THINGS TO DO

In an extraordinary location, on a slender peninsula stretching out into the blue lake, it is today a prestigious spa resort and a tourist destination that in fine weather is crowded with visitors (with some difficulty to visit; the town and the peninsular tip are closed to cars, the route up to the Grotte di Catullo is facilitated by a small train on tyres).

The 'Grotte', as they were called in the 16th century, are the remains of a large villa, according to tradition belonging to the Latin poet Catullus, and built between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD. They are among the most fascinating archaeological remains from Roman times in the whole of northern Italy and enrich a visit to Sirmione.

The Roman Sirmio mansio, a horse changing station, stood at the foot of the peninsula on the Via Gallica and is especially remembered because it was loved and sung about by Catullus. In the Middle Ages, the vicus, where the ancient core of the town is today, was transformed into a castrum, with the function of controlling the lower lake. At the centre of the ancient nucleus is the 15th-century parish church of S. Maria Maggiore, with a portico on the façade, flanked by a bell tower carved out of a tower; the interior, with a single nave on pointed arches, preserves 15th- and 16th-century frescoes; the choir stalls and pulpit are from the early 17th century.

At the entrance to the ancient nucleus of Sirmione stands the Rocca Scaligera, turreted, crenellated and entirely surrounded by water, probably built by Martino I della Scala in the 13th century. The entrance portico houses a Roman and medieval lapidarium. From the walkways on the walls (which are accessible), you can see the ancient integra darsena, a refuge for the Scaligera fleet.

TO VISIT

For more information on Lake Garda

What to do and see on Lake Garda:
all outdoor sports activities available on Italy’s largest lake.

www.italy-adventure.com

"There is no world for me beyond the walls of Verona but purgatory, torture, hell itself," said Shakespeare through the mouth of a desperate Romeo. In the footsteps of the two famous Shakespearean lovers, in Verona you can visit what were identified as Romeo's house in via Arche Scaligere and Juliet's house in via Cappello, with its famous balcony.

A compulsory stop for the great travellers of the past, the city of Romeo and Juliet still tops the list of desires of the most romantically inclined tourists. Much is owed to the Arena, where great opera is performed, but the charm of the city lies in its overall picture: the cafés of Piazza Bra and the promenade of the Liston, the shop windows of the elegant Via Mazzini, the voices among the stalls of Piazza delle Erbe, the atmosphere suspended in time of the Arche Scaligere, the mausoleums of its ancient lords.

Verona is a Unesco World Heritage Site, but high merits are also to be attributed to it when it comes to good taste. Three of Italy's most famous wines are from Verona: Soave, Bardolino and Amarone della Valpolicella. One of the most important international wine fairs, Vinitaly, is held annually in Verona, further confirming the richness of an area of great vineyards and cellars.

Milan is a lively and dynamic city where history and modernity have found their perfect balance.

Founded around 590 BC by a Celtic tribe in the centre of the Po Valley, ancient Mediolanum has always played a central role in the Italian political and cultural world. Italy's second largest city by population, Milan saw its importance grow during the Holy Roman Empire, so much so that it evolved into a free commune, thus also marking the history of Lombardy and the destiny of the Peninsula. A symbol of the Resistance, after World War II and particularly in the 1950s, Milan became the engine of Italian reconstruction, both industrially and culturally.

Visiting Milan means getting to know its treasures such as the Duomo, the fourth largest church in the world, a late-Gothic marvel in which a forest of spires and statues unfolds, Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci, La Scala Theatre and the Castello Sforzesco, one of the largest castles in Europe, which houses several museums and works such as Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini. What characterises Milan is above all its creative drive. Armani, Versace, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Pucci, Gucci all started here. Fashionistas make veritable pilgrimages to their boutiques in the Quadrilatero d'Oro. The artistic offerings of the city are quite high, as the calendars of exhibitions organised each month by the Palazzo Reale, the Triennale di Milano and the Pinacoteca di Brera, with its rich exhibition itinerary ranging from prehistoric to contemporary art, show.

When one speaks of Franciacorta, one immediately thinks of the magnificent bubbles that are produced in that strip of land between the city of Brescia and the southern coast of Lake Iseo.

The guided tour with wine tasting will take you to the heart of the cellar where the most excellent wines are refined and where rare and precious bottles are kept; the historic buildings will frame your experience. Come and discover the food and wine heritage of the Franciacorta region. Few places have such a rich collection of testimonies in which wine has accompanied man through the centuries.

The origin of the name 'Franciacorta' is uncertain. A first theory has it that it was Charlemagne, who had just conquered Lombard Brescia in 774, who baptised the Franciacorta territory with this name and decided to declare the area 'little France'.
A second theory, perhaps the most probable, is linked to the term 'Corte Franca'. In fact, around 1200, the area around Lake Iseo was inhabited by several communities of monks, who, in exchange for hard work in the vineyards, were exempt from imperial tributes. On these 'Corti Franche', therefore, the Lords did not impose any kind of duty.

Il Franciacorta era già molto apprezzato nell’VIII sec. come testimoniano alcune antiche carte ritrovate nella potente Abbazia femminile di Santa Giulia da Brescia che dichiarano che qui si produceva il miglior vino della comunità dei benedettini. When you sip a Franciacorta you taste centuries of history.