Malcesine Tourist Information

Malcesine is the largest town on the North East section of Lake Garda with a population of 3,600.

The historic centre of the town (Centro Storico) is a surprisingly intricate with a labyrinth of small shopping streets and a lovely, picturesque harbour.  
Head towards the castle to find the quieter corners of Malcesine with some very chilled out cafes tucked away in small piazzas and the 13th Century Castle itself costs 4 euros to visit and has a wonderful view of the lake and the village rooftops.  The German writer Wolfgang von Goethe (who we hadn't heard of!) was apparently a great advocate of Malcesine and judging by the number of German tourists, his books sold well!
It is unlikely that von Goethe visited some of the really cool bars though but which retain a unique Italian ambience, but von Goeth may have visited some of the lovely art galleries or sipped coffee at one of the many pavement cafes.

In terms of shopping there is a market every Saturday morning in the market square, but markets aside there is a great range of interesting shops and not a McDonalds, Pizza Hut or Burger King in sight!

Leather goods are particularly popular in Malcesine with some very well made leather goods at reasonable prices.  But there is also a surprising array of high quality shops selling designer labels and good quality products from designers that haven't yet made it across in the UK (yet).

One attraction not to miss is the cable car ride to the summit of Monte Baldo.  This is a huge cable car station, but not well signposted, but is situated on the East side of the Gardasena (lakeside) road just opposite the road to the town centre.  The cable cars regularly leave for the summit of Monte Baldo where you can not only see spectacular views but can also enjoy some amazing mountain top walks along pre-existing paths (crampons and climbing gear not required!).

If you are looking for sporting activities, there is mountain bike rental at Furioli (Piazza Matteotti), surfing school at Nany's at Navene, a sailing centre (www.malcesine.com/wwwind), diving at Malcesine Dream Sub, Val di Sogno (South of Malcesine), a sailing school in the town itself accessed by walking along the main road into Malcesine and not turning off into the old town, this road eventually leads to the lakeside pathway and the sailing school is on the right, opposite H20 outlet centre.

Parking is very easy with many carparks close to Malcesine town centre or near to the cable car