EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO is the most appealing town on the lake and cuts a fine silhouette from other points around the shore, jutting out into the water on a fortified promontory. In the event it doesn't really live up to its distant promise, but is still a friendly, unpretentious place with enough charm and action to hold anyone's interest for a couple of days - longer if all you want to do is crash out on an (albeit modest) beach. It's easy to reach by slow train either from Chiusi (heading north) or Terontola if you're coming from Arezzo or Perugia. There are also nine buses daily from Perugia.

There's a good tourist office in the main Piazza Mazzini (Mon 8am-1.30pm, Tues-Sat 8am-1.30pm & 3-7.30pm, Sun 9am-1pm; tel 075.965.2484 or 075.965.2738, info@iat.castiglione-del-lago.pg.it ) whose flashiness in such a small place gives a good idea of the town's considerable appeal to tourists. They have a lot of reasonable but characterless rooms on their books and apartments to rent on a weekly basis, usually a cheaper option if you can get a party together. Among the hotels , the top dog is the Duca della Corgna , Via B. Buozzi 143 (tel 075.953.238, fax 075.962.2446; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47), with the Trasimeno , Via Roma 174 (tel 075.965.2494, fax 075.952.5258; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), hot on its heels; more atmospheric is the Miralago , Piazza Mazzini 6 (tel 075.951.157 or 075.953.063, fax 075.951.924; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47), with views of the lake behind. Most of the campsites are off the main road some way south of the town. Lido Trasimeno (tel 075.965.9350; April-Sept) on the shore north of the castle has good facilities (swimming, windsurfing school, sailing etc). Aside from the summer-only restaurants on the promenade, the place to eat game, fish fresh from the lake and other dishes is the L'Acquario , Via Vittorio Emanuele II 69 (tel 075.965.2432; closed Fri, also Tues in winter) on the old town's single main street. The best swimming is at the public lido on the southern side of the promontory.

Regular boats make the trip out to the Isola Maggiore , one of the lake's three islands, a fun ride if you don't mind the summer crowds. There's a pretty walk round the edge of the island, and you should have no problem discreetly pitching a tent once everyone else has packed up and gone home. If not, there's one good, popular hotel , the three-star Da Sauro , Via Guglielmi 1 (tel 075.826.168; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47), which also doubles as a fine restaurant that's especially known for its fish.