Best Things to Do in Malcesine

Things to do in Malcesine

1. 

   01 Outdoors

   Ride the cable car up Monte Baldo

   • Via Navene Vecchia, 10 min walk from the harbour
   • Half a day
   • €30 return (2026)

   The Funivia Malcesine-Monte Baldo climbs from the edge of town to Tratto Spino at 1,760 m in about 15 minutes, changing at San Michele into rotating cabins that turn a full circle on the way up so everyone gets the view. On top there are meadows, easy paths along the ridge, a couple of rifugi doing polenta and beer, and on clear days a view from the Dolomites to the plain. An adult return is €30 on the 2026 price list (€2 off online); it runs from early April to 1 November and again from 26 December to 21 February, closing for maintenance in between and in March.

   Tickets and times Map
2. 

   02 Sightseeing

   Explore the Castello Scaligero

   • Via Castello, above the old harbour
   • 1–2 hours
   • €7 adults

   The castle sits on a rock straight above the water, its tower the tallest thing in town after the mountain. Inside there is a small natural history museum on Monte Baldo, a room on Goethe, who was briefly arrested here as a suspected spy in 1786 while sketching the walls, and the climb to the top of the keep for the view over the harbour, the lake and the cliffs opposite. Entry is €7 for adults (2026) and it opens daily from 20 March to 1 November; it is closed in winter.

   Map
3. 

   03 Outdoors

   Walk the Monte Baldo ridge to Cima delle Pozzette

   • Tratto Spino, top of the cable car
   • 3–4 hours
   • Free (cable car extra)

   From the top station at Tratto Spino a marked trail follows the ridge south to Cima delle Pozzette at 2,128 m, about two hours each way with 400 m of climbing on a clear path, and the lake 2,000 m below you almost the whole way. It is the finest easy-to-reach high walk on the lake and needs proper shoes, water and a layer for the wind. Shorter loops of 30 to 60 minutes start from the same station for anyone not up for the full ridge. It heads our pick of the best Lake Garda walks.

   Map
4. 

   04 Culture & history

   Get lost in the old town and Palazzo dei Capitani

   • Old town, between the harbour and the castle
   • 1 hour
   • Free

   The lanes between the harbour and the castle are steep, cobbled and full of shops, but turn off the main drag and you find courtyards, stone stairways and views of the lake framed by arches. On the harbour the 15th-century Palazzo dei Capitani, once the seat of the Venetian governors, has a free lakeside garden and frescoed hall that is open in the daytime. Come before 10am or after 6pm to have the lanes to yourself.

   Map
5. 

   05 Beach & lake

   Take the ferry across to Limone sul Garda

   • Ferry pier, next to the old harbour
   • Half a day
   • €8–12 return

   The crossing to Limone sul Garda on the western shore takes about 20 minutes and is one of the best-value boat trips on the lake, with the cliffs of the western shore growing bigger the whole way. Limone has its old lemon houses, a cliff-hung cycle path and a lakefront of restaurants, and you can be there and back in an afternoon. Boats run frequently from April to October; buy tickets at the pier kiosk.

   Ferry timetables Map
6. 

   06 Beach & lake

   Swim at Val di Sogno and the island beaches

   • Val di Sogno, 2 km south of the harbour
   • Half a day
   • Free (sunbeds extra)

   Two kilometres south of the centre, the bay of Val di Sogno has a long pebble beach facing two small islands, Isola dell’Olivo and Isola di Sogno, with lawns, a couple of bars and calmer water than the open shore. Strong swimmers paddle out to the nearer island. North of town the beach at Paina is closer and quieter. All are free and pebbly. We rank them against the rest of the lake in our best Lake Garda beaches guide.

   Map
7. 

   07 Beach & lake

   Learn to windsurf or kitesurf at Navene

   • Navene and Campagnola, 3–5 km north of town
   • 2–3 hours
   • €60–90 for a lesson

   The stretch of shore north of town around Navene and Campagnola is one of the lake’s windsurfing hubs, with the morning Peler and the afternoon Ora giving two reliable sessions a day from spring to autumn. Several schools along the Gardesana here run beginner lessons on wide boards in the flat morning water, and rent kit by the hour to anyone who already knows what they are doing. A two-hour beginner lesson is about €60–90.

   Map
8. 

   08 Food & wine

   Eat lake fish on the harbour, then a gelato in the piazza

   • Old harbour and the lanes behind
   • 2 hours
   • €25–55 a head

   Malcesine has more restaurants than anywhere on the eastern shore north of Garda, from harbourside terraces with the castle overhead to pizzerias in the lanes. The local menu is lake fish, trout and lavarello, bigoli with sardines, and polenta with Monte Baldo cheese, at €35–55 a head with wine on the water and €25–35 a street back. Follow it with a gelato on Piazza Statuto. We keep our shortlist in our pick of the best Lake Garda restaurants.

   Map
9. 

   09 Family

   Visit Cassone and the world's shortest river

   • Cassone, 4 km south of Malcesine
   • 1–2 hours
   • Free (museum a few euros)

   The hamlet of Cassone, 4 km south of Malcesine, is where the Aril river rises from a spring, passes under three bridges and enters the lake, all in about 175 m: one of the shortest rivers in the world and a reliable hit with children. The small Museo del Lago by the harbour covers fishing on the lake with boats, nets and a fish tank. Reach it by the lakeside path, by bus, or by boat on the slow ferry.

   Map
10. 

    10 Markets & shopping

    Browse the Saturday market

    • Piazza Statuto and the streets behind the old town
    • Morning
    • Free

    Saturday morning is market day, with stalls filling the car park and streets on the inland side of the old town from about 8am until early afternoon. It is a mid-sized market: cheese, salumi, fruit, roast chicken and olives on one side, clothes, leather and beach kit on the other. Parking is at its worst that morning, so walk or arrive by boat. For other market days around the lake see our Lake Garda shopping guide.

    Map
11. 

    11 Outdoors

    Fly tandem paragliding from Monte Baldo

    • Tratto Spino, top of the cable car
    • 2–3 hours
    • €120–160

    The take-off meadows just above the cable car top station are one of the best-known paragliding sites in Europe, and several licensed tandem operators fly beginners from Tratto Spino down to a landing field on the lakeshore in 20 to 30 minutes of air time. No experience is needed; you run a few steps and the pilot does the rest. Expect around €120–160 including the cable car, and book a day or two ahead in summer as slots depend on the wind.

    Map
12. 

    12 Evening

    Have an evening aperitivo under the lit castle

    • Old harbour and Piazza Turazza
    • 1–2 hours
    • €6–10 a drink

    Once the day boats leave, the old harbour and the little squares behind it turn into the best evening scene on the eastern shore north of Garda: bars with tables on the cobbles, the castle floodlit above and the lights of Limone across the water. A spritz or a glass of Lugana runs €6–10. It stays lively until midnight in summer without tipping into nightclub territory. For bars worth crossing the lake for, see our pick of the best Lake Garda bars.

    Map

Malcesine in pictures