour over the blue, landing 1,700 metres below on the shore.

Pulse 4/5 our editors' rating
Cable car
90 m → 1,760 m Tratto Spino, 1,650 m of climb, rotating cabin since 2002
Tandem flight
launch at Tratto Spino, 1,700 m of drop, just under 30 min
Landing
on the shore, 1.5 km north of Malcesine
Lift
600 people/h, closed March and November

The Malcesine pilots sell direct. The classic – launch at Tratto Spino, landing on the shore – is on no platform; the flying schools book by phone or at the base station. GetYourGuide's only tandem on Lake Garda is at Toscolano on the west shore (74 reviews, 5.0), so that is the one here. The cable car itself is bought at the Malcesine ticket office.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Riva del Garda and the north end of Lake Garda from the summit of Cima Capi

The route leaves the Ponale trail and follows the south ridge: steel cable, footholds in the rock, the lake always on your left, 900 metres down. Never really hard, but exposed everywhere. Riva and Monte Baldo from the top.

Pulse 3/5 our editors' rating
Summit
909 m
Grade
A/B – easy but exposed; sure-footedness needed
Access
from Riva via the Ponale trail, SAT 405
View
Lake Garda, Monte Baldo, Ledro valley, Brenta

Free on your own, guided on GetYourGuide. With a set and experience you go alone – the route is public. For everyone else, the guided tour with gear. About 1,000 people a month search for via ferratas on Lake Garda; Cima Capi is the best known. Rio Sallagoni near Drena is the short, shady alternative through a gorge.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Stop 4 · Via ferrata · Fausto Susatti, Riva del Garda

909M · THE SUMMIT ABOVE RIVA

A ridge, and the lake beneath it

The three rock towers of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites under a cloudy sky

Stop 5 · Zipline park · Adrenaline X-treme Adventures, San Vigilio di Marebbe

100M ABOVE THE GROUND

Seven lines, three kilometres, four hundred metres down

All ziplines compared →

Launch at 1,600 metres in the Fanes-Sennes-Prags nature park, then seven runs in a row down the valley, the longest 800 metres, up to 80 km/h, a hundred metres of forest under your feet at the highest point.

Pulse 3/5 our editors' rating
Runs
7, 3 km of cable in total, longest 800 m
Height
up to 100 m above the ground, 400 m of descent
Speed
80 km/h
Start
1,600 m, Pedagà lift

“Europe's longest zipline” is the total, not one line. The operator advertises three kilometres, but that is seven runs; the longest single line is 800 metres, and that is how it sits in our zipline list. The one GetYourGuide ticket has 163 reviews, 4.8. Photo: the Tre Cime, an hour east – not the park.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Riva del Garda and the north end of Lake Garda seen from Pregasina, steep mountains on both sides

Wetsuit, helmet, and the creek has polished the rock into slides. A seven-metre jump into a pool of indescribable colour, then a rope over a 25-metre step beside the waterfall. Anyone who will not jump is lowered.

Pulse 4/5 our editors' rating
Rio Nero
abseils to 25 m, jumps to 7 m, slides to 6 m
Who can
from 8 and 120 cm; jumps never compulsory
Also
Palvico and Vione in the Ledro valley; Tignale on the west shore
Searches
590 a month for “canyoning gardasee”

The most-reviewed thing in the ground. The Tignale tour on the west shore has over 450 reviews at 4.9 and is the beginner's pick; Arco's Wild Jump is the jumping version for those who want it. The numbers above are the Rio Nero in the Ledro valley, the best-known canyon of Garda Trentino – you book that with the Arco mountain guides. Photo: Riva and the north end of the lake from Pregasina, the road into the Ledro valley.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Stop 6 · Canyoning · Rio Nero, Palvico, Vione – Ledro valley & Tignale

25M · THE LONGEST ABSEIL

The jumps are optional, the abseil is not

Windsurfers with colourful sails off Torbole at the north end of Lake Garda

Stop 7 · Windsurfing, kite & SUP · Torbole, Brenzone

0M · ON THE LAKE

The wind runs to a timetable

The Pelér from the north in the morning, the Ora from the south from noon, every day since the lake existed. By two o'clock a hundred sails are off Torbole, beginners in the shallows at Nago, pros in the whitecaps off Brione.

Pulse 2/5 our editors' rating
Winds
Pelér from the north in the morning, Ora from the south in the afternoon
Lessons
windsurf from 1 h, kite 4 h, SUP 1–2 h
Where
Torbole, Nago, Brenzone
Season
April to October

The platform listings are new and barely reviewed. Torbole's surf schools have sold direct for decades, and GetYourGuide has only recently listed courses – one to three reviews. We show them because they are real; if you want certainty, book on the promenade. The wind comes either way.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Touchdown. Now build your day on these grounds.

    Also on these grounds

    Ponale: the road in the cliff

    Pulse 2/5

    The old road from Riva into the Ledro valley, blasted into the cliff and now car-free: the lake's most famous walk and mountain-bike ride, a hundred metres above the water, free. About 320 searches a month.

    Rafting in the Val di Sole

    Pulse 4/5

    Two hours north-west, the Noce: 35 kilometres of runnable river, Class 4 between Cusiano and Dimaro, and by National Geographic the best rafting river in Europe. Not on GetYourGuide – the rafting centres in Dimaro sell direct.

    The grounds in numbers

    ActivityPulseThe numberDurationFromReviewsBookable online
    Marmolada · cable car1/53,265 m2 hbase station—no – Malga Ciapela
    Tandem flight · KronplatzBook now →
    Tandem flight · Monte Baldo (Malcesine)4/51,700 m of drop1 hflying schools—no – direct
    Tandem flight · ToscolanoBook now →
    Cima Capi via ferrataBook now →
    Ziplines · San VigilioBook now →
    Canyoning · TignaleBook now →
    Canyoning · Arco Wild JumpBook now →
    Windsurf course · TorboleBook now →
    Rafting · Val di Sole4/5Class 43 hoperator—no – Dimaro direct
    Ponale road2/5—2 hfree—no ticket

    Before you jump

    Where can you fly tandem on Lake Garda?

    The classic is Monte Baldo: the cable car from Malcesine to 1,760 metres, launch at Tratto Spino, 1,700 metres of drop and just under 30 minutes of flight to a landing on the shore north of Malcesine. The pilots there sell direct. On GetYourGuide the lake's only tandem is at Toscolano on the west shore for about €150, and in the Dolomites the flights off Kronplatz from about €149.

    Which via ferrata on Lake Garda for beginners?

    The Via Ferrata Fausto Susatti up Cima Capi, 909 metres right above Riva: grade A/B, never truly hard but exposed throughout, with the lake beneath the ridge. Guided with gear on GetYourGuide for about €100, free on your own with your own set. Rio Sallagoni near Drena is the short, shady alternative through a gorge.

    Is the San Vigilio zipline really Europe's longest?

    As a park, not as a line. Adrenaline X-treme Adventures quotes three kilometres of cable over seven runs with 400 metres of descent, up to 100 metres above the ground and 80 km/h; the longest single run is 800 metres. For comparison, Flåm in Norway has 1,381 metres in one piece. Ticket on GetYourGuide about €89, 163 reviews.

    How hard is canyoning on Lake Garda?

    The Rio Nero in the Ledro valley is medium: longest abseil 25 metres, jumps up to 7 metres, slides up to 6, from age eight and 120 centimetres, and no jump is compulsory – anyone who does not want to is lowered. The beginner tour at Tignale on the west shore is the most-reviewed thing in the ground at over 450 reviews, about €88.

    When does the wind blow at Torbole?

    To a timetable: the Pelér from the north in the morning, usually until about eleven, then a lull, and from early afternoon the Ora from the south until evening. Both are thermal winds that blow on almost every summer day – which is why the surf schools are at Torbole and Nago. Courses on GetYourGuide are newly listed and barely reviewed; the schools on the promenade have sold direct for decades.

    Lake Garda or the Dolomites – how to split the time?

    Two hours separate them. Riva is the base for the lake: via ferrata, canyoning, the Ponale, surfing, Malcesine all under 40 minutes. The Dolomites are worth their own night: Kronplatz and San Vigilio two and a half hours north, the Marmolada three. With only three days, stay at the lake and make the Marmolada the day trip.

    What does a thrill day on Lake Garda cost?

    On GetYourGuide on Sept 25, 2026: canyoning about €88 to €99, the guided Cima Capi via ferrata about €100, the Toscolano tandem about €150, a windsurf course about €85, in the Dolomites the Kronplatz tandem about €149 and the zipline park about €89. Direct: the Monte Baldo cable car and flights, the Marmolada, Val di Sole rafting; free: the Ponale and the via ferrata with your own set.