Workation in Italy

Now it is happening. I got a feeling for blogging. Although this workation to Italy happened in mid July its not to late to share some inspo if you still are forced to do homeoffice this fall due to covid. Homeoffice for me doesn’t mean sitting around in my apartment but rather being at an enjoyable place. In July I had a week where I necessarily didn’t had to be in the office so I flew down to my beloved Italy. Went to tick off all sights of Venice for a day and then took the train to Lake Garda for a workation. Sound like a dream right?

It truly was. I took an early train which took me 1,5 hours from Venice to Decenzano del Garda where I started my workday at a cozy café with lake view. Okey, they also had wifi on the train so to be honest it started already on the train. It was almost no people at traveling at this time so perfect spot for having two teams meetings at. Then I walked to the hotel and changed office scenery to the pool. My top kind of office. I used to do this kind of homeoffice during calm periods like eastern, Christmas and so on even before covid but honestly you cannot believe how many comments I received about that. Hopefully this has changed to a more open minded view nowadays since it is awesome to do from time to time.

Desenzano del Garda

Desenzano del Garda was a very picturesque place and good spot for exploring lake Garda from. I had not too much time since I also worked all days but I saw quite a bit. What surprised me with the lake was that the water wasn’t really clear. It was not inviting for a swim at all so my advice if you go there book a hotel with a pool.

The city is a great base for exploring the region since there are a lot of tourist boats departing from there and also it has a central location at the South of the lake. Everything you wish to find is there. From great food, to nice views and the Italian charm. But it if you been to lake Como you may be a bit disappointed though. I did at least. I like Como more.

Running at Lake Garda

Partially my choice of destination was also since it was a great place for running. I packed my distance running gear and in the hot weather with +30 degrees I was glad I decided to bring my camel back. If not I have no idea if I would survived. One day after my homeoffice officially had closed down I ran towards the East with the village of Sirmione as my goal. Plan was a quick swim, eat something and then run back the 10 kilometers. It was incredible hot on the way there and on the way home a huge thunderstorm hit the area (no rain though but strong winds and lightening). Although the run path was near the water and with potential winds it was steaming.

I was so happy when I made it to Sirmione since it was tough in the heat. Even if you don’t run there it is a place worth going to. It was one of those cute places surrounded by a stone wall with boutique hotels and small stores and restaurants inside. Of course I wasn’t going for a Michelin star restaurant in my running wear but I bet there were some.

My workation at Lake Garda lasted for three days so I took three runs there. The next day I made a shorter 10K run to the West and Solarolo. That route was far more hilly but also scenic. This runacation and workation combined is a tradition for me to do every year and I can recommend this area if you are up for the same.

Last but not least, of course I had my fair share of aperols. More to come about my annual trip to Italy and hopefully it won’t take took long until the chapter of Venice and Verona are online. More workation lovers out there?

/ Pernilla that enjoy doing workations