Lake Garda

Sirmione and the Rocca Scaligera

Sirmione

Sirmione, south shore

A small town at the end of a slender peninsula, entered across the drawbridge of a thirteenth-century water castle. The Rocca Scaligera has its own fortified harbour, one of very few to survive in Europe, and its tower looks out over the whole southern lake. Beyond the castle, lanes lined with gelato shops run on to spa baths fed by sulphurous water.

Tip: Only hotel guests may drive into the old town; everyone else uses the paid car parks at the neck of the peninsula, and the nearest fills by ten on summer mornings. It's cheaper and calmer to take the twenty-minute boat from Desenzano. Climb the tower right at opening time — after lunch there's a queue on the narrow stairs.

Admission:

castle around €8

Time needed:

half a day

Grottoes of Catullus

Grotte di Catullo

Sirmione, south shore

Not caves at all, but the ruins of the largest Roman villa in northern Italy, at the very tip of the Sirmione peninsula. Built around the turn of the first millennium, the villa covered more than two hectares, and its vaulted substructures were taken for caves in the Renaissance — hence the name. Centuries-old olive trees grow among the walls, and the edge of the site looks out over both sides of the lake.

Tip: It's a kilometre uphill from the castle; a little road train runs in summer, but the walk through the olive grove is nicer. Below the villa lies the rocky shelf known as Jamaica Beach, good for a swim — bring water shoes, the rock is slippery. The ticket also covers the small museum of finds by the entrance.

Admission:

around €8

Time needed:

1.5 h

Gardaland

Castelnuovo del Garda, south-east shore

Italy's biggest theme park, opened in 1975 just outside Peschiera. Roller coasters for adults, a whole zone for small children, water rides and seasonal events at Halloween and Christmas. The Sea Life aquarium sits right next door, and there are themed hotels on site for anyone planning two days.

Tip: A dated ticket bought online is much cheaper than at the gate. Crowds peak in August and at weekends — a weekday in June or September means queues half as long. Without a car, take the train to Peschiera, where the park's free shuttle bus picks up at the station.

Admission:

from €40 online

Time needed:

full day

Monte Baldo cable car

Funivia Malcesine–Monte Baldo

Malcesine

The cable car from Malcesine climbs in two stages from the lakeshore to 1,760 metres. On the upper stage the cabin slowly rotates as it rises, so everyone gets the lake, the cliffs and the Alps. At the top, hiking trails run along the ridge, paragliders launch and in winter people ski.

Tip: In July and August the queue at the valley station can reach an hour after nine, so ride the first car up or wait until after three. It's ten to twelve degrees cooler at the top — a jacket in your bag is essential. You can walk down to the middle station at San Michele in about an hour and a half and save on the downhill fare.

Admission:

return around €27

Time needed:

half a day

Malcesine and its Scaliger castle

Malcesine, east shore

The prettiest town on the eastern shore, with a castle on a rock above the water and a tangle of stone-house lanes wrapped around it. When Goethe sat sketching the castle in 1786, locals detained him as an Austrian spy — there's a small exhibition about it inside. The battlements look straight across the lake to Limone.

Tip: The castle opens into the evening, and the courtyard is at its best at sunset. Parking is limited to paid car parks above the town, so arriving by boat or bus saves a lot of stress. In the evening, once the day-trippers have gone, the lanes empty out and the place comes into its own.

Admission:

castle around €7

Time needed:

2–3 h

Limone sul Garda and the cliff-side cycle path

Limone, west shore

A village on the western shore squeezed beneath the cliffs, where lemons have been grown since the seventeenth century in terraced limonaie held up by stone pillars. One of them, the Limonaia del Castèl, is open to visitors. Heading north, a cycle path cantilevered off the rock face fifty metres above the water has become one of the most photographed routes in Italy.

Tip: Walk or ride the cantilevered path before nine or in the early evening; during the day pedestrians and cyclists jostle for space. A ferry crosses from Malcesine in under half an hour, far quicker than driving round the lake. Limoncello in the shops by the harbour costs more than the same bottle two lanes further up.

Admission:

limonaia around €3, path free

Time needed:

2–3 h

Vittoriale degli Italiani

Gardone Riviera, west shore

The estate of the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio at Gardone Riviera, which he had rebuilt as a monumental tribute to himself and to the First World War. The gardens contain a real cruiser, the Puglia, set into the hillside, plus an amphitheatre, a mausoleum and the seaplane D'Annunzio flew over Vienna. The house is crammed with twenty thousand objects and almost no daylight.

Tip: The Prioria house can only be seen on timed guided tours, which sell out in summer — book a slot online first thing. The gardens and museums alone fill three hours. Just below lies the Heller botanical garden, an easy hour that pairs well with the visit.

Admission:

from €16, more with the house

Time needed:

3–4 h

Varone waterfall

Cascate del Varone

Tenno, 3 km from Riva

A waterfall dropping almost a hundred metres into a narrow gorge carved through the limestone above Riva. You follow metal walkways and tunnels inside the rock, and in the lower grotto the noise and spray are overwhelming. Around the entrance is a botanical garden with more than a thousand plant species.

Tip: You will get wet in the lower grotto, so a rain jacket is useful even in August, when this is one of the few cool spots near the lake. The falls are strongest in May and June during snowmelt. An hour is enough, which makes it ideal for a rainy morning in Riva.

Admission:

around €8

Time needed:

1 h

Sigurtà Park and Borghetto

Parco Giardino Sigurtà

Valeggio sul Mincio, 10 km from the lake

Sixty hectares of gardens ten kilometres south of the lake near Valeggio sul Mincio, with sweeping lawns, a box-hedge maze and lily ponds. In spring more than a million tulips bloom, followed by roses and water lilies in summer. Just below the park lies Borghetto, a hamlet of old watermills built right on the River Mincio.

Tip: The park is huge: on a bike or a golf buggy hired at the gate you'll see it in two hours rather than four on foot. Tulips bloom from late March to late April. For lunch, drop down to Borghetto for Valeggio tortellini — this is their home turf and nowhere does them better.

Admission:

around €15

Time needed:

half a day