garda town
Garda town, Lake Garda
To finish of my Lake Garda travel diaries, we're heading back to the town we stayed in - Garda town. It was such a tough decision to choose where to stay around the lake given the vast size of the area and how different each place was however we ended up settling for Garda for a few reasons which really worked well for us. The first was because we were coming from Verona so heading anywhere further north or on the west side of the lake (I was really considering Limone) would be a very extended transit. The second reason was the overall central location of Garda and its overall proximity to Malcesine, Limone and Sirmione, making it a really good place to actually turn into a base for exploring the surrounding towns. Whilst popular, there wasn't anything particular we wanted to see or do in town so we spent the majority of our time out of town in Malcesine, Limone and Sirmione. However nevertheless, we would gladly have Garda as a base any time. It's such a beautiful town to come home to in the evenings and watch the sunset, it's got a great list of restaurants by the sea and has an extremely good host of transport options including a ferry terminal, regular buses to nearby towns and also an express bus to and from Verona (if you are transiting from there).And because we did so much eating in Garda, here's my top 5 food spots if you choose to stay here too:
- .. if you LOVE seafood: try Ristorante Giardinetto. We actually walked past this place three times being extremely apprehensive of the sushi & sashimi boat they were advertising (it looked too perfect in the image that it looked like a tourist trap) but ended up giving it a go on our last day here because no one can keep me away from my sushi. Anyway, we never ended up ordering the sushi but had an amazing seafood platter instead. Giardinetto is big on seafood so if you love seafood, come here!
- .. if you're looking for some fine dining: DiVino, a small fancy restaurant on the corner next to the church. It's most definitely fine dining here so don't go if you're ridiculously hungry because you'll be waiting a fair while for your food between courses. Foodwise, it's great and most deserving of #1 on TripAdvisor in the area.
- .. if you want something cheap, quick and completely homemade: This recommendation is from our AirBnB host - head to the deli or 'gastronomie' section of the supermarket Flisi Fratelli (just off the main road) for a selection of really nice local dishes. According to our host, an old lady comes in every morning to prepare the dishes and after buying takeaway from here numerous times, we can confirm they're awesome. Tom & I had the best lasagne of our trip here and tried to come back for more but it was sold out every day after. We then tried to satisfy our cravings elsewhere but never found lasagne as good as the one here :( - go early in the day is my tip! They'll also heat up the food for you too.
- .. if you just want your pizza and pasta: try Ristorante Ai Capitani which is by the water. We had some great seafood pasta here (our pasta dish of choice at every single restaurant!)
- .. if you're craving ice-cream: I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong anywhere in Italy so try them all!
Building decor done the right way!
Looking across the lake from the shore
Exploring the streets of town
My favourite ceramics shop. The only thing stopping me from bringing home everything here was the fact that we were already over our luggage limit by the time we got to Italy. So so wish I could go back with an empty suitcase!
Waiting for the ferry to Sirmione - wearing Anthropologie scalloped auburn playsuit | Boater hat picked up from a store in Limone | Fossil Sydney satchel in heritage blue
Evenings in Garda
Wearing: ASOS vintage square neck shell top | Anthropologie gingham market skirt | Mischa Madison shoulder bag| Fossil original boyfriend chronograph watch in navy***Photography: Thomas Debono & Connie Cao