Gardone Riviera was once the most dazzling and glamorous of all Lake Garda’s resorts, its idyllic location augmented by beautiful villas and Belle Epoque hotels, sloping up the hill to maximise the views. Today these historic properties are still some of the best places to stay in Gardone Riviera, though our Gurus have also uncovered some charmingly traditional restaurants with rooms, waterside grande dames, and a handful of reasonably priced B&Bs and pensiones. Gardone Riviera was once priced quite dazzlingly as well, but it’s much more affordable today than it was in its 19th century heyday, and there are some really good value properties on our Gurus’ list.
Gardone Riviera is the sort of place for lazy afternoons watching the water, sipping fancy drinks or enjoying extravagant ice creams. Its promenade is lined with benches for doing just that, if you can’t find a spot on your hotel terrace. But the town is really known for its gardens, and the best places to stay in Gardone Riviera have some seriously impressive gardens of their own, think long waterfront terraces and lush tropical pockets, which display all the best of Lake Garda’s vegetation plus some Mediterranean and sub-tropical guests which thrive under the sunshine and warm microclimate. Gardone Riviera also has some formal botanical gardens and several parks lining its elegant waterfront boulevard.
In amongst the greenery is a lively piazza, with cafes and bars, and a charming chapel. The Vittoriale degli Italiani, once the home of the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, and the A. Hruska Botanical Gardens, are probably the town’s main sights, but there’s plenty to do in, around, and on the lake, and its location, about a third of the way up the western shore, is perfect for visiting other lake-shore centres by boat.
