Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Isola del Garda
It's not often you get to explore a serene private island in the company of its aristocratic
owners, so a trip to
Isola del Garda
( 328 384 92 26;
www.isoladelgarda.com
;
tour incl boat ride €25-30;
Apr-Oct)
is a treat. Floating just off Salò, this speck of land is crowned with impressive
battlements, luxuriant formal gardens and a sumptuous neo-Gothic Venetian villa. It's
owned by the Contessa Cavazza, and she and her seven children still live on the island
with their families.
Visits to the island are by guided tour only (in Italian, English, French and German) and
last one and a half to two hours. Boats depart from Salò, Gardone Riviera, Garda and
Sirmione, but they only leave each location one or two times a week, so plan ahead.
Gardone Riviera
POP 2700
Once Lake Garda's most prestigious corner, Gardone is flush with belle époque hotels,
opulent villas and extravagant gardens. They tumble down the hillside from the historic
centre, Gardone Sopra, complete with tiny chapel and piazza, to the cobbled
lungolago
(lakefront promenade) of Gardone Sotto, which is lined with cafes and other tourist
paraphernalia. Although the haute glamour of Gardone's 19th-century heyday is long
gone, it is a pleasant enough place for a stroll and drink, although you'll probably want to
base yourself elsewhere on the lake.
An hour of so uphill from Gardone is the pretty mountain village of
San Michele
, from
where you can pick up a number of panoramic walking trails. Ask at the tourist office in
Gardone Sotto for details.
Sights
Il Vittoriale degli Italiani
MUSEUM
(
0365 29 65 11;
www.vittoriale.it
; Piazza Vittoriale; gardens & museums adult/reduced €16/12;
grounds
8.30am-8pm Apr-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Mar, museums to 7pm Tue-Sun Apr-Sep, 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Tue-Sun Oct-Mar;
)
Poet, soldier, hypochondriac and proto-Fascist, Gabriele d'Annunzio (1863-1938) defies
easy definition, and so does his estate. Bombastic, extravagant and unsettling, it's home to
every architectural and decorative excess imaginable and the decor helps shed light on the
