Lago di Garda

Lago di Garda can be reached in approximately 6 hours of driving from Zürich, which made it a practical option for a four days holiday. We went on this trip with our dear friends, Oana and Andrei, making this journey a memorable birthday celebration for Oana. We stayed at Grand Hotel Gardone, in the village called Gardone Riviera. The palace-like hotel looks imposing and is known for having hosted Winston Churchill.

We rested and enjoyed the sun by the hotel's pool which was overlooking the lake, made a one day trip to Sirmione and tried italian delights at nice restaurants, two of them being on the Michelin guide.

Grand Hotel Gardone

Sirmione

Sirmione was recommended to us by friends, who had previously visited Lago di Garda. We soon realized that we weren't the only ones who got this hint. It was a 45 minutes ride to Sirmione from our hotel. We were lucky to have found a parking spot, then we had to walk at least 30 minutes to the historic center where all the attractions are. 

Sirmione was full with tourists and the weather was very hot, so we didn't have the best visiting conditions. However, this didn't stop us from being mesmerized by the beauty of the town. Right at the entrance of the touristic area there was an impressive castle. Further ahead we discovered old buildings decorated with numerous flowers, ice cream shops literally everywhere, small souvenir stores, lake-front terraces, and at the very end of the walking path, a historic site called "Grotte di Catullo". We had lunch at L'Arcimboldo Ristorante which we can definitely recommend.

Dinners

I will mention two of the three dinners we had during this trip. The second evening we went to Osteria Dalie e Fagioli and the food was amazing. We all ordered their three course recommended menu plus a different desert each of us. The most we liked the starter, baked eggplant with parmesan, the first course, smoked pasta on parmesan foam with smoked pancetta, and I will vote for my desert, a reinterpreted tiramisu. This dinner was Oana's birthday celebration and it was a wonderful choice of a restaurant. 

The last evening we went to a restaurant in Gardone Riviera, 15 minutes walk from the hotel, on an uphill path. This allowed us to discover the heart of village where the passengers were locals and not tourists. We went to Osteria Antico Brolo. We ordered different menus, but the best choices were Raul's pork dish and Oana's guinea fowl. The starter I took was also interesting: an egg cooked at 63 degrees, with parmesan cream and truffles. On the way back to the hotel, we saw a concert organized in front of "Palazzo Municipale" and we remained there for a while, listening to and dancing on italian musical together with the locals of Gardone Riviera.

On Sunday morning we walked a bit more in the village before heading home. We drove for nine hours, making a few stops on the way. We took the longer route, via San Bernardino instead of going through the Gotthard tunnel to avoid the long queue. "We drove" requires clarification though: Andrei is the experienced driver who safely brought us to beautiful places and back home. Many thanks to him for this vacation and to Oana who was the initiator. ♥️