With Love From Lake Garda, IT, Sirmione, Italy

We all have our bucket list places, and for some reason visiting a lake town in Italy was one of ours. So many people flock to the exclusive, busy (and expensive) Lake Como, but Lake Garda, still in the same region in Northern Italy, was the place we wanted to visit and stay for an extended time. This post covers four of the key towns to visit in and around Lago di Garda (Lake Garda): Desenzano del Garda, Sirmione, Limone Su Garda and Lazise.

There are lots of ways to get around Lake Garda. We had a rental car, which had the great advantage of helping us get around the lake pretty easily. There are also buses, water taxis and a great ferry system around the lake.

We decided that Desenzano would be a good base for our visit. It sits on the southern tip of the lake, making it easy to access the other towns on the east and west side. It is so charming, with lots of shops and restaurants in close proximity. There are charming small hotels and short term rentals. We were fortunate to find a short term rental within a 5 minute walking distance to the main piazza and 10 minutes to the lake.

Since we were in Desenzano for most meals, we found a few favorite restaurants. We found the food, like most of Italy, fresh, local and very delicious. Three of our favorite restaurants in the city were Kapperi, The Cave Wine Bar and The Lemon Tree. For a great cappuccino and the best croissant ever we also liked Vibes Cafe. There are also higher end restaurants but what we loved about these restaurants were their local flavor. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).