# Lake Garda

Italy's largest lake: mountains and wind for windsurfing in the north; Sirmione, castles and vineyards in the south. What to see, where to stay and how to get around.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/lake-garda · Revisado: 2026-11-12

## North or south?

Garda is two lakes in one. The north, in Trentino, is narrow and wedged between mountains: Riva del Garda, Torbole and Arco live off wind, climbing and cycling. The south, between Lombardy and Veneto, is wide and open, with pebble beaches, castles and vineyards: Sirmione, Desenzano, Peschiera, Lazise and Bardolino. Between the two, the west shore, from Salò to Limone, has the lemon-grower villages and the tunnels of the Gardesana road; the east shore, from Garda to Malcesine, has Monte Baldo rising above it.

If you're going to be on the move and play sport, sleep in Riva or Torbole. If you want villages, wine and calm swimming, choose Sirmione, Lazise or Bardolino. With four nights you can split them: two up north and two down south.

## What can you see in four days?

Sirmione, at the tip of a narrow peninsula in the south. You enter on foot over the bridge of the Scaligero castle and walk to the Grotte di Catullo, the remains of a large Roman villa above the lake, with an archaeological museum. Entry to the Grotte costs €10 (€2 for ages 18 to 25) and there's a joint ticket with the castle and the Roman Villa of Desenzano. Opening hours change with the season: check them beforehand.

Monte Baldo from Malcesine. The cable car climbs in about 20 minutes, in rotating cabins, and at the top there are ridge trails with the whole lake below. In 2026 it opens from 4 April to 1 November; the return trip costs €30 at the ticket office and €28 online.

The Limone cycle path, a walkway hanging from the rock above the water, opened in 2018. It runs from the village to the Trentino border, about 2 km, and can be done on foot or by bike. The stretch to Riva is still under construction.

The Varone waterfall, 3 km from Riva: a waterfall inside a gorge that you visit along walkways. Entry costs €7 and can only be bought there. In summer there's a free shuttle from the Baltera car park.

The Vittoriale degli Italiani, in Gardone Riviera, the house and park that Gabriele D'Annunzio filled with objects, with a warship set into the garden. In August there are evening openings.

Bardolino and its vineyards. The Zeni 1870 wine museum can be visited free and without a reservation, and in its wine shop you can taste Bardolino and Chiaretto.

## How do you get there from Spain?

Fly to Verona, Bergamo or Milan, the most convenient airports. From Verona airport, the towns on the south of the lake, such as Peschiera, are about 20 km away. A bus runs from the airport to Verona Porta Nuova station, and from there direct trains leave for Peschiera and Desenzano, on the Milan–Venice line. For the north, the nearest station is Rovereto, with buses to Riva.

## How do you get around the lake?

By car you can go round in one long day, but in summer the shore road jams and parking in Sirmione or Limone is difficult. The Navigazione Laghi boats link the villages on both shores from March to early November, and the car ferry between Maderno and Torri del Benaco saves you going round via the south. The most useful crossing is Malcesine to Limone, about €7.50 one way. In winter, from 2 November 2026 to 12 March 2027, only that ferry runs.

## Why is there so much wind in the north?

Because of the shape of the lake. In the morning the Pelèr blows from the north, starting in the early hours and dropping around midday. Then the Ora comes in from the south, lasting until sunset and strongest in high summer. That's why in Torbole beginner windsurfing courses are first thing, with a light wind and flat water, and experts go out in the afternoon. At Vasco Renna, in Torbole, a two-hour group windsurfing lesson costs €85 with equipment, every day at 9:00, from April to November.

## Where to eat?

In the north, Al Volt, in the centre of Riva, serves Trentino cooking and lake fish under vaulted ceilings, with menus from €60; at lunchtime it's open only at weekends. In Malcesine, Vecchia Malcesine, with one MICHELIN star, is the east shore's special-occasion table, from April to October. In the south, the Trattoria Antica Contrada, at the entrance to Sirmione, serves grilled Garda fish and homemade pasta. Order lake fish, Garda olive oil and, in the south, Lugana or Chiaretto.

## Where to sleep?

In the south, the Hotel Catullo is inside Sirmione's historic centre, with its own jetty for swimming and parking 500 m away. In the countryside between Sirmione and Desenzano, the Agriturismo Armea has rooms and apartments among Lugana vineyards, a pool and a trattoria. In the north, the Camping al Porto, in the centre of Torbole, has pitches, apartments and mobile homes a few metres from the water.

## Dónde está
- Zonas: Italian Lakes, Alps
- Cerca: Engadine (a 115.4 km · Switzerland), Lake Como (a 115.9 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Monte Baldo cable car from Malcesine** (4 h · All ages; children under 1.20 m free · Return €30 at the ticket office, €28 online; young people born from 2012, €18): What it is
Monte Baldo is the long ridge that closes Lake Garda to the east, between Malcesine and Torri del Benaco. From the centre of Malcesine, a cable car rises in about 20 minutes to Tratto Spino, at 1,760 metres, with an intermediate stop at San Michele. On the second section the cabins turn slowly on themselves as they climb, and everyone sees by turns the lake and the mountain. At the top you have a good part of the lake at your feet, with the west shore opposite and the mountains of Trentino to the north.
It is the easiest excursion for the great view of Garda: no walking is needed, though it is worth strolling a while along the ridge.
Hours and season
In 2026 the summer season ran from 4 April to 1 November. From 2 November to 25 December it is closed for maintenance, and in winter it runs from 26 December to 21 February 2027, with the ski slopes above. The operator guarantees at least one departure every 30 minutes from 8:30, more frequent when there is a queue. Bikes go up only on their own departures, first thing and in the afternoon. The website does not publish the time of the last descent for each month: ask at the ticket office on the way up.
Prices


ReturnSingle


Adult, ticket office€30€22
Adult, online€28€20
Born in 2012 or later, ticket office€18€15
Dog€10—


Children under 1.20 m go up free, but need a free ticket from the ticket office. The ticket as far as San Michele costs only €12 return.
What to do at the top

The ridge walk. From the station, almost flat trails lead north, with the lake on one side and the Adige valley on the other. Walk as far as you like and come back the same way.
Watch the paragliders take off. Tratto Spino is a classic launch site; the pilots go up on a ticket of their own.
Ride down by mountain bike, if you have experience: the cable car carries bikes up on dedicated departures.

Getting there and parking
The valley station is at Via Navene Vecchia, 12, in the upper part of Malcesine, a few minutes' walk from the harbour. If you arrive by boat from Limone or Riva, you walk up. By car, the cable car website mentions parking beside the station; in summer arrive early, because Malcesine fills up.
- **Grotte di Catullo, Sirmione's Roman villa** (2 h · All ages; under-18s free · Admission €10; ages 18 to 25 (EU), €2; under-18s, free): What it is
At the northern tip of the Sirmione peninsula, where the lake surrounds the land on three sides, are the remains of a great Roman villa of the 1st century. It is called the Grotte di Catullo, the Caves of Catullus, after the Latin poet linked to Sirmione, although the villa was built after his death. The arches and walls still standing held up the terraces of an enormous house, in an enclosure of about two hectares; half-buried, they looked like caves, and the name stuck.
Today you visit an archaeological park among centuries-old olive trees, with viewpoints over the water, and a museum at the entrance with frescoes, mosaics and objects found in the excavations.
Hours and prices
In high season, from April to October, it is open from 8:30 to 19:30, with the museum until 19:00; in winter it closes around 17:00. It is closed on Mondays. Hours change with the dates: check the Ministry of Culture website or call the ticket office, +39 030 916157, before going.
Admission costs €10. European Union citizens aged 18 to 25 pay €2, and under-18s do not pay. On the first Sunday of each month admission is free for everyone. There is a combined ticket with Sirmione's Scaligero castle and the Roman Villa of Desenzano; sources do not agree on its price, so ask at the ticket office.
Getting there and parking
The centre of Sirmione is a limited-traffic zone: leave the car outside. The most convenient car park for the visit is Piazzale Campiello, in Colombare, with a shuttle to the castle; Monte Baldo car park, closer to the centre, is dearer and fills up before mid-morning. From the castle to the Grotte it is about 15 or 20 minutes' walk through the village and the street of hotels. In summer a little electric train runs up from the thermal baths area to the entrance.
How long
Allow an hour and a half for the park and museum, plus the walk there and back from the castle. The route is almost all outdoors, with steps and dirt paths: with a pushchair you can do it, but not all of it.
- **Limone's cycle and pedestrian walkway over the lake** (2 h · 5 km · All ages; also with a pushchair or bike · Free): What it is
North of Limone sul Garda the mountain drops sheer to the lake and the Gardesana road runs through tunnels. So as not to send pedestrians and cyclists into those tunnels, in 2018 a walkway was opened hung from the rock wall, about 50 metres above the water: some 2.5 kilometres of concrete deck finished with wooden slats, about 2.5 metres wide, from the centre of Limone to Capo Reamol, shortly before the border with Trentino. It is the first built stretch of the Garda cycle path, the project that aims to link the lake's villages with a protected route.
What makes it special is the feeling of being suspended above the water, with the open lake ahead and Monte Baldo opposite. There are stretches where the walkway juts out over the void.
How to do it
It starts on Limone's lakeside promenade, the Lungolago Marconi, and follows the signs northwards along Via IV Novembre. The walkway is flat or nearly so, suitable for pushchairs and for any bike. From the centre, there and back, allow about 8 kilometres between the village and the walkway; on foot, about two hours without hurrying, and half that by bike. You return the same way.
The continuation towards Riva del Garda is not yet finished: at the end of the walkway there is no continuous protected lane to Riva, so do not carry on by bike along the road with children.
Price and hours
It is free and has no opening hours. Go in daylight: it is not intended to be walked at night.
Getting there
Limone has little parking and in summer it fills up. The most convenient way to arrive is by boat from Malcesine, on the other shore, or from Riva and Torbole: the landing stage is in the centre, a few minutes' walk from the start. See the page on the scheduled boat.
- **Varone Waterfall, the cascade inside the rock** (1 h · All ages; with a pushchair, a baby carrier is better · €7; families from €19): What it is
Three kilometres from Riva del Garda, in the municipality of Tenno, a mountain torrent plunges down inside a narrow gorge carved by the water. The cascade falls almost entirely inside the rock: you do not see it from outside, but from two caves reached by a path of stairs and walkways. It is a short, noisy, damp visit, and a good alternative when it rains or is too hot to be in the sun on the lake.
What the visit is like
You enter through a garden and go down to the lower cave, where you see the last stretch of the drop, the water hitting the bottom of the gorge. Then you climb about 40 metres up a path with seventy landings to the upper cave, from which you see the waterfall falling entire through the air, wedged between walls that almost touch. Time is your own: the minimum route takes about 20 minutes, and an hour at a relaxed pace.
You will get wet from the cloud of spray, especially in spring and after rain. Bring a light waterproof or a garment that can get wet.
Hours and prices
It is open all year, except 25 December. From May to August, 9:00 to 19:00; in April and September, until 18:00; in March and October, 9:00 to 17:00; from November to February, 10:00 to 17:00. Individual admission costs €7. There are family tickets: two adults and one child, €19; with two children, €24; with three, €28. You pay at the entrance; tickets are not sold online.
Getting there and parking
The entrance is at Località le Foci, 3, Tenno, on the road from Riva towards Tenno. From June to September, every day, and in April, May and October at weekends and on public holidays, a free shuttle leaves every 15 minutes from 10:00 to 17:00 from Località Baltera, Via Marone 26, and takes about three minutes. Dogs enter on a lead.
- **First windsurf lesson in Torbole** (2 h · For beginners; you must be able to swim · €85 for a 2-hour lesson; plus €6 insurance): What it is
The north of Lake Garda attracts windsurfers for a simple reason: the wind blows almost daily and arrives at fixed times. In the morning the Pelèr blows from the north, gentle and steady, dying down towards midday; in the afternoon the Ora comes in from the south, stronger. The Torbole schools use the morning for beginners, with flat water and light wind, and leave the afternoon to those who already plane.
A trial lesson is the way to find out whether you like it: two hours in which you learn to get on the board, to raise the sail and to make your first tacks.
The lesson at Vasco Renna
Vasco Renna Windsurfingcenter is in the Pavese park, beside Torbole beach. Its first level, course T or “first trial”, mixes theory on land and practice on the water so that you make your first turns. Group courses leave every day at 9:00, for all levels, and the lesson lasts two hours; if there are only two students, an hour and a half.
The lesson costs €85, and repeat lessons work out cheaper: two lessons, €159; three, €229; five, €369. On top of that there is insurance of €6 per lesson. It includes the board with sail, a wetsuit, a life jacket, the support of an instructor and shore staff, changing rooms, toilets and lockers. For children up to seven there are private one-hour lessons for a first time, for €85. Lessons are given in Italian, German and English. The school is open from April to November.
What to bring and how to get there
Swimsuit, towel, sun cream, a cap that fits and wetsuit shoes if you have them. Torbole is about ten minutes by car from Riva and about 10 km from the Rovereto Sud – Lago di Garda Nord exit of the A22 motorway; if you are staying in Torbole, you walk along the promenade.
- **Scheduled boat from Malcesine to Limone** (2 h · All ages; children aged 4 to 11 at a reduced fare · Single €7.50, return €15; upper-lake day ticket €27): What it is
Malcesine, on the east shore, and Limone, on the west, face each other at the narrow part of the lake. By road you have to go round via Riva and Torbole; on the public boat you cross in a straight line, with Monte Baldo behind you and the rock wall of Limone ahead. It is the most convenient way to reach Limone, which has little parking, and the cheapest way to see the lake from the water: the scheduled boat doubles as an excursion.
The boats are operated by Navigazione Lago di Garda, the public service run under the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure. Torbole and Riva, to the north, and other villages on both shores to the south, are stops on the same line.
Prices
The price depends on the number of sections between the two landing stages. Malcesine – Limone is section 3: €7.50 one way and €15 return; children aged 4 to 11 pay €3.80 one way, and seniors and residents €6. If you continue to Riva, Limone to Riva is section 2, €6. Fast boats carry a supplement, and bikes pay separately; the captain may limit bikes on board.
If you are going to make more than two journeys, the one-day ticket for the upper lake, from Maderno and Torri northwards, costs €27 (€13.50 for children) on ordinary services. For the whole lake, €39.50.
Times and season
Timetables change each season and are published as PDFs on the Navigazione Laghi website: download them beforehand. The scheduled boats sail from spring to early November; in winter, from 2 November 2026 to 12 March 2027, only the car ferry between Maderno and Torri del Benaco operates. Tickets are bought at the ticket offices at the landing stages or on the website.
How to plan it
A classic day out is to go up Monte Baldo in the morning on the Malcesine cable car, come down to the village for lunch and cross to Limone in the afternoon to walk the walkway over the lake, taking the last boat back. Check the time of that last boat before you set out.

## Dónde comer
- **Al Volt** (Restaurant, Riva del Garda, €€€). Qué pedir: the freshwater fish menu, or the tagliolini with tench ragù and the Arctic char.
- **Vecchia Malcesine** (Restaurant, Malcesine, €€€€). Qué pedir: the long Qcina menu if it is an occasion; otherwise, the three-dish “Scegli tu!”.
- **Trattoria Antica Contrada** (Restaurant, Sirmione, €€€). Qué pedir: the homemade pasta with lake sardine and a wood-grilled Garda fish.

## By plane: Fly to Verona, Bergamo or Milan and drive to the lake
Lake Garda lies between three airports with direct flights from Spain. The nearest is Verona: there are direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona, and from the airport the south of the lake, with Peschiera and Sirmione, is about 30 km away. Bergamo receives flights from more Spanish cities, among them Valencia, Málaga, Seville and Palma, and is a little over an hour by car from Desenzano. To get around the lake the practical thing is to hire a car at the airport; without a car, the Milan – Venice line train drops you at Peschiera and Desenzano, and boats link the villages from spring to autumn.
### Dónde dormir if you're flying
- **Hotel Catullo** (Hotel): Hotel Catullo is one of Sirmione's historic hotels: according to the house, it holds the town's first licence for a public establishment. It is run by the Barelli family, with Fabio and Elena at the helm, and is inside the historic centre, in Piazza Flaminia, beside the lake and a few minutes' walk from the Scaligero castle and the Grotte di Catullo. Staying here is the way to see Sirmione early in the morning and at night, when the groups have gone.
The rooms
It has 56 rooms, all with lift access, private bathroom, air conditioning, free wifi, television, minibar and safe. The 44 standard rooms face the inner gardens or the village's streets and squares, and some give a glimpse of the lake; they have modern furniture. The 10 superior rooms have a balcony and an open lake view, with more classic decoration. If you are coming for the lake, ask for a superior when you book.
The hotel and the lake
The best thing about the house is its landing stage over the water, reserved for guests, with sun loungers and parasols, direct access for swimming and a small bar next to it. There is a garden, a covered terrace facing the lake and a restaurant with a menu, where breakfast is also served; in good weather you eat outside, over the water. Dogs and cats are accepted.
Getting there and parking
Sirmione's centre is a limited-traffic zone. The hotel has a private parking service at Grifo Parking in Piazzale Europa, 500 metres away, for €20 a day paid at the hotel; from there you walk or your luggage is taken in an electric vehicle. When you book they send you the instructions for entering. From Verona airport it is about 30 kilometres along the road on the south of the lake.
The website does not publish an official star rating, check-in and check-out times or prices: check them when booking on its booking engine.
- **Agriturismo Armea** (Country house): Agriturismo Armea is a farming estate in the south of Lake Garda, 4 km from Sirmione and 4 km from Desenzano, at the foot of the San Martino della Battaglia tower. The family has owned the farmhouse since 1968 and opened it as a farm stay in 1999. It has 6 hectares of vineyard on the clay soils of Lugana, a kitchen garden, fruit trees and farmyard animals, and what it produces ends up in the house trattoria. It is a quiet base in the countryside for those who want the south of the lake without sleeping in its crowded villages.
The name
According to the house itself, the name comes from the wars of the Risorgimento, around 1856, when the farm served as an arms depot for the Italian army: the sharecroppers began to call it “armi'a”, from armoury, and after unification it stayed as L'Armea.
Rooms and apartments
It has 3 spacious rooms with a view of the vines, a double bed with the option of two single beds, private bathroom, television, air conditioning, fridge and access to a large terrace. And 9 two-room apartments, with a double bedroom and a day area with kitchen and two more single beds, microwave, fridge, their own heating, air conditioning and television: they suit families of four. The furniture is country style, with wooden beams and terracotta floors.
For guests there is a pool amid greenery, a porch and a garden. There is wifi and parking, and animals are accepted.
The trattoria and the wine
The house restaurant occupies two rooms with a large fireplace for cold days, and in summer you eat under the porch that faces the garden. Local cooking with its own produce and wines from its cellar: a Lugana, a Benaco red and a Riviera del Garda. The website does not publish the restaurant's hours: ask when you book.
Getting there
It is in the countryside, in the hamlet of San Martino della Battaglia, between the A4 motorway and the lake: you need a car. To Sirmione and to Desenzano, with its station on the Milan – Venice line, it is about 4 km. Verona airport is about 30 km away.

## By car: By car, one shore a day
A car lets you go round the lake and climb up to the mountain villages, but in summer the shore road jams and parking in Sirmione, Malcesine or Limone is hard. The practical approach is to sleep at a base with parking, do one shore a day and use the boat to cross.
Presupuesto orientativo: 110–190 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Hotel Catullo** (Hotel): Hotel Catullo is one of Sirmione's historic hotels: according to the house, it holds the town's first licence for a public establishment. It is run by the Barelli family, with Fabio and Elena at the helm, and is inside the historic centre, in Piazza Flaminia, beside the lake and a few minutes' walk from the Scaligero castle and the Grotte di Catullo. Staying here is the way to see Sirmione early in the morning and at night, when the groups have gone.
The rooms
It has 56 rooms, all with lift access, private bathroom, air conditioning, free wifi, television, minibar and safe. The 44 standard rooms face the inner gardens or the village's streets and squares, and some give a glimpse of the lake; they have modern furniture. The 10 superior rooms have a balcony and an open lake view, with more classic decoration. If you are coming for the lake, ask for a superior when you book.
The hotel and the lake
The best thing about the house is its landing stage over the water, reserved for guests, with sun loungers and parasols, direct access for swimming and a small bar next to it. There is a garden, a covered terrace facing the lake and a restaurant with a menu, where breakfast is also served; in good weather you eat outside, over the water. Dogs and cats are accepted.
Getting there and parking
Sirmione's centre is a limited-traffic zone. The hotel has a private parking service at Grifo Parking in Piazzale Europa, 500 metres away, for €20 a day paid at the hotel; from there you walk or your luggage is taken in an electric vehicle. When you book they send you the instructions for entering. From Verona airport it is about 30 kilometres along the road on the south of the lake.
The website does not publish an official star rating, check-in and check-out times or prices: check them when booking on its booking engine.
- **Camping al Porto** (Campsite): Camping al Porto is in the centre of Torbole, at the northern end of Lake Garda, a few metres from the water and beside the Sarca river. It is a three-star campsite run by the Tonelli family, who bought the land in 1950 and opened the campsite in 1985; today it is run by Lorenzo and Matteo. For those who come to the north of the lake to windsurf, sail or cycle, it is a practical base: everything is within walking distance, from the beach schools to the bars on the promenade.
Where to stay
There are four types of pitch, from small tent pitches without a car to large ones for motorhomes and caravans. If you do not bring a tent, you have ten apartments, each with its own layout and decoration, and more in the Casa Tonelli; ready-pitched glamping mini-tents; and, since 2026, two new mobile homes for two adults and three children or four adults and one child, which also accept dogs.
Services
Pool with sun loungers, jacuzzi with an adults-only sun deck on the roof and a bistro beside the pool; freshly baked bread every morning. For sport, hire of leisure bikes and storage for bikes and rigged sails. For children, a playground, covered table tennis and a baby room. There is a coin-operated laundry and dishwasher, a shared kitchen for the Eco pitches, a barbecue area, electric-car charging, a motorhome service area, free wifi and adapted bathrooms. Dogs are welcome, with their own shower.
Getting there
By car, leave the A22 Brenner motorway at Rovereto Sud – Lago di Garda Nord and continue about 10 km to Torbole; at the roundabout at the bottom of the descent, turn right towards Riva and, after about 200 metres, left, just before the bridge over the Sarca. By train, get off at Rovereto and take Trentino Trasporti bus 411 to Torbole.
The website does not publish prices, check-in and check-out times or season dates: check them in its booking system.
- **Agriturismo Armea** (Country house): Agriturismo Armea is a farming estate in the south of Lake Garda, 4 km from Sirmione and 4 km from Desenzano, at the foot of the San Martino della Battaglia tower. The family has owned the farmhouse since 1968 and opened it as a farm stay in 1999. It has 6 hectares of vineyard on the clay soils of Lugana, a kitchen garden, fruit trees and farmyard animals, and what it produces ends up in the house trattoria. It is a quiet base in the countryside for those who want the south of the lake without sleeping in its crowded villages.
The name
According to the house itself, the name comes from the wars of the Risorgimento, around 1856, when the farm served as an arms depot for the Italian army: the sharecroppers began to call it “armi'a”, from armoury, and after unification it stayed as L'Armea.
Rooms and apartments
It has 3 spacious rooms with a view of the vines, a double bed with the option of two single beds, private bathroom, television, air conditioning, fridge and access to a large terrace. And 9 two-room apartments, with a double bedroom and a day area with kitchen and two more single beds, microwave, fridge, their own heating, air conditioning and television: they suit families of four. The furniture is country style, with wooden beams and terracotta floors.
For guests there is a pool amid greenery, a porch and a garden. There is wifi and parking, and animals are accepted.
The trattoria and the wine
The house restaurant occupies two rooms with a large fireplace for cold days, and in summer you eat under the porch that faces the garden. Local cooking with its own produce and wines from its cellar: a Lugana, a Benaco red and a Riviera del Garda. The website does not publish the restaurant's hours: ask when you book.
Getting there
It is in the countryside, in the hamlet of San Martino della Battaglia, between the A4 motorway and the lake: you need a car. To Sirmione and to Desenzano, with its station on the Milan – Venice line, it is about 4 km. Verona airport is about 30 km away.

## Consejos

### Use the boat, not the car
Between Sirmione, Garda, Malcesine and Limone the boat drops you in the centre and saves you looking for parking.

### Go up Baldo early
The first cabins leave at 8:30 and clouds usually form around midday. Buy online: it's cheaper.

### Choose your shore by the wind
If you want still water for swimming, the south. If you want to sail, the north in the afternoon.

### Sirmione, first thing or at sunset
In the middle hours of a summer day the centre is full of groups.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How many days do I need?
Three or four. One for Sirmione and the south, one for Monte Baldo and Malcesine, one for Limone and the north, and another for the wind or the wine.

### Can you swim in the lake?
Yes. There are pebble beaches and lidos all around the lake. In the south the water is calmer and warmer; in the north there's more wind.

### Can you visit without a car?
Yes. The trains on the Milan–Venice line stop at Peschiera and Desenzano, and boats link the villages in season. In winter it's harder because there are almost no boats.

### Where can you windsurf?
In Torbole and Riva, in the north. In the morning the Pelèr and in the afternoon the Ora give wind almost daily from spring to autumn.

### When is it least crowded?
In April, May, June, September and October. July, August and Italian bank-holiday weekends fill the villages and the roads.

### Is everything open in winter?
No. Many hotels and restaurants close, the scheduled boats stop and only the Maderno–Torri ferry runs. The Baldo cable car has a ski season from 26 December.