Lake Garda is Italy's largest and prettiest lake, set under the Mount Baldo mountain range which towers over its eastern shore. It spans over 47 kilometres and offers a wealth of water sports, sailing, alpine or mountain pursuits such as Mountain biking and walking.
A sand and pebble beach covers much of its shore line, offering a beach-like atmosphere lapped by the waters of a clear blue mountain lake.
The lake is surrounded by a multitude of pretty villages and hamlets, which have huge cultural interest and a very diverse café culture, open air restaurants with excellent dining and some cheery bars and boutique shopping. The historical town of Verona is only an hour lake Garda culture trip away.
For a romantic getaway or a family activity holiday, the diversity and broad appeal of Lake Garda is a hard one to match!
The shingle beaches of Lake Garda offer safe swimming and snorkeling whilst the lake itself which is the largest body of fresh water in Italy offers innumerable opportunities and is one of Europe’s premier sailing and windsurfing centres, also attracting kite-surfers and water-skiers. Pedalo and tennis are popular past-times, and no qualifications are required to rent a 40HP motor boat for a self driven jaunt around the lake, There are numerous organised boat trips around the lake and which run day or night. Golf courses and white knuckle ride theme parks and water parks are also close by, and cultural excursions to experience the historic beauty of Verona, Florence or Venice are a short day-trip away.
Walking the shores and lakeside promenades of lake Garda is a magical experience with cheery cafes and restaurants lining your path. For the more adventurous, you may want to walk up to the old La Rocca Fortress via a series of tracks and paths which are clearly marked on the tourist map. A series of other routes up to the higher climes surrounding the lake, will take walkers through olive groves whilst affording spectacular views of the lake and mountains.
Lake Garda has often been voted as having the best Mountain biking in Europe. Quite a statement really! The hills and cliffs are riddled with military tracks, tunnels and bunkers originating from the 1st world war. The tracks vary from cart width to person width, and all have vertical drops. Bikers will find some thrilling rides through the trails that start from the top of the cable car in Malcesine and a lot of riding is found at 2000 metres with stunning vertical cliffs and lake scenery below. Local bike hire is easy to find and there are endless routes at altitude or around the lake shore for the not-so-gung-ho! There are numerous route maps and itineraries available on line. Guides can also be hired locally.
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