Great Scott: time travel comes true in Trentino!

A drop of imagination is all you’ll need to transform your car into a gleaming DeLorean and travel back in time, from Bronze-Age pile-dwellings to post-war Italy, via the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages.

Begin your adventure on the shores of Lake Ledro, where you will be amazed by the ancient village of pile-dwellings which has been reconstructed on its banks. Before moving on from the prehistoric era, check out the pile-dwellings of Fiavè, about a forty minute drive, to see the landscape through the eyes of Bronze Age humans. On the way, take a break from the hustle and bustle, perhaps enjoying a picnic with a view of Lake Garda.

Time to move on: a slightly longer stretch of road (about an hour and a quarter by car) will take you to Val di Non to discover the mysterious Rhaeti people who lived in Trentino before the arrival of the Romans. Following in their footsteps leads us to the city of Trento, where we delve underground to admire the ruins of an ancient Roman neighbourhood. Re-emerging into the sunlight brings us into the Middle Ages, just in time to visit the city’s historic centre and the locations of the Council of Trent, which changed the course of history in Europe.

And you don’t have to be an eccentric scientist with wild hair and a flux capacitator in your pocket to fly back to the beginning of the 20th century, rediscovering the tragedy of the Great War through the complex engineering of the aeroplanes used in the conflict, which are on display in the Caproni Museum.

At this point, you have two options. You can take another leap forward through time to the post-war years, and learn the story of Alcide De Gasperi, one of the founders of the Italian Republic (and while you’re there, make a stop at the one-of-a-kind "Per via” museum). Alternatively, you can choose the beautiful city of Rovereto and visit its Civic Museum, for a journey through the present, past and future.

Now, all you need to do is take off. But be careful… don’t forget you’ll need a ticket to get back to the future! Or rather, to the present.