The Rocca Scaligera, a boat trip and the Grotte di Catullo in Sirmione in the morning, Lazise and Bardolino, the wine town, on the Verona shore in the afternoon.
Garda is the largest lake in Italy, between Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino, with such a mild climate that olive and lemon trees grow on its shores. In the morning Sirmione, the village on the slender peninsula that juts into the lake: the castle on the water, a boat trip round the point and the Roman villa of the Grotte di Catullo. After lunch you cross to the Verona shore, to Lazise, a walled village with a little harbour and the Venetian customs house. Before heading back, a stroll in Bardolino, the town that gives its name to the red wine of the lake.
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
The castle of the Della Scala family, lords of Verona, was built in the 13th century at the entrance to the peninsula, surrounded by water: you can only enter by the bridge. It is one of the few castles with a fortified harbour, the darsena, where the Scaligeri fleet was kept. From the walls and the tower you can see the roofs of the village and the whole lake.
Admission charge. Check opening times: some state museums close one day a week.
The streets of the centre lead to the tip of the peninsula past houses, gardens and historic hotels; Maria Callas lived here in the 1950s. From the little harbour boats leave for a half-hour trip round the peninsula: from the water you can see the Rocca, the villas, the hot spring of Boiola that rises from the bottom of the lake at nearly 70 degrees, and the Roman ruins on the cliff.
You pay for the boat trip on board; in winter there are fewer boats.
They are not caves: they are the ruins of the largest Roman villa in northern Italy, built between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD on the tip of the peninsula, with terraces perched above the lake. The name comes from the poet Catullus, who had a house in Sirmione and wrote of it with love. Among the olive trees you wander through the arches, the cryptoporticoes and a small museum.
Admission charge.
Lazise still has its ring of walls with gates and the Scaligeri castle, which you can see from outside. The little harbour is the heart of the town, with the Dogana Veneta, the large building where the Republic of Venice kept its ships and controlled the goods of the lake. It is said to have been the first free commune in Italy, by a diploma of the Emperor Otto II in 983.
Free.
Bardolino is the town that gives its name to the red wine of the lake, Bardolino, and to Chiaretto, the rosé made from the same grapes, grown on the gentle hills behind the town. In the centre is the Romanesque church of San Severo, with walls frescoed in the Middle Ages and a crypt older than the church. Then you go down to the lakefront, past the little harbour, the coloured houses and the old villas.
The church is free; check opening times. Many wineries around the town offer tastings by appointment.
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
The centre on foot in the morning, the sanctuary of San Luca, the Certosa and the Arca di San Domenico in the afternoon
10 h 40 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Ducati Museum in Borgo Panigale, the Lamborghini Museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese, then Maranello and the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena.
11 h 15 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral and Ghirlandina tower, the Albinelli market, a vinegar cellar and the Ferrari Museum in Maranello.
9 h 40 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Roman Arena, Piazza delle Erbe, Juliet's house and the Scaliger Tombs in the morning, San Zeno and Castelvecchio in the afternoon.
11 h 35 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Long half day
The plan
Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi, the squares and Leon Battista Alberti's Sant'Andrea in the morning, Giulio Romano's Palazzo Te in the afternoon.
10 h 25 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Pilotta with the Teatro Farnese, the Cathedral with Correggio's dome and the pink Baptistery in the morning, the castle in the prosciutto hills in the afternoon.
10 h 40 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Duomo with the Piccolomini Library and Duccio's Maestà in the morning, Piazza del Campo, the Palazzo Pubblico and Torre del Mangia in the afternoon.
11 h 05 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Duomo with the Piccolomini Library and Duccio's Maestà in the morning, Piazza del Campo and the Palazzo Pubblico in the afternoon, and on the way back the walled village of Monteriggioni.
12 h 05 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Too far
The plan
The Scaliger Castle, a boat trip and the Grotte di Catullo in Sirmione in the morning, the walled village of Lazise on the Verona shore in the afternoon.
11 h 15 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
Medieval towers, the frescoed Collegiata and views over the Val d'Elsa, then the walled village of Monteriggioni.
11 h 05 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
Piazza dei Miracoli with the Tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistery in the morning, Lucca with its tree-lined walls, Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and Torre Guinigi in the afternoon.
11 h 50 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Long half day
The plan
Piazza dei Miracoli with the Tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistery in the morning, the centre with Piazza dei Cavalieri, Borgo Stretto and Santa Maria della Spina on the Arno in the afternoon.
11 h 00 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Rocca Sanvitale in its moat with Parmigianino's little room, the fortress of the Meli Lupi princes, then the lands of Giuseppe Verdi.
11 h 40 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Long half day
The plan
The medieval village with the Rocca Viscontea, the walled town among the vineyards, then the fairytale village built by the Visconti di Modrone
11 h 45 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Long half day
The plan
The Torrazzo, the Cathedral and the Violin Museum in Cremona in the morning, the Gonzaga ideal city of Sabbioneta in the afternoon.
11 h 25 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The Teatro Olimpico and Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza in the morning, Palladio's wooden bridge and grappa in Bassano in the afternoon.
11 h 20 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
Take the funicular to the old town: Piazza Vecchia, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Colleoni Chapel and the walls, then the Accademia Carrara
12 h 15 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Too far
The plan
The Legend of the True Cross and Piazza Grande in Arezzo in the morning, Cortona on the hill above the Val di Chiana in the afternoon.
10 h 35 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
The castle where the emperor begged the pope's forgiveness, the red fortress of Rossena, then the mountain mentioned by Dante.
11 h 00 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Full day
The plan
Colourful seaside villages in Liguria, one after another by train: the view of Manarola, the harbour of Vernazza, the beach of Monterosso.
12 h 15 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Too far
The planTrips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
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