Sirmione
Sirmione Castle (Rocca Scaligera) - This superb 13th century castle, surrounded by water on all sides, is a "must see." It's a large castle, with central donjon (castle keep), surrounded by rectangular towers, gates with wooden drawbridges, and a walled water enclosure for boats.
Just after the entrance, stop in the small museum to see a model of castle, and bits of Roman mosaics from the area. Kids will want to climb to the top of the keep, explore the ramparts, walk over the drawbridges, and pretend they're Mastino, the first Della Scala, a lord of Verona, ready to fight for control of Lake Garda.
Lakeside walk - From the castle, walk through old city walls to the promenade along the east side of the peninsula. On the lake is a small beach area where kids can wade, watch kids fishing, and ducks on the water.
Continue walking along the lake to the Lido. Here's the spot to rent colorful pedal boats, and go out on the lake. There's also a snack bar and olive trees, where you'll see families picnicking in the shade.
Roman ruins (Grotte di Catullo) - At the end of the peninsula are the ruins a Roman family villa from the first century BC. Quite the family residence, the multi-level villa covered five acres! Built around an open quadrangle, the villa had hundreds of rooms, mosaic floors, a large bathing pool, long brick porticos with rounded arches overlooking the lake, and "modern" conveniences such as an underground water cistern to store water.
The ruins are a fun place to run around, and there's a warren of rooms to explore, especially the basement and ground floor rooms. To really appreciate the scale of this building, go down to the lowest level of the ruins and look up. A small museum has a collection of Roman artifacts.
No picnicking in the ruins, but they're just above the Lido, where you can picnic, bring your lunch. It's about a 15 - 20 min. walk from town to the ruins, or take the electric tram ("trenino"), which shuttles between the ruins and the Thermal Wellness Spa near the center of town.
Minigolf Sirmione - Just south of the harbor, on Lungolago Armando Diaz 7, everyone in the family will enjoy eighteen holes of miniature golf.
