A motorcyclist on a lakeside road passing a medieval castle tower above Lake Garda at golden hour (illustrative)

Lake Garda Circuit

Italy's largest lake — castles, lemon groves and lakeside curves.

Length 160 km
Duration 2 days
Skill Easy-Intermediate
Season Spring / early autumn
Region Italian Lakes

~160 km loop of Italy's largest lake, from Mediterranean-feeling southern shores to the Alpine north, past Scaliger castles and lemon-terraced cliffs.

The route

On your way

  • Desenzano del Garda Town

    Roman ruins, harbor.

  • Sirmione Castle

    Scaliger castle, Grotte di Catullo.

  • Peschiera del Garda Castle

    Star-shaped fortress.

  • Bardolino Winery

    Wine; lakeside promenade.

  • Malcesine Castle

    Scaliger Castle, Monte Baldo cable car.

  • Riva del Garda Town

    North tip, water sports.

  • Limone sul Garda Photo spot

    Lemon groves, cliffs.

  • Salò Town

    Elegant promenade.

Where to stay

Good bases along the route — search live availability on Booking.com:

Some links on this page are affiliate links — MotoPasso may earn a commission from bookings made through Booking.com, at no extra cost to you.

What to eat

  • Lake fish (trout/whitefish)
  • Olive oil
  • Bardolino & Lugana wines

Ride safe

  • Narrow northern stretches
  • Heavy summer/weekend traffic

Things to know

  • Ferries can shorten the loop.
A narrow road hugging the cliffside above Lake Garda with cypress trees and a village below (illustrative)

In the works

The MotoPasso app — coming soon

We’re building a companion app that puts these routes in your pocket: offline turn-by-turn navigation, the full typed point-of-interest map, and every featured tour available even where there’s no signal.

It’s not on the app stores yet — this page is where the routes live for now. We’ll announce the launch here.

A flat-lay of a motorcycle trip plan — map, phone with route, gloves, and a coffee (illustrative)