Castello Scaligero di Sirmione — Attraction in Sirmione

The Scaligero Castle is a fortress from the Scaliger era, access point to the historical center of Sirmione, on Lake Garda. It's one of Italy's best preserved castles.] In 2019 it was the 22nd most visited attraction in Italy, with 308,459 visitors.

Built in the latter half of the 14th century on the southernmost part of Lake Garda in the Northern Italy. Construction was initiated on behalf of the Della Scala family of Verona, who are known as the Scaligeri from which it takes its name.[3] The family ruled Verona and a large part of the Venetian area from the years 1259 to 1387.

The castle was later controlled by the Republic of Venice from the 15th century after the Della Scala family submitted to Venice in 1405. It continued to be an important fortification in the area. Its decline in importance began with the completion of the nearby fortress in Peschiera del Garda in the 16th century.

It continued to be used as an armory and fortification until the Unification of Italy when it became the office of the local government of Sirmione.[4] Restoration began after World War I in 1919, when it became a museum and tourist attraction. However it was not fully restored until 2018 when the internal waters of the castle were cleared. The internal docks are the only surviving example of a 14th-century...

Review of Sirmione (visited 10 September) If you’re not staying in the Sirmione area, I would not recommend visiting as a day trip. The Arriva website says you can buy a ticket (€4.20) from Verona station to Sirmione – Largo Faselo Centro (just a short walk to the castle) and that the trip takes about 70 minutes. In reality, the bus only goes to Sirmione – Colombare, Via Roma, where the driver makes everyone transfer to a shuttle bus. I had to wait about 15 minutes there, and the total journey took almost 2 hours. The same problem happened on the way back. I had to wait 30 minutes for the LN26 bus, so altogether I spent nearly 5 hours just traveling between Verona and Sirmione.

This completely ruined my plan—I had scheduled 2.5 hours for travel, 2 hours to enjoy the lake and castle, and then needed to return to Verona to catch a bus to Bergamo Airport. Instead, I spent almost the entire day stuck in transit, worrying whether I’d even make it back in time (especially since other reviews mention buses sometimes not showing up).

As for Sirmione itself: the lake looks nice, but the castle is quite small, and even in September the town was overcrowded. For me, this ended up being the worst experience of my trip...

There are many medieval castles scattered around Lake Garda in Italy, but the Scaligeri Castle in Malcesine is the most beautiful of them all. The castle is built on top of a rock, to which the houses of the historic center of Malcesine cling. The history of Malcesine's Scaliger Castle dates back to the early Middle Ages - the Lombards first built a fortress here to control the lake. At the end of the 6th century, the fortress was destroyed and then rebuilt by the Franks. In 1277, the fortress became the property of Alberto Della Scala - a member of the Scaliger dynasty of medieval rulers of Verona. He renovated it into the castle as it looks today. For centuries, the city could only be accessed by water and the castle played an important role in protecting the area and controlling the movement of the lakes. Sirzina Gate is the only entry point to the castle and its grounds. A proud dungeon stands out above the various buildings and the courtyards are surrounded by walls. Today, Casermata – one of the main buildings of the castle – hosts the local museum of the natural history of Monte Baldo...