by John Bryant

Created on: July 06, 2008   Last Updated: November 21, 2009

My wife, a friend, and I recently enjoyed a little time on northern Italy's tremendously beautiful Lake Garda and left convinced the lake and the tiny villages which line it are a travel must at least once in a lifetime. The basics: the lake lies near the southern base of the Italian Alps and is almost equidistant from Verona and Milan, approximately 140 kms each way. It is a long narrow body of water with a maximum length of 52 kms, north to south, and no more than 17 kms wide at its widest point in the south. We certainly found a lot of history, good food and wine, shopping, and fun in that small area!

We based our time on the lake from Sirmione, one of those beautiful villages and, perhaps, the best known. Sirmione lies at the northern end of a narrow peninsula at the extreme southern end of the lake, easily accessed from the Milan-Verona autostrada (freeway). In the Roman Empire, Sirmione was already known as a health resort and, today, the waters from its hot sulphur springs still attract people from around the world. I did not check myself in but the staff in the town's health facility looked very professional, decked out very early one morning in official looking white coats! The remarkably well preserved medieval castle Rocca Scaligera, begun early in the 14th Century, dominates the entrance to the narrow streets of the romantic, old town. Sirmione was a great village from which to venture out!

As we journeyed in our car to the west side of the lake, we couldn't stop at every beautiful village or panoramic view of the lake and mountains but the next town we visited was Salo at the southwestern point of the lake. We stopped at a store just south of town selling wine and the region's famous olive oil by the case. We were able, though, to leave with only one bottle of olive oil with hopes of getting it safely back to the U.S.! The historic old town has the longest lakeside promenade of all the lake's villages with a pebbly beach located at the southern end of Salo Bay. Salo was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1910 with stone remnants of the damage used today as the foundation of the promenade. The Hotel Laurin on the town's northside was owned by the Mussolini family and it was in this area where Il Duce and his mistress were captured in 1945 trying to escape and were executed by his countrymen.

Further north along the lake, Gardone Riviera is known as the city of gardens'. A huge botannical garden, the Giardino Botanico Hruska, is but

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