Perfect for a restful, relaxing holiday, Lake Garda – as Colin Nicholson discovered – is also a great destination for adrenaline junkies.

Lake Garda, in north-eastern Italy, is known on the Continent as the adventure sports capital of Europe… and by the British as a tranquil ‘lakes and mountains’ destination, worth visiting for its gorgeous views and lakeside castles and for being a good base for cultural excursions.


Aerial view of Lake Garda

Having experienced both sides of its character, I can report that the lake is managing its split personality well, catering for all types of visitors – although it does help to have a few pointers on where to stay according to what you are looking for in a holiday there.

Almost all of the adrenaline-fuelled activities are to the north, where the lake cuts spectacularly into the Dolomite mountain range. The south-east is best placed for day trips, as it is an hour closer to Verona, with its magnificent Roman amphitheatre that stages open-air operas throughout the summer, and Venice.

But there is plenty to see and do around the lake itself. Wherever you stay, an extensive network of ferries takes you around the lake for relatively modest sums. One of the most popular excursions is taking the hydrofoil to Sirmione on the south shore. This quaint, fortified town sits at the end of a long peninsula jutting out into the lake like a miniature Venice. While similarly romantic it is equally abuzz with tourists. For some calm, visitors can escape to the Roman ruins at the tip of the peninsula.


Sirmione Castle

On the eastern shore you can walk from one fishing village to the next, stopping at sandy beaches to take a dip in the clear water on the way, while wine buffs can do wine-tasting tours around Bardolino. In the evening dine al fresco on fresh fish from the lake and local wine to the sound of waves slapping against the harbour walls. Lake Garda’s ‘season’ typically runs from May to September, but some visitors prefer to avoid the hottest months of July and August. Pack a big brolly though, for when the summer weather gives, the downpours are torrential.


The remains of a castle on Lake Garda

The western shore is home to some of the oldest and finest hotels, with loungers neatly arranged in lines on the pontoons in front of spotless terraces. Staying at the Grand in Gardone, we found that the hotel also sponsors a unique competition. Every Saturday evening from June to August, regattas of Venetian gondoliering are held in a different town around the lake, with the historical final held in Venice in September. Even if you miss the competition you may see the teams practising.

Elegant parks and gardens at Gardone lead away up the hillside to the Vittoriale degli Italiani– the gardens and former home of the proto-fascist-cum-poet Gabriele d'Annunzio. (www.vittoriale.it). D’Annunzio is a fascinating figure, as the museum attests. Though he was a nationalist leader and military commander who entertained Mussolini, he wrote a bill of equal rights for all genders, races and sexualities in the 1920s. And in the best Italian tradition, this consummate womaniser’s most successful conquests were in the bedroom, and his worst injury – both on and off the battlefield – was sustained when he was pushed out of a window by a jealous lover.

Away from his darkened rooms, you can see the enormous prow of a ship given to him by the navy, which is now set into the hillside, as well as the aeroplane he used to drop leaflets, not bombs, over the enemy capital of Vienna in the First World War.

Until 1918, the north tip of the lake was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the best way to see the trenches and tunnels of this mile-high battlefield site is by following a via ferrata route. It was here that the concept of an ‘iron road’ of ladders set into the rock was invented by the Italians during the First World War to help their troops get about the mountains when they were fighting the Austrian forces in one of the most protracted conflicts of the war.


Arco

To follow the modern via ferrata routes you need have no skill other than being able to climb a ladder, secure in the knowledge that this is one form of mountain climbing where you can’t fall off as you are always attached by one of two steel cables attached to your harness. Friends of Arco offers guided tours. (www.friendsofarco.it)


Climbing Cima Capi

With the summer sun beating down, you will be grateful for the shade of the bunkers, as you climb one edge of the sheer face of the 909 metre Cima Capi, which plunges straight into the rippling azure waters below. It is a breath taking climb, but if you have the least interest in history it is doubly exciting to see how the battle was waged from trenches high in the mountains.

Another popular new sport that can safely be done by all age groups is canyoning, but this time your aim is to get down the mountain by walking, swimming, climbing and bum sliding through a river bed back down towards the lake. Try Canyoning Adventures in Torbole, which will even take confident beginners down intermediate canyons (www.canyonadv.com).

Bike rides vary from the easy five kilometre lakeside and riverside trip from Riva to Torbole via the medieval town of Arco taking in a few vineyards on the way, to a 24 kilometre route inland through the vineyards and olive groves of the colourful Loppio valley to Rovereto. Mountain bikers may want to head up on the tracks above Torbole for more challenging stuff, or do the famous 28 kilometre descent from Monte Tremalzo down to Tremosine, just behind Limone.


Serious Mountain Biking

Garda is best known for its windsurfing, as the mountains funnel constant winds over the lake. The gentle northerly Peler wind blows from 9am to around 11.30am and is good for beginners, who will find it easier to stay upright here than on the sea, with Torbole being a good place to start – try Lido Blu (www.surflb.com) or Surf Segnana (www.surfsegnana.it).


Windsurfing Lake Garda

But you can also try catamaran sailing (www.stickl.com) and – for the most energetic – kite surfing (www.tropical-paradise-kitesurfing.com).

With even parapenting (a cross between hang-gliding and parachuting) and base jumping possible on the northern shores near Arco, at Lake Garda you will never have an excuse to say you were bored.