Bassano & Northern Italy – Trip Summary
Location: Bassano / Bassano & surrounding alpine sites
Duration: 7 nights / 6 flying days
Group size: Maximum 7 pilots
Pilot level: From low airtime all the way up to experienced XC pilots
Flying style: Thermal flying and XC development
Accommodation: Shared twin rooms
Guide: Håkan Ponthan
Dates:
30 May–6 June - Bassano
6–13 June - N.Italy Tour
26 September – 3 October - Bassano
3–10 October - N.Italy Tour
Price
Bassano Flying Week – €1,250
Northern Italy Tour – €1,420
Bassano & Northern Italy
Northern Italy offers some of the most varied and reliable paragliding in Europe. With a mix of Alpine terrain, accessible launches and spectacular scenery, it’s a fantastic place to develop mountain flying and cross-country skills.
Our trips are based around the famous flying area of Bassano del Grappa, with the option to explore several other sites across the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. Depending on conditions and the pilot's skill level, pilots can enjoy relaxed local flying or aim for XC flights of 30–70 km or even further, across beautiful alpine landscapes.
With excellent food, welcoming towns and world-class flying sites, Northern Italy is a destination that keeps pilots coming back year after year.
Flying - Bassano
The area around Bassano offers incredibly flexible flying thanks to multiple take-offs at different altitudes and aspects. This allows us to fly in a wide range of wind directions, making it one of the most reliable flying areas in the Alps.
Typical flying includes local thermalling, ridge soaring and cross-country routes across the foothills, valleys and flatlands. On good days there are excellent opportunities for XC flights, while other days are perfect for improving thermalling technique and mountain flying skills.
To see example flights made from Bassano click here:
All flights
Flying - Northern Italy Tour
During the Northern Italy Tour we also aim to visit several other fantastic sites including Feltre, Dolada, Gemona, Meduno and Revine. Each location offers a slightly different style of flying, from dramatic Dolomite scenery to classic Alpine valleys and ridge systems.
We will be based close to the centre of the 6 sites, and we seek to fly all the 6 sites, choosing the location offering the best possible flying experience for the day.
This tour will include some more time in the bus and the day starts a bit earlier and finishes a bit later.
Gemona on the eastern part of this region offers an interesting flying environment, a well established site with several competitions held there each year.
The area is a combination of mountains, valley crossings, flatland and ridge run into Slovenia.
The take off and the landing has been improved over the last few years making Gemona even better than before.
North of Bassano and Gemona we find Feltre and Dolada in Valbelluna valley on the south edge of Dolomites. This valley is somewhat more affected by the “big mountain” weather, still they offer fantastic views of the larger mountains and challenge you in other ways than Bassano.
Revine offers almost the same flying as Bassano although with significantly less number of pilots as it does not have the same infrastructure for paragliding, and the Aviano airspace from time to time limits the XC.
Weather
Flying conditions generally follow the seasons quite clearly. March can bring strong spring conditions, with very cold temperatures at cloudbase. Snow may still lie on the higher mountains and occasionally close some access roads.
By April, landing areas can feel mild—sometimes warm enough for a T-shirt—while temperatures remain cooler at altitude and in the evenings. As the month progresses, the air mass warms and the stronger spring thermals begin to ease. May often has a pre-summer feel, though conditions can still fluctuate before more settled summer patterns arrive in June.
July and August can be very hot in the valleys. At times stable conditions and inversion layers appear, while on other days strong heating can lead to afternoon overdevelopment. That said, it still offers plenty of good flying.
September usually remains pleasantly warm with good flying, though slightly softer than mid-summer. October is also often very good, with comfortable temperatures and the clearer, crisper air of early autumn. This is a period where many pilots find northern Italy perfect for extending the flying season and getting some good flights before winter.
Accommodation
Accommodation is included in the cost of the holiday and is typically a Hotel or B&B, based on 2 sharing a room.
For the Bassano trip we'll be based in Bassano del Grappa itself, allowing easy access to cafes, bars and restaurants for pilots after the day's flying.
For the Northern Italy Tour we stay in accommodation located centrally between several flying sites. This allows us to choose the best location to fly each day depending on the weather and conditions.
Accommodation details will be confirmed before arrival.
Private Rooms
If you would like to book a private room then please just ask whilst booking. This is subject to availability and surcharge.
Getting there
The easiest airport for reaching Bassano is Venice Marco Polo Airport, which has excellent international connections.
From Venice it is easy to reach Bassano del Grappa train station via Mestre.
We organise pickup from Bassano station on arrival day and transport to the accommodation.
Treviso Airport is another option with some low-cost airline routes, although it does somewhat lack the same easy local transport as Venice Marco Polo Airport.
Transfer to or from the airport can be arranged for groups arriving/departing at the airport on the same flight.
What's included?
7 nights / 6 days flying
Hotel or B&B Accommodation with breakfast
Transfers from Bassano del Grappa train station
Daily Guiding & Site/Weather briefings
Transport to launch and XC Retrieves
Transport on non-flyable days
Skygods T-shirt
Suitability
All pilots need to be suitably qualified to fly on their own in whichever country they are coming from. Pilots need to know their own ability, and be able to launch and land safely according to their own skill level. Some previous thermalling and XC experience will be useful to get the most out of the trip.
We strongly advise guests to take a comprehensive Holiday Insurance Policy that includes cover for Paragliding.
Pilots also need:
VHF Radio
Smartphone with mobile data (we use Whatsapp or similar apps for communication)
Livetrack24 account
An app capable of tracking to LT24, for a complete list for Android/iOS/Windows see:
Cost
The cost of the 2 trips on offer are as follows:
Bassano - €1,250
N.Italy Tour – €1,420
OFFERS:
*** Previous guests receive €50 off per booking ***
** Combine 2 weeks - Bassano & N.Italy Tour consecutively & receive €50 off **
All discounts are automatically applied and taken off your final bill, payable on arrival.
How to Book
Payment should be made in full, within 2 weeks of booking
Please contact us with the trip you would like to come on, and we will provide instructions of how to pay.
Refund Policy
Cancellations made more than 4 weeks before the start of the trip will be refunded 70%
Cancellations made less than 4 weeks before the start of the trip will not be refunded.
Full refunds will be made if a suitable replacement pilot is found for the trip.
Social Media
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FLY WITH THE GODS!