Lake Garda East Coast

Probably the best guided tour of Lake Garda as an introduction to all that this beautiful territory has to offer.
With a half-day guided tour or a whole day you can combine a wide variety of themes and locations:

• Panoramic roads along the coast or overhanging the lake.
• The elegance of Renaissance villas.
• Austere Romanesque churches.
• The ancient lake villages with their magical atmosphere.
• The wines and olive oil of the eastern hills.

Ideal in every season for

• organized groups
• school trips
• individual tourists

especially for those who stay overnight in Verona since all the resorts are in a short distance from the city.

Oncoming Tours

Starting from the centre of Verona, in 30 minutes or a little more, with comfortable state roads and highways, you can easily reach the majority of the villages on the east coast of Lake Garda, which is therefore the ideal destination for a guided tour, even for a day trip. The various locations offer a great variety of landscapes, history, traditional food, things to do and see on Lake Garda.
The guided tours on the east coast of Lake Garda can be structured to have a half-day duration, to be done before or after lunch, or as a whole day, to take place in the morning and afternoon, interspersed with a pause for lunch in one of the many restaurants and farmhouses.

Peschiera - Lazise

Leaving from Verona take the A4 motorway in the direction of Milan exiting at the Peschiera del Garda tollbooth from where you can quickly reach downtown. Lazise, on the other hand, can be easily reached via Verona's western ring road in about 20 minutes.

Peschiera del Garda

The guided tour starts from the central porto, where cars can park, and where tourist coaches can stop the time to let visitors get off. We continue with a walk along the 16th century bastions of the fortress of Peschiera with the monumental doors. Then you visit the centre of the village with Piazza Savoia, the old Austrian Military Hospital later trasnformed in Military Prison, the church of San Martino, the Roman excavations, finally continuing on the scenic ponte dei Voltoni, the monumental porta Verona, and you finally return to the harbor after a full tour.

Further information: Guide of Peschiera

Lazise

Bardolino - Punta San Vigilio

Another ideal combination for a half-day guided tour on the Lake Garda the visit of Bardolino and Punta San Vigilio.

Bardolino

Bardolino is one of the main town on the East Coast, extremely vital with its many shops, bars, restaurants, nightclubs. The centre is very picturesque, with the typical maze of alleyways and characteristic stone houses. Of the Scaligero castle that stood there only a couple of towers remain. The small dockyard is always crowded with multicolored boats of all types and sizes.
In Bardolino you can visit the ancient Romanesque church of San Severo, one of the most suggestive in the province of Verona. It is characterized by a simple and austere elegance with the facade and walls made of rough stone. Inside there is a rare cycle of frescoes depicting the Apocalypse by John the Evangelist.

Further information: Bardolino Guide

Punta San Vigilio

Proceeding north on the Gardesana road you reach Punta San Vigilio, one of the most fascinating places on the entire lake. Punta San Vigilio is a small promontory that stretches over the lake, almost an extension to the south of Mount Baldo. In its center stands the sixteenth-century villa Guarienti, beautiful example of Renaissance architecture. The Garda road that connects all the villages of the coast was completed only in the 1930s. Prior to that time, people moved mainly on boats. The most sumptuous facade of Villa Guarienti is therefore the one that faces the water, although today, those who come by car will see first the most simple facade on the back. All around villa Guarienti are the rustic buildings where once lived the workers of the properties of the family. Villa Guarienti still has its own limonaia (lemon greenhouse) made in Venetian Gothic style. The complex alaso has a small private dock with a wharf that runs around it like two arms stretchin out to hug. In summer you can stop for a refreshing drink under the pergola overlooking the lake.

For further information: Guida of Punta S. Vigilio

Incisioni rupestri del Garda

From Punta San Vigilio you can take the little road that leads to the steep slopes of Mount Luppia. You walk along paths through olive groves and woods of Mediterranean scrub typical of the hills of Lake Garda. As you walk up the road, it becomes panoramic, with breathtaking views of Punta San Vigilio and the lake. This leads to an elevated area characterized by slabs of stone smoothed by the friction of the immense glacier that covered the area until ten thousand years ago. By tapping the smooth surface of the stone with harder tools, men of the past have left evidence of their presence with depictions of boats, knights and other human figures. The engravings cover a very long period of time. The oldest date back to the Iron Age, about 1000 B.C., and depict prayers, knights, stylized figures. The most recent are probably from 1800, and represent boats crossing the waters of the lake. The state of conservation is not the very best, and some of the engravings are difficult to read (wetting the stone with water can help to highlight them). However, the walk in the middle of nature to reach them offers extraordinary views of the lake from above, and fully pays off the effort.

Olive Oil and Wine

Wine and oil can become the theme of a food and wine tour of Lake Garda, or they can combine with the historical and cultural aspects of a guided tour in Lazise, Bardolino or Punta San Vigilio.

Bardolino Wine

The eastern side of Lake Garda is famous for the production of wine, which takes its name from the main town on the east coast: Bardolino DOC. The eastern and western slopes of the hills that run parallel to the coast of the lake are covered with vineyards where the varieties of grapes Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara are grown. There are numerous wineries where Bardolino is produced, also in the rosé version: Bardolino Chiareto. A guided tour of the cellars of Bardolino often allows you to enjoy extraordinary views of the lake from above as well as to try a fresh, light and pleasant wine, ideal as an aperitif and to pair with the cuisine of Lake Garda. Among the wineries near the centre of Bardolino, but located in panoramic positions are Zeni (where there is a wine museum), Guerrieri Rizzardi, Valetti.

For further information: Bardolino Wine

Olive Oil

The vineyards often compete for the available space on the Veronese side of Lake Garda with olive groves. The mild climate of the lake allows the production of olive oil, although quantities are certainly not those of the hottest regions of the Mediterranean. The area is certified with a DOP: Garda. There are many oil mills, not far from Bardolino or Lazise, where you can take guided tours and tastings. For example Turri, or Museum, where together with a shop there is a very interesting museum dedicated to oil where it is illustrated in detail through ancient tools, videos and images, everything about the olive tree and the production of oil, from antiquity to the present day.

For further information: Garda Olive Oil

Garda

After passing the promontory of Punta San Vigilio you reach the inlet of Garda, dominated by the rock overlooking the lake that gave its name to the town and the lake itself in the Lombard era. On the massive rocky spur was in fact built a watchtower from which you could control every movement on the lake. In the ancient Germanic language spoken by the Longobards the term was "warda" from which derive the modern words guard and look in Italian or guard in English. The tower was later transformed into a castle. From it, in the 10th century, Queen Adelaide of Burgundy, who had been imprisoned there by Berengar, King of Italy, when she refused to marry his son, fled. Only a few ruins remain of the ancient fortress. The village is characterized by a gentle inlet that offers a splendid promenade dotted with stalls of bars and restaurants where you can enjoy the pleasant view of the lake. The tourist guide will be able to show you the main places of interest. The view of Garda, whether you arrive by land or by boat, is dominated by Villa Albertini. The villa was built in 1500 in Renaissance style, but in the nineteenth century, following the neo-Gothic taste of the time, were added crenellated towers of a Pompeian red color that gave the overall appearance of a castle. The villa is surrounded by a magnificent park whose wall runs along the Garda road. In the centre of the village there is instead Palazzo Carlotti, with its unusual symmetrical double loggia on the ground floor and first floor. It was the residence of Counts Carlotti, ancient feudal lords of the area. Palazzo dei Capitani, in Venetian times, was the seat of the Captain of Lake Garda, the one who locally represented the power of the Republic of Venice. Palazzo dei Capitani is located on the main square of Garda, once occupied by the waters of the lake, so that it was possible to reach the building directly by boat. The current appearance is the result of the renovations in the typical Venetian Gothic style between 1300 and 1400.

Torri del Benaco

Albisano

Lake Garda Guided Tours

The guided tour to discover the Veronese shore of Lake Garda is ideal as a stand-alone tour or can be part of a full day tour combining it with a guided tour of Verona, an itinerary with tasting of Bardolino, or with the discovery of another location on Lake Garda such as Sirmione, the west shore or the north shore.

Ask us for more information and details about guided tours on Lake Garda or book a private tour guide to accompany you on your tour of the largest lake in Italy.