Discover Lake Garda

Lake Garda is nestled between the provinces of Verona to the south-east (in Veneto), Brescia to the south-west (in Lombardia) and Trento to the north (in Trentino Alto Adige). It is the largest lake in Italy with a surface of 370 square kilometres.

The climate in Lake Garda

The lake has a mild climate with subtropical features. The village that enjoys the warmest temperatures is Malcesine, while the coldest is Peschiera del Garda.

Spring and autumn are the seasons when it rains the most, while summer has a typically Mediterranean climate, warm and dry, with sudden and intense storms in August.
In winter, temperatures are warmer than the surrounding areas and rainfall is scarce; there may be some fog. The banks of the lake do rarely freeze during the winter season, for the presence of winds blowing on the coast and mitigate winter temperatures.

Things to see in the surroundings of Lake Garda

The Parco Giardino Sigurtà in Valeggio sul Mincio
It is the largest flowering display in Italy, with an area of approximately 600.000 square meters, located in the town of Valeggio sul Mincio, in the territory of Verona, at about 10 kilometres from Lake Garda.
The park is appreciated above all for the wealth of its spring flowers, including tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, irises and roses. In particular, the flowering of tulips is one of the richest in Europe, second only to that of the Keukenhof Park in Holland.
The garden attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Some historical notions

Lake Garda has been settled by human communities since the Middle Paleolithic age.
During the Roman period, the most important roads of the area were built, such as the Via Gallica, which connected Milan to Verona through Peschiera, and the Claudia Augusta, which linked the area of lake to the Northern regions.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the lake was flooded with many barbarian tribes, the first to settle down in a permanent position was that of the Lombards.
In the thirteenth century the noble family of the Scaliger conquered the Eastern shore of the lake; they realized several defensive structures such as the castles of Sirmione, Malcesine and Riva del Garda.
In 1786 the German poet Wolfgang Goethe went on holiday in Torbole and Malcesine during his "grand tour" of Italy and spokes about Lake Garda in his own works.
Ten years later, the lake was involved in the Napoleonic Wars.
The lake was also involved in Wars of Italian independence, but this did not cause particular socio-political consequences for the lake's administrative organization.
The First World War marked the top of the lake, close to the Monte Baldo where you can still find relics from that period.
During the Second World War, the lake was not affected by the fighting.

Tourism in and around Lake Garda

Since Roman times, Lake Garda was reaaly appreciated ad tourism destination: this is proved by the presence of many villas where ancient Romans could dedicated themselves to otium and leisure.
zstrong>Sirmione in particular was very popular in virtue of its sulphureous hot springs; in this town you can visit the remains of a Roman villa called Grotte di Catullo.
One of the first tourist resorts was Gardone Riviera: here, Luigi Wimmer decided to build a hotel which later became the famousGrand Hotel Gardone Riviera, a stunning 5-star accommodation.

Food and other products in the area

Typical products of this important area are:

• olive oil of Garda (produced in limited quantities and with the DOP)
• the Bardolino wine (produced in the eponymous town, Bardolino)
• lemons, oranges, cedar, mandarin and bergamot all produced in the area of Limone, along the Brescia side of the lake