West shore of Lago di Garda
The southern section of the west bank is less well built-up, according to popular opinion, it has cleaner water, than the northern part of the lake, finally, it is literally dotted with campsites that are ideal starting points. For those who do not plan to camp, only the wonderfully located on the bay deserves attention, at the beginning of the Riviera Bresciana, SALÓ, where it is worth buying some local food. Saló gave its name to Mussolini's last short-lived republic, which the dictator established after the Germans allowed him to come to Garda from Abruzzo, but the town itself is not interesting. Better to overlay 6 km and drive inland, to PUEGNAGO DEL GARDA, where you can taste the pink wines Grapello and Chiaretto made in the Comincioli vineyard since the sixteenth century.
Gardone Riviera: II Vittoriale and the village of San Michele
A few kilometers behind Saló, up the coast, lies the most fashionable summer resort on the lake, GARDONE RIVIERA. The remaining ancient symbols of sophistication here, elegant boulevard, lush gardens, rich villas and expensive hotels, today they have to compete with a newer and less tasteful tourist base. The summer resort is famous for its extremely constant climate and the most exotic botanical garden on The Garda River, Giardino Botanico Hruska (codz. 8.00-19.00; shorter in winter), where plant specimens were placed among artificial cliffs and streams.
The most interesting place in Gardone, and in general at the lake, is the home of the most famous and extravagant Italian writer of the twentieth century, Gabriele D'Annunzio, D Vittoriale (Tue-Sun. 9.00-12.30 and 14.00-17.30; 6000L). Born in 1863 Year, D'Annunzio was not an ordinary writer. He was the author of excellent poems and numerous novels, but he became more widely known as a soldier (he sat down his own army) and a member of a refined society, because he was connected with various aristocrats by the connections announced by the press. Later, he became an ardent supporter of Mussolini and invented for the fascist party its well-known war cry eia! Eia! alala (these words meant nothing). After some time, Mussolini found his exaggerated theatricality undesirable. (the boasting of the writer, that it feeds on the bodies of dead children, did not bring the party supporters) and in the year 1925, officially as a reward for his patriotism, and in fact, to silence him, Mussolini gave him this villa in Gardone.
In a short time, D'Annunzio transformed Mussolini's Art Nouveau gift into something like a hollywood studio, and the villa still looks like it today.. Outdoors, squeezed between cypresses on the hillside, the bow of the warship is placed, which D'Annunzio used for the so-called. "brawls about Fiume". Port on the northern Adriatic, Fiume (today Rijeka), promised to Italy before its entry into World War I, but eventually it became part of Yugoslavia. Upset by this, D'Annunzio called his army., occupied Fiume and returned to Italy in the glory of a national hero. The interior of the villa can only be visited with a guide, who gives a tour of Italian, but the building basically speaks for itself. D'Annunzia's personality is felt at the beginning, in two guest reception rooms: one, cold and official, was intended for guests, which the writer did not like, second, warm and inviting, for those, whom he had sympathy for. II Duce was adopted in the first, where the inscription on the mirror, allegedly placed there for him, Proclaims: "Remember, that you are made of glass, and I'm made of steel”.
Eating dinner with D'Annunzio was also not an uplifting experience.. It is true that, grilled babies were not eaten here, but the main decoration of the dining room arranged to measure, and at the same time a warning to voracious guests, was gold-plated, embalmed turtle, who died as a result of overeating. In fact, D'Annunzio did not often accompany his guests with meals., preferred to move to Sala di Lebbroso, where he lay down on the maras and among the leopard skins he thought about death. The rest of the villa is no less original. The private bathroom has a bathtub, access to which is blocked by more than two thousand different trinkets in a rather poor style, and Sala del Mappamondo in addition to the huge globe (hence its name), it also houses an Austrian machine gun and a library (it contains m.in. huge size Of the Divine Comedy). Under the ceiling of the auditorium adjacent to the villa hangs a biplane, with which D'Annunzio made his famous flight over Vienna during World War I.
In the mountains behind Gardone is the small alpine village of SAN MICHELE. There are six buses a day from Gardone and Saló, but because the road is very picturesque, it is worth walking it on foot. 500 m from the lake stands Colomber Hotel (• 0365/21108), which is a good base, if you are going to walk on the surrounding hills and watch the springs and waterfalls. Double rooms with private bathroom cost here 34 OOOL. The owners provide advice in the choice of walking trails, and the routes of more difficult trips are marked on the maps available at the CAI office, Via San Carlo 17, In Saló.
Gargnano and the northern part
GARGNANO, located in the distance 20 minutes by bus from Gardone, was in a year 1944 capital of the puppet government of the Republic of Saló Mussolini, which was established by the Germans, after his release from prison, on one of the peaks of Abruzzo. The Germans were afraid, that Rome could be captured by the Allies at any time and for security they placed Mussolini in the very north. By this time, however, the dictator had already lost all credibility and soon, despite the closeness of his mistress, Claretta Petacci, which he placed in the nearby II Vittoriale, fell into depression. Cold and dampness in the rooms and a large number of German troops in the surrounding forests, spoiled the mood of this couple quite effectively.
Gargnano is more of a town of workers than tourists and the only monument is the thirteenth-century church of San Francesco. Citrus fruits are carved on the columns of the cloisters, which resembles the fact, that it was the Franciscans who first introduced the cultivation of these fruits in Europe.
IN LIMONE SUL GARDA, in the north of the lake, there are plenty of citrus groves, which create a perfect atmosphere for holidaymakers coming here from abroad. Modern hotels have sprung up here around the red-roofed old town, and a three-kilometer beach and relatively cheap, one-star hotels, are a certain incentive to stop here. The cheapest of them is Degli Ulm (•0365/954032) and Monte Baldo (0365/954021) with double rooms, but at the peak of the season it is best to ask first about the vacancies in the AAST office, Via Mons D. Camboni 15. Right on the water there is a campsite Nanzel.
At the northwestern end of the lake is the most famous of the summer resorts on the Garda River, RIVA DEL GARDA. The labyrinth of cobbled streets and squares of the old town is quite charming, but the new part of the city has been enormously expanded and along the coast to the south stretches a long series of modern, expressionless hotels. From this popular, a lively summer resort is used by both holidaymakers from abroad, as well as Italian windsurfing enthusiasts. It is worth coming here, if you are interested in water sports or are looking for a cheap base to explore the lake area or the areas north of the city. In the city itself, it is worth seeing the twelfth-century castle surrounded by a moat (Tue-Sun. 9.00-12.00 and 14.30-18.00), which houses a small museum with a small collection of prehistoric and Roman finds.
The cheapest accommodation in the city offers a youth hostel, Piazza Cavour 10 (•0464/554911; 7000L per person; Beg. III-kon.X). Trieste, on the other hand, Via Fiule 15-17 (0464/552653) and Villa Minerva, Viale Roma 40a (•0464/553031), do you have double rooms after 28 OOOL. Eat best in Vaticano, Via Santa Maria 8, or in the vegetarian-macrobiotic restaurant II Tangram on Via Don Porto (a small street to the north of Viale N. Pernici).