Lake Garda

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Castello Scaligero, also known as Rocca Scaligero, built as a stronghold on the lake - Sirmione, Lago di Garda, The Lake District, Lombardia

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Overview

Poets and politicians, divas and dictators, they've all been drawn to captivating Lake Garda (Lago di Garda). In fact, 7% of all tourists to Italy head for the lake’s shores, taking to its wind-ruffled waters in the north and village- and vineyard-hopping in the south. Surrounded by three distinct regions – Lombardy, Trentino Alto-Adige and the Veneto – the lake’s cultural diversity attracts a cosmopolitan crowd. Mitteleuropeans colonise northern resorts such as Riva del Garda and Torbole, where restaurants serve air-dried ham and Austrian-style carne salada (salted beef), while in the south, French and Italian families bed down in Valtenesi farmhouses and family-friendly spa towns such as Sirmione and Bardolino.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Grotte di Catullo

Sirmione

Occupying 2 hectares at Sirmione's northern tip, this ruined 1st-century-AD Roman villa is a picturesque complex of teetering stone arches and tumbledown…

Cascata del Varone

Lake Garda

An unusual 100m waterfall that thunders through a vertical limestone tunnel rather than off an open cliff. With the help of metal walkways, you can enter…

Monte Baldo

Lake Garda

The long mountain ridge that towers above the northeast shores of Lake Garda is known as Monte Baldo. Ironically, the name doesn’t refer to its baldness …

Castello Scaligero

Lake Garda

This atmospheric museum packs a wealth of history into the rough stone walls of a 14th-century castle. The fortification was built in 1338 as part of the…

Pieve di San Zeno

Lake Garda

There's old and there's...old. Hemmed in by houses and guarded by an agreeably shabby courtyard north of the main road, this tiny church, dating from the…

Punta San Vigilio

Lake Garda

The leafy headland of Punta San Vigilio curls out into the lake 3km north of Garda. An avenue of cypress trees leads from the car park towards a gorgeous…

Museo dell'Olio d'Oliva

Lake Garda

Some 2km south of Bardolino in Cisano, the most impressive exhibits at this well-laid-out museum are the monster grape presses, some of which used mule…

Rocca Scaligera

Sirmione

Expanding their influence northwards, the Scaligeri of Verona built this enormous square-cut castle right at the entrance to old Sirmione. Rising out of…

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