As you might have read in this post, our first day in Lake Garda was mostly dedicated to travel. But for our first evening we had a relaxing dinner on the water soaking in all of the beauty around us. We called it an early night to be up and about the next morning for our first full day on the lake. The only town that Brian insisted we visit was Sirmione. Most of the blogs I had read on what to do when visiting Lake Garda say that Sirmione is a must see.

Sirmione is about an hour drive from Gardone Riviera which is where we were staying. We set off after an early breakfast to hopefully beat the crowds. When we turned onto the road that runs down the peninsula towards Sirmione we noticed how busy it was already. I wish we had known how much parking was available closer to the town because we ended up parking pretty far away and having to walk for a while.

When you get close to the edge of the peninsula it is easy to see why this town is so popular with Lake Garda visitors. The drawbridge that you have to cross to enter into the historic city center really makes you feel like you have gone back in time. We decided to tour the Scaligero Castle which has the most amazing views from the towers.

After taking in the views for while we realized our parking meter was going to expire soon. It was such a hike to get back to our car that we decided to use this as an excuse to leave Sirmione and visit another town close by. I would have loved to have seen more of Sirmione but I will admit the crowds were much heavier here than any other town we visited.

Desenzano was on my radar from many months of researching Lake Garda. It was on the way back to the hotel so we thought it would be the perfect spot to spend the afternoon. We had lunch in the middle of the city center. It is such a charming little town and much quieter than Sirmione.

We spent the afternoon wandering around, gelato in hand, enjoying all of the pretty little streets. The weather was amazing, especially compared to a very cold and windy Florence. It felt like a perfect summer day, even though it was late September. It was easy to understand why the southern portion of Lake Garda is a resort destination for most of Europe.

We only spent a couple of hours in Desenzano as we needed to get back in time to get ready for a very special dinner we had planned for the evening! xo Bryn