Best Things to Do in Lonato del Garda

Things to do in Lonato del Garda

1. 

   01 Sightseeing

   Climb the walls of the Rocca di Lonato

   • Via Rocca, on the hill above the old town
   • 1–2 hours
   • €8–10 combined with the Casa del Podestà

   The Rocca is one of the biggest fortresses in Lombardy, a long oval of Visconti and Venetian walls stretched along the hilltop above town. You walk the full circuit of the ramparts, climb the keep and look out over the southern basin of the lake, Sirmione’s peninsula and, on a clear day, Monte Baldo. Inside there is a small ornithological museum and plenty of grass for a picnic.

   The Rocca is run by the Fondazione Ugo Da Como and a combined ticket covers the Casa del Podestà next door. It is open daily from March to October and at weekends only from November to February, so check before you drive up in winter.

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2. 

   02 Culture & history

   Tour the Casa del Podestà and its library

   • Via Rocca, beside the fortress entrance
   • 1 hour
   • Included in the Rocca ticket

   Just below the Rocca gate, the Casa del Podestà was the home of senator Ugo Da Como, who spent the early 20th century turning the old magistrate’s house into a private museum. It is visited on a guided tour: rooms of Renaissance furniture, majolica and paintings, and a library of more than 50,000 volumes with medieval manuscripts and incunabula.

   Tours run at fixed times and are in Italian, though the guides usually manage a summary in English. It is the kind of place that rewards a slow visit, and it is rarely crowded.

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3. 

   03 Markets & shopping

   Hunt for bargains at the antiques market

   • Centro storico, around Piazza Martiri della Libertà
   • Morning
   • Free to browse

   On the third Sunday of every month the streets of the old town fill with antiques and collectables: furniture, prints, old tools, ceramics, vinyl and a lot of things nobody can name. It is one of the larger monthly markets in the province and draws dealers from across Lombardy and the Veneto.

   Lonato’s ordinary weekly market runs on Thursday mornings in the lower town, good for cheese, salami and cheap clothes. For more ideas, see our guide to shopping around Lake Garda.

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4. 

   04 Culture & history

   Step into the Basilica of San Giovanni Battista

   • Piazza Martiri della Libertà
   • 30 minutes
   • Free

   Lonato’s cathedral is far bigger than a town this size needs, a domed 18th-century basilica designed by the local architect Paolo Soratini that fills one side of the main square. The interior is cool, bright and full of marble, with a large dome you only really appreciate when you stand under it.

   Next door the civic tower, the Torre Civica, marks the corner of the square, and the lanes behind climb steeply to the Rocca. It is a good starting point for a wander before lunch.

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5. 

   05 Food & wine

   Taste Lugana and San Martino wines in the hills

   • Vineyards south and east of Lonato
   • 2 hours
   • €15–25 per tasting

   The moraine hills south of the lake produce two wines worth an afternoon: Lugana, the mineral white from Turbiana grapes that grows on the clay between Lonato, Desenzano and Peschiera, and the little-known San Martino della Battaglia DOC, a dry white and a sweet fortified version from the ridge east of town. Family wineries around Lonato, Pozzolengo and San Martino open their cellars for tastings, typically €15–25 for three or four wines with local cheese.

   We have listed our favourites in our pick of the best Lake Garda vineyards. Most need a booking a day or two ahead, and many close for lunch.

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6. 

   06 Culture & history

   Visit the Abbey of Maguzzano

   • Maguzzano, 3 km north-east of Lonato
   • 1 hour
   • Free, donations welcome

   Three kilometres north-east of town, the Abbazia di Maguzzano is a Benedictine abbey with roots in the 9th century, rebuilt in the 1400s and still home to a small religious community. The cloister is peaceful, the church has a fine wooden ceiling and the setting among vines and olive trees is very quiet.

   Opening is limited, usually afternoons and by arrangement, so it is one to check ahead. Combine it with a walk or bike ride along the farm lanes towards Desenzano.

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7. 

   07 Outdoors

   Cycle the moraine hills to San Martino della Battaglia

   • Lonato to San Martino della Battaglia, 6 km
   • 2–3 hours
   • Bike hire €20–35 a day, tower a few euros

   The rolling country south of the lake is the easiest cycling around Garda: quiet lanes, short climbs and vineyards rather than lorries. A good loop from Lonato heads east to the Tower of San Martino della Battaglia, the 64-metre monument to the 1859 battle that you can climb for a view over the whole southern basin, then back through Rivoltella and Desenzano, about 25 km in all.

   Hire bikes are easiest to find in Desenzano. We have more routes, including this one, in our guide to the best Lake Garda bike rides.

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8. 

   08 Beach & lake

   Drive down to the lake for a swim at Desenzano

   • Desenzano and Rivoltella, 5–7 km
   • Half a day
   • Free beaches, sunbeds €10–20

   Lonato has no shoreline of its own, but the beaches of Desenzano are 10 minutes away. The Spiaggia d’Oro and the long stretch of Rivoltella have grass, pebbles and shallow water for children, and the Desenzano lido has sunbeds and a pool if you prefer. Padenghe’s beach by the marina is a similar distance north.

   See our pick of the best Lake Garda beaches for the full run-down on where to swim.

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9. 

   09 Culture & history

   Browse the January fair and the summer festivals

   • Town centre and the Rocca
   • Half a day
   • Mostly free

   The Fiera Regionale di Lonato in mid-January is the big event of the year, an agricultural and trade fair with food stalls, livestock, machinery and a funfair that takes over the town for a long weekend. In summer the calendar fills with sagre in the hamlets and open-air concerts and films in the Rocca, which is a memorable place to sit on a warm night.

   Dates change each year, so ask at the tourist office in the old town or check the comune’s notices when you arrive.

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10. 

    10 Food & wine

    Eat spiedo and lake fish in a family trattoria

    • Centro storico and the hamlets
    • 2 hours
    • €25–40 per person

    Lonato eats like the Brescian countryside rather than the lakefront: spiedo bresciano (skewers of small birds, pork and polenta slow-roasted for hours, usually a Sunday dish), casoncelli pasta with butter and sage, and lake fish like lavarello and tench from Desenzano’s fishermen. Prices in the trattorie around the old town are noticeably lower than by the water, with a full dinner around €30–40 a head with wine.

    For the wider picture, including places worth the drive, see our pick of the best Lake Garda restaurants.

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11. 

    11 Family

    Take the kids to Il Leone or the lake parks

    • Lonato and the south-east shore
    • Half a day
    • Free to €45 for theme parks

    On the edge of town the Il Leone di Lonato shopping centre has a cinema, big supermarket and a food court, which sounds unglamorous but is a lifesaver on a rainy day with children. In better weather Gardaland, Caneva and Movieland are 20–25 minutes east around Castelnuovo, and Parco Natura Viva’s safari is a little further on.

    We compare all of them in our guide to the best Lake Garda parks, including which ones are worth the ticket price.

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12. 

    12 Evening

    Finish with an aperitivo on Corso Garibaldi

    • Corso Garibaldi and Piazza Martiri della Libertà
    • 1–2 hours
    • €4–8 a drink

    Evenings in Lonato are low-key: a spritz or a glass of Chiaretto at one of the bars along Corso Garibaldi and the square, a plate of salami and a chat with whoever is at the next table. The old town is lit softly and almost empty by 10pm outside festival weekends. If you want more going on, Desenzano’s lakefront bars are a 10-minute taxi ride.

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Lonato del Garda in pictures