Padenghe sul Garda

The high village on the hillside is dominated by the medieval castle-a 10th-century fortified enclosure that preserves its inhabited fabric intact. Unlike castle-museums, the castle of Padenghe is still inhabited: the houses leaning against the walls, the alleys with stone arches, the little flowered balconies, and the small church of Saints Aemilianus and Tirso make up a living whole, where the Middle Ages is not reconstruction but everyday life.

From the patrol walkway – part of which can be walked – the view embraces the Gulf of Desenzano, the Sirmione peninsula and Mount Baldo: one of the widest panoramas of the Valtenesi. The Municipal Park, at the foot of the castle, offers a green area with children’s games and picnic spaces in the shade of centuries-old trees.