Wine and Food Road of Garda

The Wine and Food Road of Garda runs through the hinterland of the Lombard shore of Lake Garda, connecting Limone with Peschiera, extending into the DOC production areas of Garda Classico, Lugana and San Martino della Battaglia. While travelling down the route, there are several places to visit that either overlook the lake or are set in
a verdant landscape featuring wood-cloaked hills and mountains. Unmissable, at Gardone Riviera, is the Vittoriale degli Italiani, the museum-house of Gabriele d’Annunzio. Other obligatory visits are the splendid towns of Salò, Manerba with the the Rocca di Manerba and its Archeological and Nature Park, Lonato with the Rocca di Lonato and the Casa del Podestà, belonging to the Fondazione Ugo Da Como. From Lonato, driving along the hilltops on the southern boundary
of the Valtenesi and passing through Calvagese, we reach Polpenazze, the wine production hub of the southwest shore of Lake Garda. Many beautiful sites can be taken in along this route: the 9th-century Church of S. Pietro in Lucone at Polpenazze of Romanesque origin, the Castle of Soiano (9th century), and the remains of a pile-dwelling village in the area of the Sovenigo lakes. Also famous and worth seeing is San Martino della Battaglia with its Torre Sacrario, inaugurated in 1893 to commemorate the victory of the Piedmontese and the French over the Austrians in 1859. Gourmet tourism blends in remarkably well with the natural and artistic heritage that is fostered and enhanced by Lake Garda which, thanks to its mild and windy climate, is also an ideal place for watersports.