On a nice, sunny day, the views from the lake are wonderful and you should definitely go out and explore lake Garda by boat. The north of the lake is surrounded by steep mountains while in the south flat land dominates the scenes. Lake Garda has different faces and considering the length of the lake, a whopping 51.9 km, there’s enough space to float around.

How lake Garda formed

It feels like lake Garda has always been there but it hasn’t. This impressive big lake and it’s surrounding mountains tell a story. If you are into geology, you might even be able to make an guess.

Lets take a look at it’s shape. The norther part is narrow (3km) compared to the south (16.7km) of the lake. And then there’s the depth of the lake. In the north it’s up to 364 meter deep while in the south it’s usually between 10 and 100 meter.

The answer to the formation of the lake is a massive Piedmont glacier. 1.5 million years ago this glacier flowed down the Brenta Dolomites and carved the lake. As the glacier ended up on flat lands it formed a bulb-like lobe and after the glacier melted the freshwater lake remained.

How to explore lake Garda by boat

Enough history as it’s time to get out and explore lake Garda by boat. Before you head out it’s important to know that lake Garda is part of 3 provinces; Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Veneto and Lombardy. This is important as this means that there are different rules for different parts of the lake.

When you rent a motor boat the first thing that they will tell you is to stay out of the northern part of the lake. This means you can’t visit Riva del Garda by self-steered motorboat and you can’t rent one either. In Veneto and Lombardy this is not a problem.

Second, you probably want to stay away as far as possible from the wind/kite-surfers and sail boats. They tend to go fast and be in one area so it should be easy to avoid them.

Where to rent a boat?

As mentioned, you can’t sail by yourself in the northern, Trentino, part of the lake. You therefore will not find any boat rental in that area. But when in Veneto or Lombardia, you’ll find boat rentals in for example Malcesine. For about 110,- euro’s you’ll be able to rent a speed boat (40hp) for 2 hours.

With many, many places to rent all kinds of shapes and sizes of boats, I recommend you to have a search at Google. If you are already near lake Garda, you most likely find a rental company in your neighborhood.

Ah, last but not least, don’t forget your swimwear! There’s nothing better then taking a fresh dive into the beautiful blue water of lake Garda!

Sognsvann is a relatively small lake in Oslomarka, north of Oslo. It’s located between Maridalen lake and Holmenkollen and is very easy to reach using the subway. The area is a popular destination for the locals as it offers a wide variety of outdoor options. Besides walking, the area is very well suited for cross country skiing, biking and many other leisure activities.

Due to the recent snowfall, I figured now is the time to check it out and have a long walk with my dog Tøsen. At arrival, I find out I am not the only one. The car park is big but packed with cars and people. It seems like we all have the same idea and have some fun in the snow.

Nevertheless, the area is big enough for all of us. You can go north almost as long as you like and you’ll get deeper and deeper into Nordmarka. The further you go, to more quite it gets. So when you find yourself in Oslo, and are longing for a nice walk, bike ride or cross country skiing trip then there is no better place to start then at Sognsvann!

Download GPX

How to go to Sognsvann?

Sognsvann is very easy to reach by foot, car and public transport. As it’s a popular leisure area for locals, there is enough free parking space. This is most likely also caused by Norges Idrettshøgskole (Norwegian School of Sport Sciences). So even though there is enough space, it can be quite busy.

If you are considering public transport, then you are in luck. There is a subway station called Sognsvann and it’s actually the end station of the line. Line 5 goes all around the city center and will take you to Sognsvann. For more details, check out ruter.no

De Schorre – Modern Recreational Area

Nowadays De Schorre is a recreation area with beautiful lakes and almost wild nature where you can hike and bike. About one third of the park is considered as a pure natural area.

Here you can find a lot of wild plants and other vegetable life that has grown for decades spontaneously after the brick makers stopped their operations in the clay pit.

A rich variety of birds, insects and animals find their shelter here.

De Schorre is also a home for many different sport clubs and other activities. You can rent a bike here and cycle around the park exploring its beautiful nature if you prefer calm and relaxed biking.

Mountain Biking

But if you are one of those extreme lovers who prefers adrenaline you can also take part in mountain bikes competitions. They take part several times per year and attract hundreds of mountain bikers.

There are pretty high hills in the park which were specially created for mountain biking in de Schorre.

Hang Gliding and Paragliding

If if want to try something even more extreme you can also learn how to do hang gliding and paragliding in de Schorre.

One of the biggest differences between paragliding and hang gliding is the shape of a glider. Hang-gliders are made of harder materials, consisting of sailcloth stretched over a metal frame, a paraglider consists simply of a harness suspended underneath a fabric wing.

Both paragliding and hang-gliding are more relaxed than you might think, and require very little in terms of pilot strength, flexibility, and just activity in general. But they say that controlling a paraglider turns to be a bit easier than a hang-glider.

Paragliding pilots change direction and pitch by pulling on the cords connecting to the canopy, changing the wing shape and therefore how the wind interacts with it.

In hang-gliding, by contrast, pilots have their body strapped into the craft, and change direction by shifting body weight. This is fairly low-demand activity, but on extended flights it can become a bit tiring for those without good core strength.

So, choose what seems easier or more exciting to you and come over to give it a try.

Extreme Sports in de Schorre

Regarding other active types of sports you can also find a climbing wall in de Schorre. Or even the entire climbing tower.

As you can see on the photo below it is an artificially constructed tower with grips for hands and feet and special ropes for holding.

The wall has places to attach ropes and safety belts.

You don’t have to be professional in this to have some fun here.

Of course, you might not reach the top of the tower from the first time but you will definitely tense your muscles and have a lot of fun. Especially if you do that in a company of friends.

Kayak Polo

You can also have an option of trying a Kayak Polo in one of de Schorre lakes.

Kayak Polo is one of the competitive disciplines of canoeing, known simply as “polo”.

Polo includes canoeing and ball handling with an exciting contact team game, where tactics and positional play are as important as the speed and fitness of the individual athletes.

The game requires excellent teamwork and promotes both general canoeing skills and a range of other special techniques. So if you have a group of friends and don’t know what to do during the next weekend – you’ve just received a great tip!

De Schorre has it all

Whatever type of activity you search for your weekend be it extreme sports or just relaxed walking around and enjoying the nature you will definitely find it all in the recreational area De Schorre.

And you will be very surprised that this calm and green area can look like this every year in July.

For more information about Tomorrowland, visit the Tomorrowland website.

The Schoorlse Duinen is accessible all year round. The best starting point, and starting point of all walking routes, is Buitencentrum Schoorlse Duinen. Using the address given on a navigation device, it’s easy to find.

Address

Buitencentrum Schoorlse Duinen
Oorsprongweg 1 (navigation device: Heereweg 62)
1871 HA Schoorl

On navigation devices, navigate to the address Heerweg 62. The road on the opposite side of this address is ‘Oorsprongweg’ on which you will find the ‘Buitencentrum’.

Activities

The Schoorlse Duinen offer a variety of activities all year round for young and old. While most of these activities are advertised and held in Dutch, it is still worth having a look. How about a guided walk at night?

Disabled

Disabled can use the bike lanes for accessibility. It’s recommended to bring accompaniment due to the sometimes steep hills.

Dogs

Dogs are welcome all year round though in breeding season, from the 1st of March to the 1st of September dogs need to be leased to avoid disruption. Outside this period, dogs are allowed to go, under appeal. Please note that in the grazing areas different rules apply. These can be identified by the signs.

Parking

Parking at P2, is paid parking. At the time of writing it’s €1.90 p/h and €12,- for a day card. There are disabled parking facilities. The proceeds benefit the Schoorl dunes.

Horeca

You can find more information on menu and opening hours of Brasserie IJgenweis here.

The following walking routes are marked by colored poles. Starting point for all walking routes is Buitencentrum Schoorlse Duinen. Keep in mind that a route of 23 km is a long one! The sand, dunes and hills can make it quite of a challenge. For children I’d recommend the 3 or 5 km route.

You’ll also find yourself a 16.3 km long mountainbike trail in the forest and dunes of Schoorlse Duinen. The route takes you trough the thick forest trails to the sandy dunes closer to sea. This track has some steep inclines and the sand will offer to be a challenge on it’s own. Recreant or elite, you will love this trail.

The starting point of the trail is at ‘Het Witte Huis’ in Aagtdorp. Due to it’s limited parking space, or actually, lack of it, it’s recommended to park at Buitencentrum Schoorlse Duinen. Download the GPX file below and it will include the part from parking to the start of the trail.