Spoonie Guide to Lake Garda Italy
Lake Garda, Lake Como’s less visited (at least by Americans) sister, is just an hour and twenty minute drive from Milan. It’s a beautiful, laid-back area with many things to do. There’s waterfalls, water parks, sailing, roman ruins, and medieval towns.
There are lots of options for boat tours, sailing, and other water activities. I have vertigo and do horribly on boats so I did not look into any of these. If I could I would have. So if you are able this looks like a great place to enjoy the water.
Sirmione
If you think about a town of Italy this is what you pictured. It has a medieval castle, roman ruins, colorful squares, gelato shops, and al fresco dinning. While this is a lovely spot to visit I would not try to stay in the town. They stop most of the traffic at the main gate, really only delivery vehicles are allowed in, so everyone needs to park outside of the old town. The hotels in the town did appear to offer bellhop services and you could see people schlepping suitcases in carts. To me it seems like an exhausting effort. It is something to consider if you do want to stay in Sirmione.
We started our visit walking up the steep uphill climb to the Grotte di Catullo. It is an expansive Roman villa ruin. There is an electric train that picks up in the old town and then brings you up to the archeological site, it’s 10€. We were unaware of this until we saw it at the top. If you tire easily I would recommend taking the train. It was a long and pretty steep walk. The upper areas has gravel paths and you can see the views down onto the lower levels. To get to the lower levels there are a lot of stairs, but they do have hand rails. If you are able to I really recommend going down to the lower levels. You really get a feel for it’s scale down there. There are signs in English throughout explaining different features. One thing to keep in mind that it is exposed and quite hot. Be careful if you are effected by heat. There are places to refill your water bottle and several clean bathrooms towards the entrance.
When we purchased our tickets for the Grotte di Catullo we bought the full day pass for Sirmione. It was only a couple of Euros more. We were really happy we did that because we then did not have to stand in the giant line outside of the medieval fort in town. So if you visit either of these places buy the full pass so you can avoid lines at either end.
Castello Scaligero di Sirmione was very cool. The walls go right onto the lake. You are able to climb the stairs up to the ramparts, and then further up to the top of the tower. The views were incredible and there was information in English about the town and fort through the ages. This is not for you if you have a fear of heights (like my husband) or have trouble with stairs. The only way to the ramparts is the stairs and they are the only way back down.
One very random note about Sirmione… There is a gelato shop that had a unicorn flavor that was bubblegum flavor. It was really good and I regretted that I didn’t pick it (my husband did). I then tried the unicorn gelato everywhere we went after that and they were mostly all vanilla flavored. My aggressive sweet tooth would feel remiss if I did not share this information.
Accessibility
Getting around by car can be very helpful. There’s an easy exit if you start to fade. You don’t need to wait on a specific time. You can keep medications, water, snacks, etc close by but not have to carry it with you. Most locations around Lake Garda have a parking lot close by.
While many towns and activities around Lake Garda are accessible by car and with ample parking. Once you are at your destination there will probably be stairs. The restaurants usually only had a step or two but to get to a lot of areas, even just walking in a town, there were stairs. This obviously will mar most wheelchair users access to a lot of areas. It may still be accessible to more ambulatory wheelchair users. But when I say stairs I mean a set of stairs, not just a step up or down.
Wine tasting
We went to Antico Gelso, a very cute, family owned winery. It only had 6 google reviews so we decided to go check it out and support a small business. The family had been producing white for about 30 years but only states to sell it 2 years ago. It was delicious. We went right when they opened at 9am because we had a few other things planned that day. The owner was really great and gave us a tour and we tasted his wines. The white and reds were very delicious. It’s the smallest winery in the region. I really recommend if you are in the region to visit here. It was only about 20 minutes from our hotel.
Restaurant Recommendations
Altaripa Rivoltella Food & More
Food was delicious. There is lots of parking. There are stairs to get down to the restaurant. There is a large ramp to get down but it was locked. I think if you were able to send someone down the restaurant would be able to open the ramp for you. The view is incredible and the food was equally amazing. We made reservations in advance. The view was really incredible. You pull up and it’s a parking lot. You then go down the stairs to the restaurant that is basically built onto the lake bank.
Ristorante Locanda Al Cardellino
The meat tower!!! You could probably just get this for four people. We made it through the two of us. The waiter was great and waited until said we could move forward with a pasta course. We probably could have done without it. This was the first time a waiter didn’t try to convince us into eating multiple course. It actually only has one type of pork on it. We were able to make the reservation on WhatsApp. Message this number on there +39 331 225 1508
Hotel Recommendation
We stayed in Desenzano. It is a modern town on the lake. It was a great jumping off spot to the rest of the lake. We stayed at Hotel Piccola Vela. It has underground parking and some limited spaces up top. There are stairs up to the front door. There is a reasonable (for Europe that is) sized elevator that serviced all of the floors. It has two pools, air conditioning, a really lovely breakfast, and strong wifi. The staff were kind and very helpful. I would definitely recommend staying here.
