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Sirmione: 127km (79 miles) E of Milan, 149km (92 miles) W of Venice;
Riva del Garda: 170km (105 miles) E of Milan, 199km (123 miles) NW of
Venice, 43km (27 miles) S of Trent
Lake Garda, the largest and easternmost of the lakes, laps against the
flat plains of Lombardy and the Veneto at its southern extremes, and in
the north becomes fjordlike and moody, its deep waters backed by Alpine
peaks. Garda's shores are green and fragrant with flowery gardens,
groves of olives and lemons, and forests of pines and cypress.
This pleasing, vaguely exotic landscape has attracted the likes of poet
Gabriele d'Annunzio, whose villa near Gardone is one of the area's major
attractions, and Benito Mussolini, whose Republic of Salo was
headquartered here. Mussolini was also captured and executed on these
shores. Long before them, the Romans discovered the hot springs that
still gush forth at Sirmione, the famed resort on a spit of land at the
lake's southern reaches. Today's visitors come to swim (Garda is the
cleanest of the major lakes), windsurf (Riva del Garda, at the northern
end of the lake, is Europe's windsurfing capital), and enjoy the
easygoing ambience of Garda's many pleasant lakeside resorts. |
