Bardolino, Lake Garda: A lovely afternoon doing nothing

What’s there to do on Lake Garda? a client asked recently.

Although a significant percentage of my working hours are spent giving travelers recommendations on what to do during Italian vacations, sometimes I recommend not doing anything. Forget the checklist. Leave your guide book in the hotel. Just go for a wander and see what you see. One afternoon in the pretty town of Bardolino, on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, a friend and I did just that.

We walked along Lake Garda’s shore.

There are some gorgeous hikes in the area, like to the point of San Vigilio which you can see in the photo. We discussed doing them next time and kept on with our slow amble.

We explored the small shops in Bardolino…

…. and talked about what it would take to pack one of those lovely works of art into our suitcase, or how we would properly wrap it for the drive back to my friend’s house in Torino.

We appreciated the town’s architecture.

Many of the ruins in Bardolino are from the Scaliger era (my favorite castle of which is in Sirmione, another beautiful town on the end of a peninsula that juts in to the southern end of Lake Garda).

We scouted out places for dinner…

…. and for a pre-dinner aperitivo, where we planned to sit sipping a glass of — what else? —  Bardolino wine.

 Before we knew it, it was late afternoon: time for gelato!

We continued along Bardolino’s lakeside path, or lungomare…

… walking and talking.

We stopped to look at the schedules for all the boats that criss-cross Lake Garda…

… thinking that maybe next time we’d take a boat ride across the lake to actually go see some sights (like the historic Vittoriale or the gorgeous Monte Baldo). Or maybe not.

We kept following Bardolino’s lungomare …

… until the light started to fade.

Now, time to head back to the lovely spot we’d found for a pre-dinner glass of Bardolino wine!