Aart Heering
Yellow license plates are, especially in summer, not a rarity around Lake Bracciano (Lago di Bracciano). The lake, which lies just 30 kilometers northeast of Rome, is not only a popular destination for Romans who want to escape the hot and busy city, but also a popular base for tourists who not only want to visit the Eternal City, but also then also like to take a refreshing dip in the evening.
crater lake
With an area of 57 km2, Lake Bracciano is the eighth lake in Italy, and because it is a crater lake, it is – like the other lakes of Lazio, those of Bolsena, Vico, Albano and Nepi – also very deep, up to 165 meters.
The latter makes many Italians harbor a kind of atavistic fear of lakes and therefore prefer the much busier sea beaches. This has the advantage for foreign visitors that it is usually much less crowded at the lake and you do not run the risk of being stung by jellyfish or sea urchins.
Therefore, it is mainly a destination for foreign tourists, who can go anywhere around the lake.
Campsites on Lake Bracciano
For example, the Lago di Bracciano has a dozen campsites on the water, which are generally well equipped. (One of them touts itself as International Glamping, and another, Emerald, until recently offered a combination of 'Italian sympathy and Dutch efficiency', but that sign has now disappeared: perhaps it was considered a bit hurtful to the Italians.)
There are also a few pitches for motorhomes and about 20 hotels, residences, agriturismos and B&Bs, with prices ranging from modest to quite expensive. Some of the beaches, with black volcanic sand, are privately owned or belong to campsites and hotels.
But there are also free beaches. The most popular is the one along the boulevard of the town of Anguillara, where on summer weekends, families from the neighborhood flock to find refuge, along with foreigners, who unfortunately lost their lives en masse this year due to Covid-19.
Water sports and cycling
On the lake you can practice the usual water sports: swimming, sailing, windsurfing, canoe, kayak, fishing. Water skiing is not possible, nor is speedboat racing, as Lake Bracciano and the adjacent Lake Martignano form an ecological regional park in which only slow-moving electric motors are allowed.
The Monti Sabatini, a modest mountain range on the north side of the lake, lends itself well to excursions by mountain bike or horseback, while you can also cycle around the lake. That is a 34 kilometer trip with a few small hills: between 162 and 276 meters altitude, with a total ascent of 362 meters.
Best to do, but the disadvantage is that you drive on the provincial road, which is also used by local traffic, which does not always follow the speed limits.
That is why the local authorities have now presented a plan for the construction of a cycle path around the lake, of course in the hope of taking advantage of the National Recovery Plan.
This includes 600 million euros for the construction of bicycle paths (not even that much out of a total of 220 billion) and we can hope that this bicycle route around the lake will be included, and if possible also a path to Rome itself. We will see.
Tri-City Lake
But of course you can also make the round by car, past the 3 towns that are located on the lake.
Bracciano
The largest, Bracciano (19.000 inhabitants), is best known for the Castello Orsini Odescalchi towering high above the houses, an impressive military bastion where the 15e century quarrelsome noble families entrenched themselves.
Now it is a museum with richly decorated rooms, beautiful murals and original pewter and tins (also fun for the children), which is also rented out for very expensive weddings and parties. The most famous of these was the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, which made Bracciano a global VIP location for one day in 2006.
Trevignano Romano
Trevignano Romano, with a population of 5.000, also has an Orsini castle, which was turned into ruins centuries ago by a rival family. Furthermore, it is a typical small seaside resort and buen ritiro for wealthy Romans.
Anguillara
The most characteristic is Anguillara Sabazia (named after the ancient Sabine people, especially to distinguish it from another Anguillara near Padua). The municipality has almost as many inhabitants as Bracciano, but the attractive part is the original medieval town on the promotion, a rocky hill that juts straight into the lake.
Rustic Anguillara is well worth a stroll, with its narrow streets, remains of a Roman villa, a few late medieval churches and another castle of the Orsini family, which is now the town hall. On the banks, the boulevard stretches out as the center of a wonderful provincial mondanity of struscio (promenade), appetizer en dolce far niente.
And that makes Anguillara a popular destination for a trip for Roman citizens, even outside the summer season. Until December, when the weather in Lazio can still be very mild, especially for lunch in one of the many restaurants and Inns from the town.
A special fish
A special mention deserves the Pescheria Toto, which, in addition to fish trade, also fry is, which you could irreverently translate as cafeteria. Toto not only sells fish, but also bakes and deep-fries them and in the summer serves them in a tavern opposite the shop on the boulevard.
The special thing about it is that he also lake fish on the menu, freshly caught fish from the lake. The most famous of these is the coregone, a salmonid that lives deep in the lake and that many restaurants here sell smoked or fried.
(The Dutch name is houting, but hardly anyone knows that anymore because the fish is almost extinct in our country. You can find it around Bavarian and Austrian lakes as whitefish.)
Toto also sells lattarini, fried small fish, pike (pike) and perch (pike-perch) and sometimes carp and tench. Most other seafood restaurants have lost that tradition and stick to seafood.
Curiosities
In 2017, due to prolonged drought the water level in Lake Bracciano is historically low. The shallows close to the shores dried up and the municipalities around the lake went to battle with Rome, which uses the lake as a drinking water reservoir. Fortunately, it has rained more in recent winters, so that a new crisis seems out of the question this year.
The water of the lake is clean and beautiful for swimming, but can also be dangerous for inexperienced swimmers, due to cold currents or unexpected sailing boats.
For example, a Dutch young man who went swimming in the lake in the morning of 25 June has disappeared without a trace and has still not been found at the end of July. Searches along the shore and in the deep depths have still yielded nothing. Therefore, do not go too far from the coast.
Lake Martignano
Right next to that of Bracciano is Lake Martignano. This much smaller, 60 meter deep crater lake is located in a nature reserve without buildings on the shore and with three beaches where you have to pay 5 to 8 euros per person.
But then you also have something: no crowds and noise, clean grass banks, fresh breeze, tall trees for shade, crystal clear water and a few tents where you can eat and drink simply but well. (But you can also eat food you brought with you.)
Only a few pedal boats and canoes sail on the lake and it is rarely really busy. It is a mecca for swimmers. It is about 2 kilometers to the other side, it is best to keep following the bank no more than 100-200 meters from the shore.
Then when you come back, a plate of pasta or a grill mix will taste better than the most refined nouvelle cuisine!
From Bracciano to Rome
Lake Bracciano is close to Rome: 35 kilometers as the crow flies to the center of the capital. Part of the riverbank even belongs to the municipality of Rome.
You can get there in 3 minutes by car, from the north of the city along Via Cassia or the – usually less busy – Cassia Veientana. But the public transport connections are also good.
The train (Ferrovia Metropolitana FL3 Roma-Viterbo) stops in Bracciano and Anguillara (the station here is 3 km outside the center, but there are shuttles) and stops at several stations in Rome: Valle Aurelia (connection to Metro A), San Pietro, Trastevere (connection to Fiumicino airport) and Ostiense (connection to Metro B and the little train to Ostia).
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