I had seen such beautiful pictures of Sirmione, I just had to add it to my itinerary for visiting Lake Garda. We caught the ferry which for a 45 minute crossing seemed a little pricey for the four of us, something like £66. If we were four adults I guess it wouldn’t be so bad, but you pay full price for your children from 12.

Scaligero Castle

We caught the earliest ferry from Garda (9am) as the queues for Scaligero Castle get considerably longer as the day progresses. You cannot buy tickets in advance. So we hopped off the ferry and dashed straight there. Fortunately the queue was very reasonable and we were soon inside the castle.  It cost 7 euros each for the adults and the boys were free (hooray finally a benefit for the under 18’s). It’s well worth heading inside for the views, other than that its quite basic, with not much in the way of information to read. We stayed less than an hour.

Lemonade Stand

Then we headed off for a drink as it was another hot day. We stumbled upon a lemonade stand on the other side of the castle, which was a real win. My husband and I had a lemonade each and the boys strawberry drinks, all freshly made and delicious! They cost 4 euros each. It was a highlight of the holiday as it was very refreshing.

Grotte di Catullo

After that we went for a walk, which took us all the way to Grotte di Catullo, the ruins of a roman villa which dated back to 27 BC – 14 AD). Entrance cost the adults 9 euros each (free for the boys). It was pleasant being outdoors seeing the views of the lake, admiring how impressive the villa must have once looked. It was named Grotte as when it was discovered and viewed from above it looked like caves rather than the remains of a villa.

We didn’t quite fancy the walk back so caught another land train (our third of the week) which for 1.20 euros each took us back to the hustle and bustle of Sirmione.

Il Girasole

We had some lunch at Il Girasole, which came highly recommended on Tripadvisor. Unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Both my boys were very pleased with their meals. However we had asked for our meat well done, well it almost jumped off the plate, it was very red. However the potatoes were lovely and the dessert a triumph. So it wasn’t a complete loss. But on top of that they didn’t ask my husband want he wanted to drink which annoyed him, plus his dessert (a cheesecake) wasn’t his idea of cheesecake. He is a bit of a cheesecake connoisseur and he had been hoping that would have redeemed his meal. I wish he had gone for my dessert, a chocolate fondant cake which wouldn’t have disappointed him.

Then we caught the ferry back to Garda, having enjoyed visiting Sirmione.