We usually recommend a walk that sets off from the centre and covers the main points of interest in the town. From the parish church of San Pietro in Cattedra, with its strikingly unusual façade and bronze portal, made in 2006 to mark the 200th anniversary of its consecration, we continue along Via Roma until we reach Piazza Carlo Alberto with the old well and Palazzo Municipale where the IAT Pro Loco office is situated. From here, going along Via Antonio Murari, we pass in front of Palazzo Guarienti which today houses the Library. A few hundred metres further on, in Via Cavour, is Parco Giardino Sigurtà. In 2018, the Garden celebrated 40 years of being open to the public. We turn right into Via Circonvallazione Maffei and arrive at Villa Sigurtà, the magnificent summer residence of the Maffei counts. In front of the entrance gate, Via Giuseppe Verdi takes us to Piazza San Rocco where we can see the Teatro Smeraldo theatre opposite us, the venue for a series of plays, musicals and concerts in the winter months. On the right, Via San Rocco leads to Borghetto. Before going down to the small village on the river, a narrow cobbled road on the left, Via degli Scaligeri, takes you up to the Castello Scaligero, the town’s symbolic fortress and incomparable panoramic viewpoint. From here, you can take the narrow path of steps that leads down the hill to Borghetto.

Valeggio sul Mincio alone can easily fill up a weekend, but for those staying longer it is worth noting other points of interest in the area. The cities of art of Verona and Mantova – not to forget Brescia which is easily reached by train – are certainly the main attractions along with the more famous resorts of Lake Garda. We must, however, bear in mind that people who choose to stay in a smaller resort such as ours, have generally already visited the more popular tourist destinations and prefer to visit small villages and towns. This is “slow tourism” mentioned also by the Club dei Borghi più Belli d’Italia in its mission statement: a non-frenetic tourism, not a whirlwind “hit and run” but a tourism that, on the contrary, savours simple and ordinary landscapes, normal life, local culture, because “beautiful things are slow” (quoted from ” Pane e tulipani” (Bread and Tulips) – S. Soldini 1999). Our office usually recommends, among the places to visit in the surrounding area: Villafranca, Custoza and the Ossuary Museum, Castellaro Lagusello, Solferino and the “Spia d’Italia” (Spy of Italy) fortress, Castiglione delle Stiviere, birthplace of San Luigi Gonzaga and home of the Museo Internazionale della Croce Rossa (International Museum of the Red Cross); San Martino della Battaglia with its characteristic round tower (completely renovated for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy) where you can admire a splendid panorama of the morainic hills and the adjacent Museo del Risorgimento museum. For a more extensive out-of-town trip, Salò and Gardone Riviera with the Vittoriale (the house-museum of Gabriele D’Annunzio) and Isola del Garda island. A nice alternative would be to visit some of the resorts on Lake Garda with a boat trip (www.navlaghi.it).