Hiking in the Euganean Hills: Monte Grande Trail in Teolo

The Monte Grande (Monte Grande means Big Mount, but actually it is 474 metres high) is one of the Euganean Hills, north of the pretty village of Teolo. Hiking in the Euganean Hills can be very pleasant. You can enjoy beautiful panoramas and stop to eat in several local trattorias. Coming from Padua, having reached the centre of Teolo, you have to turn right and continue uphill (along via Chiesa Teolo).

After about 15 minutes by car you’ll get to parking lot on the left. To the right it is a large park uphill where you can have picnic or relax outdoors. A little further on, there is a trattoria (where I have never been so far.. so I can not say if it’s good or not). 200 meters from here (taking the path uphill on the left side of the lawn) you can find the entrance to the Adventure Park Fiorine (a climbing park among trees, like a Kletternpark).

Hiking in the Euganean Hills – My experience nr. 1 

Me and my husband went here on a Sunday afternoon to make the tour of Monte Grande. At this time of the year, the trees are still bare, but the weather is sunny enough to make some hiking in the Euganean Hills.

The first challenge was to reach Teolo because the road, a bit narrow and uphill, was invaded by cyclists (not all disciplined). This is indeed a path much loved by athletes. For me they are the heroes, they have so much energy!

The second challenge was to take the right path for our excursion, once we arrived to the Mount. Unfortunately, an outdated guidebook led us to the wrong trail. We had fun anyway. It it wasn’t crowded, we saw a beautiful panorama of the Euganean Hills

and we made friends with some horses who were hiking with their owners. One of them (owner, not horse) asked me to take a picture of them. When I approached him to take the camera his brown horse, eager to continue the walk, pushed me (gently) with his head. What a scoundrel!

Hiking in the Euganean Hills – My experience nr. 2 

Since I’m stubborn, I made inquiries and found out that the error we made the previous time was due to inadequate indications in the guidebook. I convinced my husband to go back there the following weekend and try again. We did it.

Here are the correct instructions:

You have to park the car on the parking lot and walk along the paved road till you find the trattoria, which is called Baita Passo Fiorine. To the left of the trattoria car park you will see a panel with a map of the trail. There the path begins.

It goes down and turn immediately to the right. After a few hundred meters there there is a crossroad (turning left you get to the nearby village of Rovolon). You have to continue straight. In about half an hour or so you’ll arrive to another crossroad. At that point you have to turn right and engage the climb (about 800 meters). It is not too hard if I could manage to do that… I’m not very fit. After a few curves you’ll get to the top of the hill where is located the meteorological station (a large white sphere you’ll recognize immediately). To see the panorama of the thirs photo in this post, you have to go left at the crossroad and go down a bit along the main path. Keep in mind that you’ll have to come back at the crossroad to return to the car!

From there, continue along the main path and soon begins the descent to return to the parking. Apart from a couple of slightly steep points the trail is quite easy, except for the numerous stones that obstruct the path. You have to proceed carefully. The entire route can be done in 2 hours according to the guide. Or less, if you’re in good shape. We did it in 90 minutes.