EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

BARDOLINO is a spruce little resort, popular with British and German visitors, which is, as you might have guessed, the home of the light, red Bardolino wine - the town is at its most animated between mid-September and mid-October, when the Festa di Uva (Festival of the Grape) is held. At other times of year, apart from strolling along its lush palm- and pine-planted promenade, there's not a lot to do, although the church of San Zeno , tucked in the corner of a dusty yard just off the main coast road, is worth a brief look. It was built in the eighth century, and its Latin-cross form and high domed ceiling became a prototype for later Romanesque churches. Otherwise, concentrate on sampling Bardolino wine at the unlikely-looking bar on Via Cesare Battisti, which has no name outside but is commonly known as Da Romaldì , or try the ice cream at Cristallo on the lakefront near the ferry jetty, which sells the biggest and best ice creams on the lake, in a repertoire of flavours ranging from mascarpone to panna cotta with fresh forest fruits.

The walled village of LAZISE , further down the shore, was once a major Venetian port and retains a (privately owned) castle and, on the harbour, an arcaded medieval customs house . Originally used for building and repairing boats for the Venetian fleet, it was later used to house sheep, whose urine was used to make nitrogen, a vital ingredient in gunpowder. Nowadays Lazise is crammed with cafés, pizzerias and gelaterie and plenty of summer visitors, but it's not a bad place to escape to out of season, when it reverts to being a sleepy lakeside village. If you want to stay , go for the Tecla at Via Cansignorio 12 (tel 045.758.0032; L60,000-90,000/30.99-46.48), above a wine shop just off Corso Cangrande. The tourist office (Mon-Sat: April-Oct 9am-1pm & 3-7pm; Nov-March closes one hour earlier; tel 045.758.0114) is on Via F. Fontana near the harbour, and has maps and leaflets about the village.

Finally, if you have kids to amuse, or just want a daft day out, you can catch a bus from any of the east shore villages to Gardaland , Italy's most popular amusement park, at Castelnuovo del Garda (April-June & Sept daily 9.30am-6.30pm; July & Aug daily 9am-midnight; Oct Sat & Sun 9.30am-6.30pm; tel 045.644.9777, www.gardaland.it ; L38,000/19.63, children under ten L32,000/16.53). It's pricey, and you pay extra for some of the attractions, but its various rides and themed entertainments attract around two million visitors a year; with restless children in tow, you might just want to join them.