Sights in Arco at Lake Garda, Italy

Palazzo del Podestá (town hall)
The old 14th century town hall was given a 16th century makeover to include a Venetian façade with an arcade walkway, and hasn’t looked any the worse for it in the time since. Nothing remains from the original structure: the 1901 earthquake also destroyed the Palazzo del Podestá. The site, immediately adjacent to the arcades of the Palazzo della Magnifica Patria, is also home to the local tourist office in the passage to the houses on the street.

Santa Maria Annunziata
Saló is the only locality on the lakeside to have a cathedral. Building work on this late-Gothic house of worship began in 1453. A white Renaissance porch was later added to the simple brick porch. The artworks in the church include a picture by Romanino (1486-1560) and Sant’ Antonio di Padua (shawls are available to the left of the church for lightly dressed ladies).

Manerba del Garda
Manerba del Garda offers a wonderful, simple walk up the Rocca di Manerba to the village with 3,000 inhabitants barely 10 km to the south of Salò. Those feeling up for it can opt to walk along the Via del Melograno from the car park below the centre of Montinelle or take the car along the same narrow road to the car park below the nature reserve; from there it is just a few steps to the castle ruins. Excavation work was resumed only recently and some of the lower remains of the castle wall have been well renovated with explanations provided in a number of different languages.

In times past, the ‘nature park of Rocca di Manerba and its rediscovered castle’ was no doubt an excellent spot for building a stronghold. Today, however, it is simply a place offering wonderful views. If at all possible, try to choose a day offering good visibility before coming here to visit.

San Felice del Benaco
The vast majority of camping sites by Lake Garda are located between Salò and Desenzano; the area has far fewer hotels. Most of the beaches get fairly crowded and those which are not part of a camping site are often free, though you will have to pay for a parking space. At the weekends, numbers swell with an influx of day trippers, so it’s all the more surprising when, frequently, you scarcely find anyone using the little side roads in the interior. It all leaves you free to drive past vineyard slopes and olive groves at your leisure. Worth visiting are the inordinately tidy village square of San Felice and its churches, the parish church and pilgrimage church of Madonna del Carmine. There is a small swimming beach by Porto Protese.