111 Places in Verona and Lake Garda that You Must Not Miss

Book excerpt: As you catch your first glimpse of the crystal-clear waters of Lake Garda with its endlessly long banks, you instantly begin envisioning sunset strolls through picturesque fishing villages and abandoning yourself to dolce far niente - the ineffable sweetness of doing nothing. Quite close by, Verona beckons you too - the city of the most famous and tragic lovers in the world, Romeo and Juliet, and of the ancient Roman arena with its annual opera festival. These are the sights and stories that leap to mind when one thinks of this region. But did you also know that the world's second-shortest river flows here? Or that the village of Limone did not get its name from its groves of lemon trees? Have you heard the true story of Juliet's famous balcony? Or the circumstances surrounding the 13th-century "Casa di Romeo" - the house in which the handsome young suitor could very well have lived? This guide will lead you to 111 special places rarely mentioned in conventional travel books, but which lend this history-laden idyll its sensual magic.