Torbole
This town spreads up the slopes of Monte Baldo with houses situated right down the amphitheatre to the gulf below.
Thanks to its windy position and the fact that this area is prohibited to most motor boats, Torbole has become an international centre for sailing and windsurfing and is a real paradise for those passionate about these sports. Torbole is rightly considered to be one of the world capitals of sailing and windsurfing. Of Torbole and its extraordinary winds the great writer Goethe wrote enthusiastically that it was “a marvel of nature, a delightful spectacle”. One part of the town, the most attractive, has preserved its original charm born of fishermen and sailors many centuries ago.
The most picturesque part of Torbole is the arcaded area which includes the old customs house (15th Century) and the Beust House already a coterie for artists after the Second World War. Corners of the square reflect its traditional past, like the little house “dazio” (the toll-booth), heritage of the Austro-Hungarian period, situated at the mouth of the small harbour, and the narrow central piazza where a memorial tablet records the stay of Goethe. Torbole has become a place much favoured by German painters who find great inspiration for their work in the wild beauty of its surroundings.
NAGO, spectacular gateway to the Lake, looks out from on high as when, as the defended citadel at the foot of Castel Penede, its vigilance was vital to the route from the Adige Valley to the Lake. This place is one of the most charming of the region: interesting for its rich Mediterranean vegetation, for its stupendous views down to the heart of Lake Garda and for the presence of the ruins of its castle (twelfth century) now made into a beautiful park. Included in the Nago-Torbole region is the Natural Park of Monte Baldo known, because of the richness of botanical species, as the Garden of Europe. Many species of plant exist in this marvellous natural habitat and many of the endemically present species have become famous around the world and call back students and tourists to see them time and again.