Salò and Gardone Riviera

From the village of San Felice del Benaco, where Camping Village La Gardiola is located, it is easy to reach Salò, a renowned Garda resort that lies on the gulf of the same name. Crossing the countryside close to the lake, the road opens up to the splendid panorama of the Gulf and the lakefront with the Cathedral bell tower peeking out among the historic buildings. Along the center of Salò, we stroll through history: the Palazzo del Podestà, which housed the council of the Magnifica Patria and is now the seat of the municipality; the Palazzo Fantoni; the palaces on the Zanardelli lakefront; and the marvelous cathedral, inside which wooden works and canvases by Veronese, Zenon, and Paolo Veneziano can be admired. Continuing in a northerly direction, one reaches the town of Gardone Riviera, a locality famous for the Vittoriale degli Italiani, home of the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio. A complex of bizarrely shaped buildings, surrounded by beautiful gardens with water features, which houses not only various works but also a war museum, a rich library and the splendid open-air theater that hosts numerous plays, concerts and variety shows during the summer.