Despite a package holiday being against her sense of adventure, FIONNUALA MULCAHYfound a two-week stay at Lake Garda gave her plenty of freedom to explore
OUR FERRY pulls out of Garda, trailing a long froth like a freshly-poured glass of prosecco. As the wake spreads out behind us, the ripples wobble the private yachts and little boats packed with sunbathers and children waving.
Locals say there are 50 different winds on the lake, and that’s probably why it’s so pleasant to be right out in the middle of it when the temperature is hitting 30 degrees. It doesn’t even matter which port you’re heading for. There’s a strong impulse at Garda to either take to the lake and gaze up at the castles along the shore and the mountains, or to scale a peak or two to peer down on the red-roofed towns and battlements below. They’re equally rewarding perspectives.
My first glimpse of the lake was from the sky. Before landing in Verona I saw so vast a stretch of water I thought it was the Mediterranean. But it was the lake itself, Italy’s largest, stretching some 54km from its deeper, windier, more-Austrian north to the wider, hotter, flatter south.
It seems there are almost as many different aspects to Garda as there are winds. There’s high-speed car-chase Garda, with its James Bond flashes of lake-mountain-lake, filmed from winding tunnels along the north of the lake for the opening scene of Quantum of Solace; sporty Garda, with its lure of windsurfing and mountaineering; historic Garda, with its sprinkling of castles; and theme park Garda, with Gardaland at its heart, aimed at keeping kids and campers amused.
Then there’s the quieter Garda, the one that steals up on you when you’re floating in the lake, or walking its vineyards or olive groves. But even if your trip is organised as a package, as ours was, there’s nothing to stop you dipping into a little of each.
Admittedly, being met at Verona airport and pointed towards a coach to take us direct to our hotel gnawed at my spirit of adventure. Loving to travel on a whim, I’d had to think twice before going for a package tour with Crystal Holidays in which we were to stay in the one hotel for two weeks, half-board. But when I’d booked, volcanic ash had been in the air, and it seemed reassuring that the tour operator would take charge if problems arose.
A bonus is that once we arrive (we stay between Bardolino and Garda) there are lots of tours on offer, and the chance to let someone else worry about traffic, directions and bookings for a change. We sign up for three tours – a mountain walk (which hadn’t been on the schedule), a full-circuit tour of the lake and a trip to the open-air opera in Verona.
OUR WALKING GUIDEleads us some 600 metres up Monte Baldo, just above the town and castle of Malcesine. Trekking on steep old cobble-stoned mule trails through olive groves and woods, we picnic under old plum trees before hopping on the cable-car at its midstation. In the cool clear air at the top, there's a stunning panorama, and if the dizzying heights don't do your head in, you can take a ridge walk before paragliding down some 1,650 metres to a tiny dot of a green landing point, by the lake.
We take the faster option of the cable-car, which rotates 360 degrees so you get a wide vista of the lake and mountains. It lands back in the town of Malcesine, where winding streets lead down to the lakeshore and the castle. Having seen Castello Scaligero from our walk, we climb the battlements and peer out far into the north of the lake.
The castle’s setting enthralled Goethe on his 18th century Italian tour, and we compare notes with his first impressions, in the Goethe room, before delving into the natural history museum under the castle, to find out about the lake’s glacier formation, and the unusual rocks and flora of Monte Baldo.
In brilliant sunshine the next day, it seems a shame to climb into a coach for a circuit of Lake Garda, but it turns out to be a great introduction to the lakeside towns. South of Bardolino, at Sermione, we pile into a boat which takes us out around a long spit I’d seen from the aircraft, past an old Roman villa associated with the poet Catullus, and we watch the warm sulphurous springs fizzing up through the water.
Passing the battlefields of Solferino, we come to the historic town of Salò and Gardone, which we return to another day to explore the botanical gardens and clever sculptures of the Giardino Botanico Fondazione André Heller. Narrow lakeshore tunnels built in the 1930s lead to the steep winding streets of the picture-perfect town of Limone, and an old paddle-steamer ferries us past remnants of old lemon groves to the northern-most town of Riva del Garda, before completing our circuit.
OUR THIRD GUIDEDtrip is to the opera in Verona (about 30km from the lake). A sudden squall and lashing rain in the afternoon make us think it will be cancelled. But the sky clears by 9pm and in the open amphitheatre (the third largest in the world, built in AD30), there is barely a flicker from the tiny candles passed around before the orchestra starts up, and the magnificent illumination of the Zeffirelli set for Turandotis revealed.
Other nights are less spectacular, but equally unpredictable. Staying on the lakeshore between Bardolino and Garda means we have to walk 20 to 30 minutes to reach either town. You share the lakeside walkway with bicycles, joggers, prams – and the odd Segway. One Saturday night in Bardolino crowds gather to watch a body painting competition, while bars heave with music, signalling a long night ahead for party animals. Another evening, families throng the port for a race of flat-bottomed boats, the silhouettes of the standing rowers like a hieroglyphics from some ancient pyramid. In the town of Garda a tango night draws a mesmerising swirl of high-heeled, arched-backed dancers. Quiet bars along the lakeshore offer an oasis of calm, and once the campsite entertainment wanes, knots of teenagers sit by the shore, murmuring and strumming guitars long into the night.
An early morning yacht trip from our hotel reveals another side of Lake Garda. Local fishermen and women land their catch as the sun infuses the lake with colour, and a couple breakfasting in the early morning on a private terrace at the Restaurant Hotel Locanda San Vigilio, rise and withdraw when they see a tourist’s long lens, aimed from our boat. Over the years, others too have gone there for sanctuary, among them Napoleon, Tsar Alexander II, Prince Charles and Winston Churchill.
Another morning, armed with three maps, and friendly directions from a Munich couple, we head up the 294-metre Rocca di Garda. With no guide this time, we take several wrong turns till our path peters out in an olive grove in the blaze of the afternoon sun. We fight through bushes growing on a steep slope to make our own path through the undergrowth, hoping there won’t be a boundary wall at the top.
Scrambling up, we come suddenly to the cypress-lined path that leads to a monastery. A winding wooded path leads on to an open field, teaming with grasshoppers, at the top of Rocca di Garda. And there is satisfaction in knowing, as we look over the edge, to yet another dazzling view of the lake and the town of Garda below, that this time we found our own way.
Where to stay and eat
Where to stay
Hotel Sportsman, Via G D'Annunzio, Bardolino. Tel: 00-39-045-6209444 or hotel-sportsman-bardolino.com. It's so close to the lake you've only to cross a walkway to reach the section of lakeshore/beach reserved for the hotel's use. There's also a pool, sauna, a garden for guests and a balcony room. It's in between Garda town and Bardolino, which means you need to walk about 20 to 30 minutes to get a ferry in either town (good news, given the sumptuous dinners). Local buses stop close by, or you can hire bicycles.
Hotel Catullo, Bardolino. Tel: 00-39-045-7210008 or hotelcatullobardolino.it. From the hotel's partially open-air restaurant/pizzeria you can watch the boats leave from the pier, or see the long weekly market set up stall. When it comes to nightlife, you're at the centre of things, a heartbeat from Cristallo's café, renowned for its ice cream. (Getting stranded in Cristallo's in a torrential storm was the perfect excuse to sample coffees and ice creams - gingseng coffee and chestnut ice cream were the winners). The hotel has a swimming pool, whirlpool, bar and private parking.
Residence Hotel Florida, Corso Zanardelli, Gardone Riviera. Visit hotelfloridaresidence.com or tel 00-39-0365 21836. This family-run hotel-residence overlooking the lake has a choice of bedrooms, suites and apartments, with swimming pool. It's outside the town of Gardone, in an idyllic location, on the eastern side of the lake. The nearby Giardino Botanico (Fondazione Andre Heller) are well worth a visit for the diverse collection of sculpture and water features (try to avoid getting wet between two spitting sculptured faces).
Where to eat
Osteria dell'Orologio, Via Butturini, Salò. Tel: 00-39-0365-290158 or see osteriadellorologio.it. Opening on to a shopping street, this welcoming bar/restaurant is cool and dark in the blare of the sun (or cosy when it rains). There's a good selection of local dishes, and the menu includes grilled fish from the lake, pasta dishes, salads and plates of cheeses or meat. Its bank of clocks - all set at different times - might encourage you to linger.