Lake Garda at Sirmione

Silver ripples slap the wooden piles by the piazzetta as light flickers across Sirmione’s moat and the square tower of the 13th‑century Scaliger Castle. At the tip of the peninsula, the so‑called Grotte di Catullo reveal a sprawling Roman villa, with a cryptoportico footprint and olive-press basins still readable in the stone. The sulphurous note drifting from the spas comes from the Boiola spring, tapped in 1889 at 69°C. From Brescia, a 35 km hop shifts you from Renaissance loggias to cypresses lashed by Garda breezes.

Your day runs smoothly with a dedicated driver picking you up at your Brescia hotel in a comfortable Mercedes, handling Sirmione’s ZTL entry, scarce summer parking, and boat timings if you want to mix in a lake crossing. While you ride, you taste Lugana DOC at an estate near Desenzano or Lugana di Sirmione, climb the battlements, then head to the Roman ruins without time loss. The plan flexes: gelato at La Romana, a swim at Jamaica Beach, and a scenic return via the SR11 if the wind chops up the lake.