Sirmione

The town of Sirmione is located in a very unusual place and that's why we decided to visit it. There's a 4 km long peninsula on the southern bank of the Garda lake, and Sirmione was built on it. The peninsula is no more than 200 meters wide. The most interesting places are the old town and the Sirmione Castle, which was built in the 13th century and served as a military port of Verona flotilla. It's a perfectly preserved castle which is interesting first of all because of its location - it stands almost on the water. The castle is open from 9:30 am and closed on Mondays.

In 1889, the healing properties of thermal waters of Sirmione (Fonte Boiola) were discovered. After that, the tourist era began. Nowadays tourism is a basis of the town's economy. Unfortunately, the number of toursists is huge, so try to come here early in the morning.

For about 60 euros you can take a boat and see the castle and the town from the lake.

Getting there: The nearest airports are in Verona (30 km), Brescia (40 km), and Bergamo (87 km). The nearest railway stations are Peschiera (11 km) and Desenzano (10 km). From them Sirmione can be reached either by taxi or by bus #26, which runs between Brescia and Verona (schedule).