Lake Garda

Gelato anyone?

After a heavy trot of three busy cities in a row it was time for a more relaxed pace. We left Florence and caught the train up to Verona, where we had a connection to Desenzano and finally a bus up to Toscolano Maderno on the eastern shores of the beautiful Lake Garda. This is the biggest lake in Italy and is over 52 km’s long.

We stayed in a lovely Airbnb on a quite residential street, about 50m from the lake. We made the lake our first stop. We soon found the local beach, the bike rental shop and the gelateria. The waters of Lake Garda come from the Alps and are pristine if a little chilly. The swans and ducks had recently hatched babies and there was lots of cygnets and ducklings swimming around.

Initially we didn’t have a rental car, and we fell into a local routine of renting bikes, going to the local grocery store, and going off to get gelato. As soon as the season opened we took a beach day and rented a couple of lounges to spend the day relaxing on the waters edge.

We finally decided that we needed a rental car if we were going to see this natural beauty properly. So we picked up a Skoda from Brescia and set off for a circumnavigation of the lake, the drive to Limone was breath taking, the further north you head the more mountainous it becomes and a series of tunnels and sweeping lake vistas follow one after the other as you wined your way up the lake. Limone is historically famous for its lemon houses where they grew a number of citrus varieties, including lemons of course. We stopped for a coffee and a snack in Riva del Garda before starting our trip down the Western side to complete our circuit.

One of the reasons we had come to Lake Garda was that is a renowned summer wind watersports hub. However the forecast wasn’t looking good during our stay so we had written that off, however we woke the one morning to find a steady 20 knots and sunshine. After scrambling to find a rental option Rowan went up to Limone to go kitesurfing for the day. It is quite a unique kitesurfing experience as you are not allowed to launch from the beach, so you are ferried out into the middle of the lake in an inflatable, the crew then water launch your kite, pass it over to you while you sit on the side of the boat and then they toss you out into the deep open water. The wind had dropped off a bit by the time Rowan finally got out but it was still spectacular to kite amongst the beautiful mountains.

Lake Garda started a new love affair with E-bikes and how they can open up the local surroundings to you. We took a ride up into a local gorge for some stunning views. They are also great for a quick pop to the shops to get something for dinner.

On the weekend we caught the little train to the local market. We perused the local offerings and then took a walk back along the shore line with a stop at the water front bar for a slushy and Aperol Spritz.

Then early the next week we headed out to Sirmione, home to the charming Castello Scaligero a picturesque castle surrounded by a moat filled by the crystal blue lake water. The town sits on a thin spit of land so you are never far from the water it is also home to an amazing thermal spa. Where hot water is pumped up from underground thermal reservoirs below the lake bed. Lake Garda is one of the most seismically active areas in Italy. Needless to say you didn’t have to ask us twice to go swimming in warm mineral rich water while surrounded by the beauty of this incredible lake.

On our last full day we defaulted back to our favorites, with the added twist of finding a really good local pizzeria, followed by a bike ride and the mandatory gelato stop.

On our final morning we went for an early morning coffee on the lake edge as we bid farewell to this truly remarkable destination. Then it was time to hit the road and make our way back to Brescia to drop off our car and catch our train to Venice. More on that in our next post.

Until then thank you for reading,

Lots of love the Grow Travel Family.