Castles, cable cars, museums and breathtaking landscapes: in the post, many tips for a two-day stay on Lake Garda in the most popular season.
Spring is perhaps my favorite period of all. And spring on Garda Lake it is truly spectacular, there are no summer storms or sultry heat yet, but the lake and the sky are more beautiful than ever.
If you have two days at your disposal to spend on Lake Garda, I suggest you take the two stages I will tell you about below, you will not regret it.
Day 1. Malcesine Castle and Monte Baldo Cableway
Departure is scheduled from the small town of Malcesine. Malcesine is a small village located on the Veneto side of the upper Lake Garda, about 60 km from the city of Verona.
Immerse yourself in the small village and go straight to its famous one Scaliger Castle that stands out on the shore of the lake. The castle, perched on a rocky platform about 70 m above the lake, seems to have passed, over the centuries, into the hands of Lombards, Franks, Scaligers, Venetians, Austrians and many others.
However, it was Goethe who made him famous in 1786 during his trip to Italy.
Once you have visited the castle, open from the 9.00 19.00 and which on the ground floor houses the Museum of Natural History, move to the slopes of the mountain at the foot of which the town stands, it will take about 5 minutes. Right there you will find access to the beautiful Monte Baldo cableway.
This spectacular cable car connects Malcesine to the 1760 meters of the top of Monte Baldo, rising sheer to the lake. The view as you go up is so beautiful that it would be worth the ascent by cable car alone. This structure remains open for about ten months a year and allows you to climb to an altitude of 1760 meters in about 15 minutes, thanks to three stations that lead respectively from Malcesine to San Michele (580 meters) and from San Michele to Tratto Spino, the summit.
The route runs from 8 am, every 30 minutes, until approximately 18.15 pm, but the time of the last ride varies according to the season. At the foot of the cable car there is a convenient parking area for cars, but if you arrive by mountain bike and want to pedal even in the high mountains, there is the possibility to buy a ticket, which can be purchased online, adult + bike.
Once you reach the top of Monte Baldo you will have in front of you green meadows and hills, immersed in the blue sky and, in the background, the Lake.
From this point you can take easy walks, enjoy the sun on the deckchairs you will find or eat something typical in the restaurants and bars present. In this first case, I recommend that you always go down to the valley by cable car, starting from Malcesine. But if you are in the mood for adventure and have brought your mountain bike, you can continue along the well-signposted route ("Mtb red tour"), and even reach the valley Torbole sul Garda, after a journey of about 4 hours, passing through the villages of Brentwood e Loppio. It is about 50 km with various gradients, within the reach of anyone who is moderately trained. And, importantly, you will also find food along the way immersed in these mountain areas.
During the summer season it is also possible to get a single discounted ticket for the Castle and the Cableway.
Day 2. Gardesana Occidentale by car
La Gardesana is the road that runs along the whole of Lake Garda and enjoys a spectacular view of the lake. The ideal is to be able to do it calmly in spring - in summer it is quite busy - stopping along the way wherever you like.
La Gardesana Occidentale in particular, the Lombard side to understand, is probably the most suggestive and ancient one and flows next to the lake along the imposing mountains that fall sheer into the water.
Going along it calmly you will arrive at Gardone Riviera, a small town of less than 3000 inhabitants, part of the Alto Garda Regional Park, a nature reserve that for more than a hundred years has hosted many species of flora and fauna.
Beyond the beauty of these places, Gardone Riviera is famous above all for having given the residence to the famous Gabriele D'Annunzio, poet, playwright, but also politician and military during Fascism.
Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, this is the name of the residence of D'Annunzio sul Lago, is a complex of buildings, but also squares, streets, gardens (even an open-air theater), gardens, built between 1921 and 1938 on a project by the architect Giancarlo Maroni, at the request of D'Annunzio himself, in memory of his "inimitable life".
Today, fortunately I would add, the Vittoriale is a foundation open to the public and can be visited. Personally it is one of my favorite places on the lake, full of history, beauty and madness.
Enter, the ticket costs from € 13 to € 16 and can be purchased online, and once inside get lost, in the park, in the house, anywhere. You will be amazed above all by the atmosphere.
These are just two of the many proposals that Lake Garda can offer in spring. I'm sure you will like it.
