Malcesine. Travel notes. One of the best places in Garda
Throughout its history, the picturesque Malcesine attracted famous artists and poets such as Goethe, Kafka and Klimt, who glorified the town and immortalized its name in their works. What caused the love for such a small town?
2. The main attraction of the city Malcesine Scaliger Castle. Yes, yes, the same ones I talked about recently. The castle was built by the Lombards on a stone promontory on the ruins of an older building. The building was built in 568, but soon after that it was destroyed by the Franks and reconstructed only three centuries later. Although the castle is associated with the Scaliger family, they did not own it for long, a little more than a century.
3. The castle is a symbol of the city and one of the most popular places not only among tourists from other countries, but Italians themselves love to come to it. Wedding ceremonies, various special events and photo sessions are held here.
4. Recently, Malcesine Another symbol of the city has appeared; it has already won the sympathy of citizens and tourists. And cats became this symbol. Black Cats. You can see them everywhere! On the streets of the historical center, on the rock next to the castle, in shopping arcades and on the facades of buildings. The reason for their appearance is simple - the master who creates these lovely masterpieces lives here. What makes Italians stand out? Supporting local craftsmen and artisans. This is exactly the case; many restaurants and hotels have acquired black tailed “pets”.
5. A curious incident happened to Goethe within the castle walls. The great German poet was mistaken for a spy and spent a couple of days in prison. Impressed by the beauty of the Scaliger's creation, Goethe decided to make sketches of the palace, and local residents complained about it and reported it to the right place. Later he described everything in “The Italian Journey” and published the same sketch there. In honor of the great poet, a museum was opened in the city.
6. If you take a walk along the embankment away from the historical center of Malcesine, you can see three of the five islands Lake Garda.
7. With all this abundance of interesting and historically significant facts Malcesine is a relatively small Italian commune, not even a city! The population is only 3.7 thousand people, which is probably why it is always so especially cozy here.
Sponsor's Corner
The Mercury company was founded in 2004 and is one of the leading tour operators in Italy, as well as other countries of the world. The company organizes both individual and group tours. Travel and vacation are learning something new, unknown, new acquaintances and hobbies. The journey should correspond to your inner world and ideas! To be the way you see it, so you can always be confident in the individual approach of the company’s managers, who know and love Italy, and attentive attitude to any of your wishes. Tours to Italy or any other country in the world at your request.
8. But they managed to ruin even such a city with an underground passage!
9. Varlamov says correctly, people are not moles and must walk the earth, but I can only subscribe to these words.
10. You cannot appear in the city in beach attire.
11. There are no modern buildings in Malcesine, time stopped several centuries ago, and the new buildings include a cable car and an underground passage. But this is precisely what attracts the city. Look how beautiful it is, without renovations, without gloss, beautiful and natural.
12. This is an amazing city on the Garda coast.
13. Now I understand what attracted Goethe, Kafka and Klimt so much here.
14. And if I post entire lines from works, I won’t have enough space within this post, but nothing will stop me from posting a Klimt painting.
Picture from the site
This ancient castle changed owners many times. It was owned by the Lombards, Venetians, French and Austrians, and the influential Visconti and Scaliger families. The exact date of construction of the first castle is unknown, but it is known that in 590 the Franks destroyed it. At the beginning of the 9th century they rebuilt it. And from 1277 to 1387 the castle remained the family seat of the Scaligers, a powerful family from Verona.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Malcesine Castle became famous thanks to the great Goethe, who visited it during his trip to Italy, which he wrote about in his book “Italian Travels”. Sketches of the castle made by the author himself were also published there.
In memory of this, the Goethe Museum was opened in one of the halls of the Castle. There are also two natural history museums (Monte Baldo and Lake Garda), as well as a fishing museum. However, the main reason why crowds of tourists flock here is to hold weddings in this picturesque place, full of beauty and romance.
Telephone: +39 39 045 7400837
Location: Malcesine Più Istituzione del Comune di Malcesine, Via Capitanato 6 - 37018 Malcesine (VR) - Italia
Coordinates: north latitude 45.75270200, east. 10.83058800
Malcesine Castle on the map
By clicking anywhere on our site or clicking “Accept”, you agree to the use of cookies and other technologies for the processing of personal data. You can change your privacy settings. Cookies are used by us and our trusted partners to analyze, improve and personalize your user experience on the site. These cookies are also used to target advertising that you see both on our site and on other platforms. “Italy is a luxurious country! She is all paradise, all full of joy...” (Nikolai Gogol)
It is difficult to disagree with the classic, and even more so with such an authoritative traveler, because everyone knows that Gogol spent more than one year in Italy (and not only). But that's not what we're talking about. Something reminded me of Italy, and therefore I decided to take a break from describing my last year’s trip to Spain and devote a short review to one very small town, hidden in the foothills of the southern Alps on Lake Garda - Malcesine. Have you heard of this? So I didn’t, until the very moment I started preparing for the trip to Garda.
As usual, I quite accidentally came across a photo on the Internet of a cable car cabin hovering over the green slope of a mountain, with the largest lake in Italy stretching out around it with its emerald surface. Fascinating picture! And I disappeared... I wanted to be there right away.
Actually, in my opinion, Malcesine is not very suitable for “horseless” tourists for a stop on Lake Garda. It is located in the northeast of the lake, where it narrows and the mountains closely approach the shores, forming a kind of fjord. It’s far away, and you can only get there by bus from Verona or Peschiera (a small town on Lake Garda) in about an hour and a half, making stops in other small towns along the way. You can also take a mini-cruise on the lake to get to Malcesine. The ships travel through all the towns of Garda, making stops in each of them. The schedule (www.navigazionelaghi.it) seemed inconvenient to us, and the travel time was too long (about 3-3.5 hours), so we opted for the bus.
For those who, like us, are staying in Peschiera del Garda, it will not be difficult to get to Malcesine by bus number 183 from the railway station. Tickets can be bought at the box office or from a machine, the cost is 4.6 euros, the price from the driver is slightly higher. By the way, the schedule was not followed at all, and we waited exactly 40 minutes for our bus. Oh, these Italians - and let the whole world wait!
For us, a pleasant bonus of the trip to the treasured town was the road, which runs exactly along the coast, and from the window sometimes such views open up that you can’t take your eyes off. It’s a whole sightseeing tour, and the names of the towns along the way are a song: Lazise, Cisano, Bardolino... And almost all of them are like candy, cozy, clean, green, with beautiful embankments and beautiful beaches.
Malcesine is notable not only for its cable car. Already at the entrance to the city, the eye is involuntarily attracted by the Ghibelline battlements of the local castle. This is the Scaliger castle. It was built during the time of the Lombards - ancient Germanic tribes who settled in this region in 568, but subsequently the castle was reconstructed several times and was eventually rebuilt by the Scaligerians - the noble Verona dynasty, who turned it into a military fortress surrounded by powerful walls. By the way, the Scaligers themselves owned this castle for only a short time, about 110 years, and the fortress continually passed into the hands of the Franks, Austrians, Venetians, and French.
It’s good that today we can see the castle in fairly good condition; it houses three museums: the Goethe Museum, the Fisheries Museum and the Natural History Museum. It is often rented by newlyweds for wedding photo sessions. And it’s not worth talking about how majestic the castle looks against the backdrop of the lake, mountains, framed by lush vegetation! It is not for nothing that the famous Gustav Klimt dedicated one of his paintings to this castle. The painting is called “Castle of Malcesine on Lake Garda”.
But the most important thing for which you should come to Malcesine is, of course, the opportunity to take the cable car to Monte Baldo. The funicular is unique, firstly, because it is the only one on Lake Garda, and, secondly, it is the first in the world with cabins rotating 360 degrees! On it you can climb to a height of almost 1800 meters, and then there is the opportunity to hike to a height of just over 2200 meters! For more detailed information, there is a website: www.funiviedelbaldo.it
Needless to say, during the season the funicular is in extraordinary demand. To “fly up to the heavens” you will need to stand in a rather long line. I specifically timed the time from the moment we got into the “tail” until the moment we boarded the first cabin - exactly an hour and a half!!! Tickets are purchased as the line moves. The cost of an adult ticket is 20 euros. So keep in mind, if you want to enjoy a mountain walk while on Lake Garda, leave for Malcesine early!
Yes, I didn’t make a reservation, there are really two booths. The first one takes you to the intermediate station, and then there is a transfer to the second one, the same rotating cabin that will take you to the top of the mountain.
What can you do on the mountain? That's right, a soulful walk along the mountain paths, admiring the panorama of the slopes, the lake, and the town, which seems very small from above! You can also simply meditate, sitting on warm, sun-heated stones right on the mountainside and admiring Garda. It is from here, from Mount Monte Baldo, that you can see the entire lake from north to south, the opposite western shore with the town of Limone and the northernmost town of Riva del Garda! Oh, and what incredibly beautiful mountains surround the lake in this place, and even with curly clouds hanging over them!
It was interesting to discover that Monte Baldo is also the center of paragliding in Garda. With bated breath, I watched as another daredevil on a bright glider soared over the very center of the lake at a high altitude, and dozens more multi-colored paragliders were gliding over the mountains. I was glad to myself that the weather did not disappoint, and during our walk the visibility was almost 100%; some of the reviews were frightening that nothing could be seen because of the fog over the lake, or cloudiness in the mountains. Although, nevertheless, under the “curtain” of our walk, the sky began to frown, the peaks disappeared into the clouds, a breeze rose, which drove small white clouds that seemed so close that you could touch them with your hand...
To all the natural delights there was also added a completely unforgettable idyllic picture with a whole herd of grazing alpine cows. We noticed them from afar, and all thanks to the ringing of the bells. And while we were walking, the ringing became closer and closer, and eventually the cows caught up with the tourists and, as mistresses of these places, freely scattered across the green lawn, eating juicy fresh greens. True, the vigilant guard, a spaniel, who, barking loudly, showed up very soon, did not allow them to roam. And after him, the shepherd arrived in time, with deft actions he gathered his charges into a group and led them away from the tourist spots. But it was very interesting to watch! How different are Alpine cows from ours - sleek, clean, with bangs and each with its own personal bell on its neck. Oh, and the chime from them was loud when they were very close to us.
By the way, long-eared white sheep were also found nearby on the slope, but for some reason the cutest donkeys were nibbling the grass behind the fence. But all the children who wanted could ride on noble horses, also very neat, with combed lush manes and tails.
There are several restaurants at the top, so there is no need to worry - your appetite will be fully satisfied. But it’s much more pleasant, it seems to me, to have your own mini-picnic in such a place, taking something edible with you and sitting on a secluded soft lawn.
Time at the top flies by unnoticed, the whole walk took us 4 hours and we would have liked to stay if it weren’t for the rain and the rising wind - walking in such weather in the mountains is not at all comfortable. Therefore, after going downstairs, we decided to devote some time to a small exploration of the city before the bus.
Malcesine is a typical small provincial town, in our minds we cannot even call it a city; the entire population is about 4 thousand inhabitants. But, however, it has a real historical part with medieval narrow winding streets paved with paving stones, old stone houses with colorful souvenir shops and home-made trattorias for 4 tables. Local hotels are located almost at the very edge of the water; the beaches in Malcesine are very good - sand and small pebbles. And the water in Garda is clean and comfortable, you can swim with pleasure!
By the way, if you come across a black cat along the way in Malcesine, don’t be alarmed, it’s a good omen here. Black cats are literally everywhere: in art galleries, on hotel signs, on tree trunks, on the facades of buildings and even on a rock next to a castle. And everything is explained simply: a local eccentric craftsman lives here, who makes these same cats, making them a kind of calling card of the city - a feature!
We had such a nice trip to Malcesine, a small but unusual place full of pleasant surprises. A very cozy and harmonious town where you want to live, create, dream and enjoy everything!
The Scaliger Castle, located on the north-eastern shore of Lake Garda in the small resort town of Malcesine in the province of Verona, is a medieval fortress built on the ruins of an older structure. It stands on a rocky cape protruding into the lake northwest of the historic city center.
Over its long history, the castle changed owners more than once - they were the Lombards and Franks, the powerful Scaliger and Visconti families, Venetians, French and Austrians. Most likely, the first castle on this site was built by the Lombards in the middle of the first millennium. In 590 it was destroyed by the Franks, and they rebuilt it at the beginning of the 9th century. Then, from 1277 to 1387, it was the residence of the Scaligers.
The castle gained all-European fame at the beginning of the 19th century after the great German poet Goethe wrote about it in his “Italian Travels,” and placed several drawings there with his own hand. In order to sketch a military site, Goethe risked his freedom and was even arrested - he was mistaken for a spy. Today the castle houses a small museum dedicated to the writer and his bust.
In addition to the Goethe Museum, in the halls of the Scaliger Castle there are the Natural History Museum of Lake Garda and Monte Baldo and the Fisheries Museum. And in recent years, it has become very popular to celebrate weddings and other celebrations within the walls of the ancient fortress.
In 1902, the Scaliger Castle, like another castle of the same name in the town of Torri del Benaco, was declared a national monument of Italy.