The Italian lake region is one of the most beautiful and opulent areas of the country. Winding roads hugging the serene water, lined with massive villas with pristine landscaping—the scenes are an absolute dream. And while you’ve probably heard of Lake Como and are familiar with these vistas from movies like James Bond’s Casino Royale, last year we decided to stay on the lesser known, larger sister lake, Lago di Garda. Initially chosen by location/proximity to the main train line—Joe and I discovered that there are a ton reasons why you should visit Lake Garda!
Since I already mentioned it, let’s start with location. Lake Garda can be reached directly from the main Italian train line. Because of this, we decided to stay in Desenzano del Garda, a town on the southern part of the lake that has a train station. The train station is walking distance to the main square, so we felt that this location would be ideal in both getting around the lake towns and reaching other Northern Italian favorites, like Venice and Verona. Flying into Milan, you can easily access Desenzano del Garda by train, however it does require a transfer. We opted for this, as it was the most economic decision, but would have been more comfortable renting a car. Once you’re on Lago di Garda, there is a ferry that can take you to the various towns. Beware—the lake is huge. From it’s furthest tip to tip, traveling Lago di Garda by boat can take up to 8 hours! So be sure to plan the towns you want to visit accordingly, or you’ll be spending a lot of time on the ferry! There are so many towns surrounding the lake, all diverse in beauty and culture. Since Desenzano del Garda was our home base, we took day trips to Sirmione, Limone and Malcesine. Outside of the towns surrounding the lake, we hit up Venice (our personal favorite!) and saw an opera in Verona. All travel here was by ferry and train!
Now that we’ve talked about location, let’s talk about the culture. We quickly learned that while Lake Como is where the Americans vacation in the Italian lake region, Lake Garda is where you’ll find German and Austrian families vacationing. And because of this, Lago di Garda caters to the German and Austrian culture, where you can find beer, hamburgers and Wiener schnitzel on local menus. Most menus were in German and most servers at restaurants spoke German, far more than English. The fusion of Italian-Austrian-German culture was so interesting for us to experience.
So what can you do while there? From sailing to hiking to sunbathing, there’s a lot of ways to enjoy the lake. Below I’ll share some highlights from the towns we visited: Desenzano del Garda, Sirmione, Limone and Malcesine. In Desenzano, our home base, the terrain was flat for the most part. This made the town extremely walkable. Sitting at the bottom of the lake, the main square is lined with both views of the lake and quaint pastel buildings. This is where you can catch the ferry and have a bite to eat. There are also shops and a small merry-go-round. Beyond the main square, there are resorts and beach clubs where you can enjoy the lake. We spent a full day at Classic Rock Beach Cafe, a beach club in Desenzano. Sirmione, by far my favorite, is a peninsula that stretches out into the lake. There is so much charm in the romantic town of Sirmione, where you can visit an impressive castle that has a real moat! While in Sirmione, we rented a boat to explore the coast and the lake itself. Some sights from our boat tour were Isola del Garda, Punta San Vigilio and Jamaica Beach. Limone and Malcesine, both on the northern part of the lake, were much further away from our home base of Desenzano—upwards of 2 hours by ferry! BUT they were worth the wait, providing stunning views of the Dolomite mountains behind in the distance of the lake. Limone, Italian for lemon, is not only known for the cultivation of lemons, but also home to people who are born with a specific protein in their blood, providing extreme longevity. The terrain in Limone sul Garda is extremely mountainous, and not easily accessible. The town has a ton of charm, adorn with lemons, and small homes, churches and shops built into the mountains. Last but not least, Malcesine. Just across the lake from Limone, Malcesine is also quite mountainous. The main attraction is another medieval castle, but not quite as grand as the one in Sirmione. Built into the mountains, this castle has the most stunning views of the lake. There is also a cable car you can take from the top of Malcesine, to the bottom at Monte Baldo for more incredible views.
There are so many towns along the lake that we didn’t visit, and of course I’d love to go back to do so. Next time, I’d rent a car, so that I can access some of the lake points that aren’t easy to get to by ferry, or much shorter distance by car. Having a car will also allow for trips to the other lakes, like Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, about 2-3 hours apart by car. This is just one of the many reasons why I love Italy—there’s so much to see and always a reason to return!
