SIRMIONE
Hotel Belvedere: We had some recommendations for hotels in Sirmione from friends who had recently been there. We were going for a week and all their recommendations were booked. We went on Trip Advisor and saw that the hotel rated as the #1 still had a room for us so we booked it. It was not in the old section of the city which is where we wanted to be but the distance to the old city was only 2KM (about 1 mile) and we had our bicycles with us and we normally have no problem walking one mile. If you do not want to walk or ride a bike or take a cab to the old city than this place is not for you. If you want a clean place on the lake with lots of very good restaurants near by then this could be for you.
We could not have been happier with our choice and we see why it is number one even though it is not located in the old section of Sirmione. It is not often that the owners of a hotel can enhance a trip as Sergio and his wife Christina did. This really is a special place. The breakfast was great.
Sergio always had a special decorated plate for my wife. He did always get the name right.
He was a biker and gave us great tips on where to bike each day and where to eat each night. Parking is easy at the (free on weekdays) public lot right in front of the hotel.
There is a small breakfast area outside in front of the hotel on the lake. The weather was pretty chilly in the mornings so we were not able to sit outside. When we arrived the owners brought us a drink to have outside.
We did not opt for the lakeside view so this was the view from our room. We did not spend much time in the room so it did not matter. If we wanted a view we could just walk downstairs.
The Castle Scaligero sits at the entrance to the old section of Sirmione. This is a typical port fortification of the 13th century.
At the end of the long peninsula is the remains of a large Roman villa probably built in the first century BCE. It is one of the best preserved Roman villas in northern Italy. This map shows the Sirmione peninsula from north to south. The Roman villa is at the tip at the bottom of the peninsula.
One of the shops in the old part of the city had gelato pops. We stopped by later to get one but it was closed.
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