Nature

Isola del Garda da San Felice

San Felice del Benaco

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The largest island on the lake, with a neo-Gothic villa and gardens.

Isola del Garda is the largest island on Lake Garda, lying just a few minutes by boat off the coast of San Felice del Benaco. Owned by the Cavazza family, it is open for guided tours from April to October — a place where nature, architecture and history blend into one of the most spectacular settings on the entire lake.

The villa and the gardens

At the heart of the island stands the villa in Venetian neo-Gothic style, built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with crenellations, mullioned windows and loggias that recall the palaces along the Grand Canal. All around lie Italian and English gardens: geometric terraces, fountains and clipped hedges give way to a freer park, dotted with exotic plants, cypresses, palms and olive trees that run down to the shore.

A thousand-year history

The island has an ancient spiritual past: here Saint Francis of Assisi founded a hermitage in 1220, later a Franciscan friary visited by Saint Bernardino of Siena. After centuries of monastic life and several changes of ownership, at the end of the 19th century the island was transformed into the residence and park we see today, cared for and opened to the public by the Cavazza family.

The guided tour

The island is reached by boat, with departures from the harbour of San Felice del Benaco and other landing stages around the lake. The guided tour lasts about two hours and leads visitors through the gardens, the panoramic terraces and the rooms of the villa, with privileged views over the gulf and the Rocca di Manerba. The tour includes return boat transfer and a welcome drink.