Garda Lake – North

Lying where three regions meet, Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino, the Upper Lake Garda area offers its visitors unforgettable experiences in nature, culture and sport: hiking, windsurfing, horseback riding, mountain biking, golf, shopping, food and wine routes, nightclubs, adventure parks, museums and cultural events.

There is no wish this enchanting paradise cannot fulfill. Its strikingly varied climate, from sub-Mediterranean on the shore to alpine in the surrounding mountains, makes it the ideal place to live in and enjoy all year round.

Upper Lake Garda amazes with the vivid blue of its waters, fed by rivers flowing down from the nearby mountains: the Sarca, which formed the alluvial plain of Arco; the Ponale, fed by Lake Ledro; and the Varone or Magnone, which creates the Varone Waterfalls.

The eye is also soothed by the restful green of the valleys and the surrounding mountains: Monte Baldo to the east, Monte Manerba and Monte Pizzocolo to the west and, to the north, Monte Brione, towering over the town of Riva del Garda.

Olive trees and rows of vines dot the hillsides, while the green meadows are full of flowers, chestnuts, firs and acacias, along with fragrant lemon trees, bay trees and palms.

Lake Garda was formed about 10,000 years ago, when the Alpine glaciers retreated. Only the northern tip of the lake belongs to Trentino, with the villages of Nago and Torbole and the town of Riva and, inland, Arco, Drena, Dro, Ledro and Tenno.

All these towns are steeped in history: visiting the old castles and small churches brings back the atmosphere of centuries past, and the museums help piece together the story of the ancient lake, once called Benacus.

Inhabited since the Bronze and Iron Ages, Upper Garda has always been a strategic link between the Po Valley and Northern Europe. It passed under various rulers, whose traces can be seen in its monuments and architecture, and it was a battleground in the Great War, especially north of the Monte Baldo massif.

During World War II, Arco and Riva suffered a bloody anti-partisan crackdown by the SS from Bolzano. In 1945 the skies over Garda saw the last dogfights between Anglo-American and Italian-German fighters.

All year round, Upper Lake Garda offers a wide range of sporting events, concerts, shows, food festivals, exhibitions and other events. Since 2000 the Garda Jazz Festival has been held in August: three weeks of concerts in the most evocative and characteristic places in the area, among castles, bastions and terraces over the lake.

At night the lake’s charm is lit up by fireworks put on by the lakeside villages for various holidays, especially in summer. You can watch the fireworks from the beaches or from the middle of the lake by renting a boat.

Even more characteristic are the many food festivals where you can discover and taste local products: the “Sbigolada”, with free spaghetti with aole (bleak) in Nago in March, the snail festival in Riva del Garda in September and the broccoli festival in Torbole in January.

Winter has plenty to offer too: Christmas markets in the squares, celebrations for Saint Lucy and the evocative Lanternata di San Martino in November, when children walk through the streets of Nago with lit lanterns. The farmers’ markets are well worth a visit, with tasty surprises like the delicious “formaggelle di Tremosine” or Tombea, a cheese made by a small group of cheesemakers on the mountain pastures of Valvestino.

Don’t miss a taste of the local specialties: Dro plums, delicious berries, acacia and fir honeydew honey, carne salada, grappa made from plums, apricots and pears, and the precious vin santo, made by late pressing of Nosiola grapes left to dry on racks. In the restaurants of the area you will find many lake fish dishes, including whitefish, pike and perch.