Sirmione

TomassoRizzi's picture

Location

Lake Garda
Italy
45° 29' 49.0632" N, 10° 36' 19.4832" E
IT
General info: 

A small, thin peninsula, about 4 kilometers in length, divides the bottom of Lago di Garda into two equal halves. Sirmione sits near the peninsula's tip, a small but pretty little private://spaprivate:// town that is one of the Lake District's busiest tourist towns during the summer months. Its hotels, restaurants, shops and an array of multi-coloured piers, docks, beach lidos and, of course, its genial climate are undeniably attractive to holiday-makers.
During the summer months, you will almost certainly get caught in the parade of slow-moving traffic on your way to the town center, but if you like the feel of a lazy, breezy, lakeside town the bother is certainly worth the ride.

Sirmione is famous for the Caves of Catullo, The main historical landmark and an archaeological site of a former Roman villa situated on the tip of the peninsula.
The Sirmione Spa, the largest privately owned thermal treatment centre in Italy, whose sulphurous waters originate from the depths of Lake Garda, has long been one of Sirmione's main attractions along with the Scaliger Castle from 13th century.

Sirmiones townsite has been almost continuously inhabited since the late 6th or early 5th Centuries BC.

Getting there: 

CAR
FROM:
Milan 138km - northeast to Bergamo and then past Brescia to the motorway exit
Venice 157km - past Padua, Vicenza and Verona to the motorway exit
Verona 43km - south to the motorway and then west to the exit

TRAIN
The nearest railway stations to Sirmione are at Peschiera (11km) or at Desenzano (www.desenzanogarda.com) - 10km. From either train station, local buses or a short taxi ride are necessary to get to Sirmione.

Interesting places nearby

Thanks to the high snow-safety, the slopes of the ski resort Bergeralm are for use from the end of November to the beginning of April.

The Steinberg area offers numerous activities in a unique winter area in a wide, fluffy high-plateau surrounded from amazing mountains.

Santa Caterina is a small, traditional village sitting at the heart of the vast Stelvio National Park, the largest protected natural reserve in Italy.

Sappada Dolomites of Veneto, near the border on Austria, Veneto and Friuli has winter facilities which have elevated Sappada to a primary role in the national tourist field.

The sunny and spacious skiing-area Sarn-Heinzenberg is located between 1300 metres and 2160 metres highness in the heart of Graubuenden. Here you find mostly moderate and easy slopes.

Sauze d'Oulx, pronounced Sow-zee-doo was one of the most successful Italian ski resorts on the 1970s and '80s, expanding rapidly. Located on a high sunny 'balcony' in the Susa Valley, the resort is surrounded by larch forest above.