Fortress town on Lake Garda
For those planning their first trip to Lake Garda I would recommend starting with visiting Peschiera. The town is conveniently located on the main train line from Milan to Venice, it's a stop on the fast train the Freccia Rossa. It's also not far from Verona airport, there's a direct local bus from the airport to the Peschiera train station.
Peschiera is situated on an island surrounded by the lake and the river Mincio. This location was perfect for a fortress town as the entry and exit points were controlled. The fortress walls that are there now date back to the 16th century and were built by the Venetians. It's possible to walk along the walls, the historic centre is quite small, with the town spilling out to the areas right next to the lake.
Peschiera was an important location for the Venetians as they could navigate from Lake Garda, then along the Mincio and Po rivers all the way to the Adriatic Sea. By the beginning of the 19th century, with the defeat of Napoleon, Austria was granted Peschiera and it became one of its fortified towns. The Officers' Pavillion in Peschiera is a remnant of Peschiera's military past.
Peschiera can be found on the southern shore of Lake Garda, close by is the very popular town of Sirmione, be warned in summer it gets very crowded!
Sirmione generally is the first stop on the lake ferry, it stops at multiple towns, I chose to disembark at Garda as I wanted to see the town that the lake was named for. Unlike the city of Como, which is quite large, with 2 main train stations, Garda is quite a small town.
For me that was the attraction, only a few people disembarked at Garda, and although there were tourists wandering around the town, it did not feel or look crowded. It made for a pleasant visit.
Garda's narrow streets in the historic centre.
Peschiera is the location of a major theme park, Gardaland, you can see it from the lake once you set off going north. If theme parks are not your thing, not mine so I didn't go, that's fine as Gardaland is fairly unobtrusive and it's easy not to be aware of it.
Peschiera is a great location, easy to get to, small enough to walk around, plenty of cafes and restaurants, and a ferry port where you can either do an organised tour, rent your own boat or take the local ferry to explore other towns on the lake.
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