Wednesday 6th May 2026 – a walk into Sirmione….

The difference a day makes – having looked set for an unsettled week, the weather has brightened up overnight and another beautiful day has come our way. Good news for us as we have planned a fairly lengthy walk along the peninsula that is Sirmione, one of the most popular spots on Lake Garda.

Again access to the foreshore of Lake Garda is limited but we grabbed each opportunity even if it did add a mile or 2 todays excursion….

As we arrived at the main old town of Sirmione (having wandered through many leafy and affluent residential areas and hotels), this beauty was parked in one of the many car parks on the outskirts…

Rather ruined as the side was plastered with promotional stickers for some Real Estate company – how crass?

Though busy the main entrance to the old town was guarded by this magnificent castle – Castello Scaligero….

We meandered our way through the busy narrow streets lined with shops, bars and Gelateria’s and more typically quieter residential side streets….

Dipping out to check on Lake Garda where possible….

The far end of the peninsula was much quieter and largely occupied by manicured grounds of fancy hotels

At the very end is the Grotto di Catullo a chargeable museum, which we didn’t go into, enjoying the far reaching Lake views instead…

And on the return journey a visit to the much quieter and off the main beaten track, San Pietro in Mavino and its Bell tower dating back to the 1300’s….

On our return we found ourselves a nice quiet spot by the Lake to enjoy a pastry with our coffee and to rest our tired legs….

Before making our way back to the Castle and to prepare ourselves for the long walk home….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 9
  • Pastry – £1.90 (last of the big spenders me)
  • O/N – £24

Tuesday 5th May 2026 – moving inland to Lake Garda….

As forecast the weather broke during the night and continued with on off rain and cloud for the duration of our rather long drive (circuitous rather than miles), avoiding the toll roads (mainly because of the difficulty of getting and paying for the tolls in a right hand drive than cost) and heading inland to our next location – Lake Garda.

The first half of the drive was slowly wending our way up over and through the Tuscan-Emilian Pennines – many times breaking above the lower clouds – spectacular in itself….

The second half was very flat from around Parma with it mostly being arable farmland and more latterly vineyards as we eventually arrived at our site for the next few nights on the outskirts of Sirmione right on the shore of Lake Garda.

Once settled we took a break in the weather to wander towards Desenzano, disappointed to find that access to the lake was mostly taken by extravagant residences or luxury hotels (Lake Windermere all over again) and we had to make do with the odd opportunity to see the Lake….

Cloud cover prevented us from enjoying the full experience but the stunning palette of blues and wildlife helped!

As it looked like we might be pushing our luck weatherwise, we headed back to the site and enjoyed a few moments on the site foreshore, before returning to the van and settling in for the evening….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 140
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Groceries – £28.64
  • O/N – £24.09 (ACSI)