Lake Garda

Lake Garda is about 52 km from top to bottom, and its two ends could pass for different lakes. At the northern tip the water narrows between steep mountains into something like a fjord, with Riva del Garda's old town at the foot of the Rocchetta. At the southern end the lake opens out, and Sirmione reaches into it on a narrow limestone peninsula.

With two days, we would give one to the ferry. Navigazione Laghi's boats run the length of the lake from Riva to Desenzano, and the way to use them is to hop: off at one town, back on for the next. At Malcesine a cable car climbs Monte Baldo to 1,760 m in about 15 minutes, its upper cabin turning a full circle on the way, so there is no point fighting for the window. The other day goes up, on foot. In Riva the mountains start where the town stops, and the hike into them is steep and worth every step, with the top of the lake laid out below. Then eat, the third of our instructions for two days and the easiest to follow.

We went at the end of September, which the usual advice favours along with May and June: warm enough to swim, cool enough to walk, and thinner crowds and lower prices than July and August. Our week was short of sun. It may have been bad luck, but this far north in Italy we suspect high summer is the surer bet for sunshine, crowds and all.

We stayed in Riva del Garda, out along the lakefront from the old town, and would again: near enough to stroll in beside the water, far enough out for space and quiet among the mountains. Further south the lake changes its mind. Sirmione is busy and priced to match, with the remains of a Roman villa and its baths at the tip of its peninsula. Desenzano, the largest town, has the most going on after dark. And above Gardone Riviera on the western shore, Gabriele D'Annunzio's estate, Il Vittoriale, has the warship Puglia set into its hillside, the one boat on Garda with no timetable to keep.