What is Molveno known for?

Trentino's deepest lake, 124 metres, and the most decorated. Cinque Vele rated it Italy's most beautiful lake for ten consecutive years. The pale limestone group of Cima Tosa, Campanile Basso and Crozzon di Brenta rising straight from the western shore, inside the Adamello-Brenta park. Touring Club Italiano recognition for the management of the lake, the historic centre and the relationship between village and surrounding park.

When is the best time to visit Molveno?

Apr–Oct. April through October is the running season for the lake. The water stays cold but is swimmable from late June through August; the perimeter path is 11 kilometres of mostly flat shoreline. July and August bring Italian-family crowds and full hotels around the small village core. May, June, September and the first half of October are the quietest of the warm months, with cooler air, hiking weather on the Pradel plateau and the rifugi of the Brenta group still open. November through March is mostly closed. The lake level drops in autumn as the hydroelectric system draws water; the village empties.

Molveno is a comune in the province of Trento, Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy, about 44 kilometers from Trento.

How do I get to Molveno?

From Trento, Molveno is roughly 44 km by road.

Trentino-South Tyrol · Trento

Molveno

The village at the north end of a deep blue alpine lake, with a pale limestone range rising straight out of the water.

Known for

LAGO DI MOLVENO
Trentino's deepest lake, 124 metres, and the most decorated. Cinque Vele rated it Italy's most beautiful lake for ten consecutive years.
BRENTA DOLOMITES
The pale limestone group of Cima Tosa, Campanile Basso and Crozzon di Brenta rising straight from the western shore, inside the Adamello-Brenta park.
BANDIERA ARANCIONE
Touring Club Italiano recognition for the management of the lake, the historic centre and the relationship between village and surrounding park.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Carlo Borromeo, 4 November

Why come

Molveno sits at 864 metres on the northern shore of a lake formed by a landslide about 4,000 years ago, held in on one side by the Brenta Dolomites and on the other by Monte Paganella. The village and its historic centre face the water from below the plateau of Pradel, which rises behind it and is reached by cable car, so the two halves of the place, lake shore and high ground, look at each other across the same stretch of blue. The cemetery church stands slightly apart, above the centre, on the same slope.

The lake is second-largest in the region by surface and the deepest in Trentino. The nature park that holds the Brenta group begins right at the western shore, which means the mountains are not a backdrop seen from Molveno but a boundary the village is built against. The result is a place with almost no distance between the water, the settlement and the wild ground above it: the whole of Molveno can be read as a narrow shelf between a deep lake and a limestone wall.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Molveno’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

What to see

Lago di Molveno
Four kilometres of water at 864 metres, formed by a landslide around 4,000 years ago, ringed by the Brenta Dolomites on one side and Monte Paganella on the other.
Chiesa di San Vigilio
Gothic 13th-century church inside the village cemetery above the historic centre, with stone walls and a separate bell tower.
Parco Naturale Adamello-Brenta
Largest protected area in Trentino, beginning at Molveno's western shore, with the Brenta Dolomites, brown bears, glaciers and a network of rifugi.
Pradel altopiano
Plateau above the village reached by cable car, with hiking trails, a wildlife area and views across the lake toward the Brenta group.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Molveno fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Living here

Population 1,108
Off the beaten pathi
Pharmacy in town
Nearest airport Verona, 2 h 20 min drive
Regional capital Trento, 1 h 11 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 864 m
Population: 1,108
Surface area: 34.12 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Trento

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

Close by