Lake Garda

Swimming here means lake bathing, and in high summer it is genuinely warm, with the water around 24°C to 25°C in July and August. The season runs from June into September; outside it the lake is bracing. Most shores are pebble or shingle with grassy lidos behind them, and many have jetties and platforms rather than sand.

The south and east shores are best for a beach stay: the rock shelves below Sirmione's peninsula, the cove at Punta San Vigilio near Garda, the long lidos of Lazise, Bardolino and Desenzano, and the bays around Manerba and the Valtenesi. In the narrow north around Riva and Torbole the water is cooler and windier. Beach life is central to a summer stay, but it is a lido culture of lawns and loungers, not surf and sand.

Eating here is lakeside northern Italian: lake fish such as whitefish, perch and trout grilled or with risotto, carne salada in the Trentino north, polenta, and bigoli pasta with sardines from the lake. The olive groves of the warm western and eastern shores give Garda its own olive oil, and the wine is the real strength, with Bardolino and Chiaretto rosé on the east shore, white Lugana in the south and Valpolicella and Amarone in the hills just beyond.

The best meals are often a little inland, in agriturismi and family trattorias in the hills above Bardolino, the Valtenesi and Tremosine. The harbour fronts of the busiest towns lean heavily on pizza and set tourist menus, so a visitor who cares about food chooses carefully.

The lake's heritage is a string of attractive towns rather than a great museum collection. Sirmione has the most: a moated Scaliger castle at the gate of its old town and, at the tip of the peninsula, the Grotte di Catullo, the ruins of a large Roman villa above the water. At Gardone Riviera the Vittoriale degli Italiani, the poet d'Annunzio's eccentric estate with a warship set into the hillside, is the most unusual sight on the lake.

Castles crown Malcesine, Torri del Benaco, Arco and Riva, whose medieval Rocca holds the local museum, and Salò and Limone have pleasing old lanes and lemon houses. It is a rewarding round of half-days, not a reason in itself to come.

Evenings are mostly an aperitivo on a harbour front followed by a long dinner and a stroll along the promenade. Desenzano on the southern shore is the exception, with lakefront bars, students and visitors from Brescia and Verona, and a handful of large clubs nearby that fill on summer weekends. Riva and Bardolino have a few lively bars in season. Elsewhere the towns go quiet early, and outside summer there is little to go out for.

The lake changes character from south to north. The south is a broad, soft basin of moraine hills and vineyards; the north is a narrow fjord walled by mountains, and that is where outdoor visitors base themselves. From Malcesine a rotating cable car climbs Monte Baldo to around 1,760m, with ridge walks above the water and paragliding off the top. Riva, Torbole and Arco form one of Europe's best outdoor bases: Arco's limestone walls draw climbers all year, via ferrate and old military paths climb the cliffs, and mountain-bike trails run up every valley.

The dependable afternoon wind in the north makes Torbole a classic for windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing. Spring and autumn are best for hiking and climbing; summer suits the water.

The southern shore sits on the main railway between Milan and Venice, which makes it an excellent base for outings. Verona, with its Roman arena and old centre, is well under an hour from Peschiera or Desenzano, and Venice is about an hour and a half by fast train. Vicenza's Palladian villas and Padua's frescoes lie on the same line, and Brescia and Bergamo's walled upper town are in easy reach westward.

By road, the Gonzaga city of Mantua is about an hour away, and the wine country of Valpolicella and Franciacorta is closer still. From the north shore, Trento and Rovereto are the natural trips. The ferry also makes the other lake towns a pleasant day out of their own.

The south-east shore is one of Italy's main areas for a family vacation. Gardaland, the country's largest theme park, sits by the lake near Peschiera with an aquarium beside it. Nearby there are more parks with water slides and film-themed rides, and Parco Natura Viva, a zoo and safari park, lies in the hills above. Large campsites and resort villages with pools, children's entertainment and lake access are a staple of this shore.

The lake itself is easy with children: shallow pebble shores, lidos with grass and shade, ferry rides between towns and gelato on every harbour front. The northern shore suits older children who want to bike, climb or try windsurfing. Summer heat and traffic on the lakeside roads are the main strain.

Each lake town is compact and easy to walk, and ferries and hydrofoils link most of them, a pleasant way to travel but a slow one from end to end. The railway touches only the south, at Peschiera and Desenzano, which is what makes those towns convenient for Verona and Venice. Elsewhere buses follow the shore roads, and many visitors bring or hire a car.

The lakeside roads on both sides are narrow, tunnelled in the north and heavily congested in summer, and parking in the popular towns is hard. A visitor who stays in one town and uses the boats does well; one who wants to see the whole lake by car should expect slow going.

Shopping is mostly a matter of weekly markets and local produce. Each town has its market day, and the larger ones in Desenzano, Lazise and Bardolino fill the lakefront with clothes, leather and household stalls. The worthwhile things to take home are Garda olive oil, Bardolino and Lugana wine, lemon products from Limone and outdoor gear in Riva and Arco. Beyond that the old towns hold boutiques and souvenir shops, and serious shopping means a trip to Verona or Milan.

In the summer season the lake is moderately expensive. Lakefront hotels in Sirmione, Malcesine, Limone and the prettiest harbours charge high-season prices, theme parks and ferries add up for a family, and restaurants on the promenades price for the view. Staying back from the water is better value: the many campsites and camping villages, agriturismi in the hills and villages in the Valtenesi or above the east shore cost noticeably less. Spring and autumn are cheaper.

The lake has no performing arts life of its own beyond summer. In season, the open-air amphitheatre at the Vittoriale in Gardone Riviera stages concerts and shows, and town squares host band concerts and small festivals. The biggest draw lies outside the region: the summer opera festival in Verona's Roman arena, under an hour from the southern shore, is an evening many visitors build into their stay. Outside summer there is little to attend.

Wellness has a real anchor here in Sirmione, whose warm sulphurous springs rise from the lake bed off the peninsula and have fed spa treatments for well over a century. The town has thermal bathing pools looking over the lake and a long tradition of cures, and on the east shore near Lazise a historic villa park has large open-air thermal pools among old trees, pleasant on a cool evening.

Beyond the springs, the lake suits a slow stay: hotel spas along the western Riviera at Gardone and Salò, lakeside promenades, and quiet hill villages above the shore. The calmest times are spring and early autumn; in August the southern towns are crowded.