Peschiera and Lazise: the south-eastern shore between Venetian fortresses and Scaliger harbours
Peschiera del Garda, where the lake becomes a river
The tour begins in Peschiera del Garda, the point where the waters of the lake narrow and take the name of the River Mincio. The town is enclosed by a pentagonal fortress built by the Republic of Venice in the sixteenth century and inscribed in 2017 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the other Venetian works of defence. You enter through the monumental Porta Verona and find yourself in a historic centre crossed by canals, bridges and bastions that host concerts and evening markets in summer. A walk along the walls, overlooking the marina and the ferry landings, tells centuries of military strategy between Venetians, Austrians and the Kingdom of Italy. A few minutes from the centre, the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Frassino preserves silent cloisters and a garden facing the morainic hills. The second stop is Lazise, one of the most photographed villages on the Veronese shore of Lake Garda. The fourteenth-century Scaliger walls still surround the entire centre, the Castle overlooks the small harbour and the Dogana Veneta, the old customs warehouse of the Serenissima, now hosts events and exhibitions. The lakefront is a sequence of cafés, artisan gelato shops and boutiques, ideal for a break before lunch. For those seeking a moment of relaxation, the nearby Parco Termale del Garda in Colà offers bathing in a small thermal lake set within a centuries-old park. With a private driver on Lake Garda, every move between stops happens without looking for parking, a real advantage in the traffic-restricted villages of the eastern shore.
Valeggio sul Mincio and Borghetto:
water mills, tortellini and Parco Sigurtà
Leaving the lake behind, the tour follows the course of the Mincio up to Valeggio sul Mincio, a village dominated by its Scaliger Castle and famous for the tortellino di Valeggio, the paper-thin pasta known as the “love knot”, to be tasted in one of the historic trattorias of the centre. At the foot of the village lies Borghetto, one of the most enchanting hamlets in Italy: a handful of houses and still-working water mills suspended over the river and crossed by the Ponte Visconteo, the fortified dam built at the end of the fourteenth century by Gian Galeazzo Visconti. It is the perfect place for a lunch overlooking the mill wheels or for photographs that look like they were taken from a painting. The grand finale is Parco Giardino Sigurtà, sixty hectares of lawns, ponds, a hedge maze and flowering avenues considered one of the most beautiful parks in Europe. In spring the Tulipanomania turns the meadows into carpets of more than a million tulips; in summer and autumn the park changes colour with roses, water lilies and maples. It can be explored on foot, by golf cart or by bicycle, with the comfort of finding your Mercedes chauffeur car waiting at the exit. Thanks to Gardrive’s Lake Garda chauffeur service, the itinerary can be tailored to the pace of every guest: a full day between lake, river and gardens, or a half day focused on Peschiera and Lazise, with return to your hotel or onward journey to Verona.
