GOLF HOLIDAYS LAKE GARDA
Our complete guide to Lake Garda golfbreaks.
Golf holidays - Lake Garda
Lake Garda, the easternmost of the Italian Lakes, is (yet) another fabulous Italian golf destination perfect for both short golfbreaks and longer golfing holidays. It fills our golf holiday criteria perfectly: a selection of high-class Golf Clubs (predominantly private), comfortable hotels, lively lakeside towns with an array of restaurants, cafés, bars and shops, easy access from Verona airport (or even Milan) and an area of outstanding natural beauty to boot!
It is hard to choose a favourite between the the three main Italian lakes: Maggiore, Como and Garda. However, for a golf holiday that has a lot of everything, Lake Garda is well worth considering for a break with the well-trodden paths and a perfect destination to start your golfing adventures amidst the Italian Lakes.
Lake Garda - Golf Clubs
Generally speaking, the southwest corner of Lake Garda is where all the Golf clubs are to be found, between the hills and the broad, flat Parma plains. The oldest Club in town is Garda Golf, a fine old traditional Club with 27-holes that duck-and-dive around the hillsides just to the West of the lake.
Slightly north of Garda Golf is the luxury resort of Palazzo Arzaga that sits, somewhat in splendid isolation, in the middle of 18 Jack Nicklaus holes and 9 Gary Player holes, plus spa and fine dining of course! South of the lake ore two quite modern courses: Chervò - another luxury resort style Golf Club and Parce Paradiso - a simpler, more commercial set-up, but with a well designed and well-maintained course.
On this side of the lake there is also the diminutive Golf Club of Bogliaco. This was originally a fun-size course squeezed in to a narrow strip of land between new housing. However, they have made giant leaps forward in recent years, purchasing a large tract of land to expand the course to a full-length test, yet happily retaining the cosy little Clubhouse.
One of the finest courses in the region is over at Franciacorta - one of the hubs of Italy's Prosecco industry, where you can play surrounded by vineyards, lakes and mountains and finish up in their delightful Clubhouse with its equally delightful wine list! By the way, their three nines are named after types of Prosecco (Brut, Rosado, Saten) in case you were wondering. Franciacorta is arguably the best course in the Lake Garda area, albeit about 45 minutes drive from the edge of the lake.
East of Garda is Verona, where most golfers fly into. Handily, there is a rather fine traditional Club very close to the airport making play on the day of your arrival or departure a very real possibility. Alternatively, you could combine a morning's golf at Verona with an afternoon of culture in the city.
Lake Garda - Hotels
Without a shadow of doubt, the best place to stay for Lake Garda golf holidays is the lakeside town of Desenzano del Garda. A gorgeous little town, just the right size for a week's holiday, that is brimming with life, bars, shops cafés and restaurants. It is also a boarding point for the water taxis and ferries to get you around the lake or over to Sirmione (more about that below).
Desenzano is fairly quiet during the week but quite glam at weekends when a lively crowd of ladies and gentlemen of Verona descend on the town to wine and dine the weekend away. We recommend three hotels in Desenzano for golf holidays: the Piccola Vela, The Park Hotel and the Villa Rosa. All of these we have used many times for our golfers over the years: we know and trust them implicitly to look after you and your friends. There are quite a few other hotels in town and along the lake too, just in case you leave it late in booking your golf trip and our favourites are full.
For a more peaceful and romantic golf holiday on Lake Garda, the fortified (and car free) town of Sirmione that sits on a narrow spit of land jutting out into Lake Garda is an utterly charming spot. There are a few hotels in Sirmione that we would be happy to recommend to you, just bear in mind that extricating your car each day can be a lengthy process!
Lake Garda - Golf Resorts
If you prefer to stay beside the First Tee on your golfbreak, rather than beside the lake, there are two rather fine golf resorts to choose between: Palazzo Arzaga and Chervò. Palazzo Arzaga is a modern conversion of a delightful old palazzo, that sits serenely in the hills just above Lake Garda. There are 27-holes on-site plus a rather fine spa, huge pool and, of course, an excellent restaurant. For golf escapists it's ideal.
At Chervò, slightly to the South of the lake, an entire borgo antico has been re-created - with some up-to-date luxuries! Both are genuinely luxurious and offer super food and spa facilities as well as golf, of course. Palazzo Arzaga is tucked up the western side of the lake: Chervò is just south of the lake and closer to the main access roads making it much easier to get to and to get out-and-about from.
For a more peaceful and romantic golf holiday on Lake Garda, the fortified (and car free) town of Sirmione that sits on a narrow spit of land jutting out into Lake Garda is an utterly charming spot. There are a few hotels in Sirmione that we would be happy to recommend to you, just bear in mind that extricating your car each day can be a lengthy process!
Lake Garda - what to see and do
The main attraction of Lake Garda is quite simply the lake itself: a broad expanse of deep blue waters, rimmed by distant hills, with small beaches dotted here and there, it often feels more like the seaside than the lakeside! The town of Desenzano is a good place to start your sightseeing and general holiday relaxation: a piazza beside a square quay with many sidestreets radiating off it, each lined with boutiques and bars.
Once you have exhausted all the attractions of Desenzano, take the boat across to the Sirmione promontory. This is a tiny, pedestrian town with an eye-catching castle at the end of a narrow spit of land that juts into Lake Garda and is clearly visible across the water from Desenzano. Further afield is the wonderful city of Verona which makes a classical dayout with its Roman remains, including the almost intact amphitheatre that still stands in the centre of the old town.
Wine lovers will appreciate the vineyards that covers acres of the countryside, Prosecco and Amarone are the two big names from the region but there are plenty more grape varieties and wine styles to discover too: we think you'll be pleasantly surprised...
Getting to Lake Garda
Lake Garda is very easy to get to these days with more-and-more flights to Verona with British Airways and EasyJet amongst others. From Verona to Desenzano should take less than an hour, unless you stop to play at Verona Golf Club en-route? You may find more convenient regional departures to Milan Linate airport, from where it's just over an hour's drive across to Desenzano del Garda.
Ryanair also fly to Orio al Serio (they call it Bergamo) which is very close to the autostrada - in fact, it's probably quicker to drive to Lake Garda than into the old town of Bergamo! In any event it should take less than an hour and you could stop en-route at (Franciacorta Golf Club for instance) to get your Italian Lakes golf holiday underway even sooner.
