Best Things to Do in Gardone Riviera

Things to do in Gardone Riviera

1. 

   01 Culture & history

   Spend a morning at the Vittoriale degli Italiani

   • Via Vittoriale, 10 minutes uphill from the lakefront
   • 3–4 hours
   • €16–22 depending on the ticket

   The poet and war hero Gabriele d’Annunzio spent the last 17 years of his life turning this hillside into a monument to himself, and the result is like nothing else in Italy: a house crammed with objects and kept in near darkness, a full-size warship set into the hillside, a mausoleum at the top and an open-air amphitheatre facing the lake. Buy the full ticket that includes the timed visit to the Prioria (the house), because the park alone tells half the story. Allow three hours and go as soon as it opens.

   Tickets and opening times Map
2. 

   02 Outdoors

   Wander the Heller Garden

   • Via Roma, between Gardone Sotto and Gardone Sopra
   • 1.5–2 hours
   • €12–15

   The botanical garden started by the dentist and naturalist Arturo Hruska in 1901 is now owned by the Austrian artist André Heller, who has scattered sculptures by Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein and others among the bamboo, streams, koi ponds and Alpine rockeries. It is small, about a hectare, but dense and full of surprises, and it sits halfway between the lakefront and the Vittoriale so you can do both in a day. Open from March to October.

   Map
3. 

   03 Outdoors

   Stroll the lakefront from Villa Alba to Piazza Wimmer

   • Corso Zanardelli and the lakeside path, Gardone Sotto
   • 1 hour
   • Free

   Gardone Sotto’s waterfront is short but very pretty: the neoclassical Villa Alba with its free public park at one end, the pier and the Grand Hotel in the middle, and the little Torre San Marco on its rock at the other. Benches face straight across the lake to Monte Baldo, which turns pink at sunset. Keep walking north and a lakeside path takes you towards Fasano and Maderno.

   Map
4. 

   04 Evening

   Have a drink on the Grand Hotel Gardone terrace

   • Corso Zanardelli, by the pier
   • 1–2 hours
   • €9–15 a drink

   The oldest grand hotel on the lake, opened by the Wimmer family in 1884 and later a favourite of Winston Churchill, has a bar terrace right on the water that anyone can use. A spritz or a glass of Lugana costs more than in Salò, but you are paying for the setting: white balustrades, the pier below and the whole eastern shore lit up as it gets dark. It is our favourite evening spot on the western shore, and we list others in our guide to the best Lake Garda bars.

   Map
5. 

   05 Evening

   See a concert at the Vittoriale amphitheatre

   • Anfiteatro del Vittoriale
   • An evening
   • €30–80 depending on the act

   Every summer the marble amphitheatre that d’Annunzio built above the lake hosts the Tener-a-mente festival, a run of concerts from late June to early August with international jazz, rock and singer-songwriter names alongside Italian acts. The stage faces the water, the sun sets behind the audience and the acoustics are surprisingly good for an open-air venue. Tickets go on sale in spring and the bigger names sell out.

   Festival programme Map
6. 

   06 Beach & lake

   Take the boat to Isola del Garda

   • Departures from the Gardone Riviera pier
   • Half a day
   • €35–45

   Gardone’s pier is one of the departure points for guided visits to Isola del Garda, the privately owned island with a neo-Gothic villa and terraced gardens just off San Felice. The trip takes about half a day, includes the crossing, a tour of the gardens and villa rooms and a tasting, and runs on set days from spring to October. It sells out in high season, so book before you arrive.

   Dates and booking Map
7. 

   07 Food & wine

   Eat at a lakefront restaurant in Gardone Sotto

   • Corso Zanardelli and Piazza Wimmer
   • 2 hours
   • €30–90 per person

   Gardone has a handful of serious restaurants for a small town. Villa Fiordaliso, the Liberty-style villa on the lakefront where Claretta Petacci lived during the war, does elegant lake fish and Lombard dishes in the garden; the trattorias around Piazza Wimmer and up in Gardone Sopra are cheaper and just as good for a plate of whitefish or a bigoli with sardines. Book anywhere with a lake table in summer. Our wider list is in our pick of the best Lake Garda restaurants.

   Map
8. 

   08 Outdoors

   Walk up to Gardone Sopra and on to San Michele

   • From Piazza Wimmer up Via Roma, then signed paths
   • 2–3 hours
   • Free

   The old village of Gardone Sopra, with its church of San Nicola and a couple of bars in the square, sits above the Vittoriale and is a world away from the lakefront hotels. From there a quiet lane and marked footpaths climb through olive groves and chestnut woods to the hamlet of San Michele at around 500 metres, where there are a couple of family trattorias and long views over the gulf. It is a steady two-hour round trip; we cover more routes in our guide to the best Lake Garda walks.

   Map
9. 

   09 Beach & lake

   Swim from the lido and the pebble beaches

   • Lakeside path north of the pier
   • Half a day
   • Free (sunbeds €10–20)

   There is a small beach with a lido at the northern end of Gardone Sotto and more pebble stretches along the lakeside path towards Fasano, with clear water and a gentle drop-off. They are modest by eastern shore standards but rarely crowded, and the afternoon sun stays on this side until late. For a bigger day on the sand, the wide beaches at Toscolano Maderno are ten minutes north; see our guide to Lake Garda beaches.

   Map
10. 

    10 Family

    Explore the warship Puglia and the MAS boat with the kids

    • Vittoriale park, upper terraces
    • 1 hour
    • Included in the Vittoriale park ticket

    Children who glaze over at d’Annunzio’s poetry come alive at the prow of the Puglia, a real First World War cruiser hauled up the hillside in pieces and rebuilt in the Vittoriale’s park, with guns you can walk right up to and a view over the lake from the bow. Nearby is the MAS torpedo boat from d’Annunzio’s raid on the Austrian fleet, and the aircraft he flew over Vienna hangs in the museum. It is included in the park ticket.

    Map
11. 

    11 Markets & shopping

    Take the ferry to Salò for the Saturday market

    • Gardone Riviera pier to Salò
    • Half a day
    • Ferry a few euros each way

    Gardone has a few galleries and boutiques but for real shopping you go to Salò, ten minutes away by Navigazione Laghi ferry from the pier or by the Arriva bus. Saturday is market day, when the streets behind Salò’s lakefront fill with food, clothes and homeware stalls, and the town’s independent shops on Via San Carlo are the best on the lake. Read our guide to Salò before you go.

    Ferry timetables Map

Gardone Riviera in pictures