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00 Bardolino
Stemma di Bardolino

Veneto · Verona

Bardolino

Lake Garda's east-shore wine town, where Corvina and Rondinella grapes have made Bardolino and Chiaretto since the Roman period.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
36 min from Verona
By train
Station in the comune
Population
6,919

Known for

  • BARDOLINO

    DOC red from Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, granted in 1968 and produced in the hills between the lake and Verona.

  • CHIARETTO

    Rosé from the same grapes with short skin contact; now outsells the red, celebrated each June at the Palio del Chiaretto.

  • ROMANESQUE

    San Zeno from the ninth century and San Severo from the eleventh-twelfth give Bardolino two of the oldest churches on the lake.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J8°
  • F11°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M22°
  • J27°
  • J29°
  • A29°
  • S24°
  • O19°
  • N13°
  • D9°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Bardolino sits on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, twenty-five kilometers northwest of Verona. The hills behind town have been planted with vines since the Roman period, and the modern DOC was granted in 1968. Three grapes do the work: Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara.

Long maceration produces Bardolino, the light red the town has lived on since the nineteenth century; short skin contact produces Chiaretto, the rosé that has overtaken the red in current sales. Two churches hold the medieval line. San Zeno in the centro storico is ninth-century, one of the oldest in the province of Verona.

San Severo, built between the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries on the foundations of an earlier church mentioned in an 893 charter of Berengario, is the town's Romanesque anchor. The lakefront has been a tourist promenade since the 1950s. The Palio del Chiaretto runs the first weekend of June; the Festa dell'Uva e del Vino runs the first week of October.

The Sunday letter

Bardolino is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Bardolino comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Bardolino in our articles

How to get there

From Verona (VRN), about 44 minutes by car.

Milan (BGY) is about 1h 19m away.

By car from the centre of Brescia 55 minutes or Trento 1 hour.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Verona, Venice or Bologna?

Coming by train into Verona Porta Nuova? Bardolino is about 34 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Verona airport.

Bardolino, photo 1
Bardolino, photo 2

What to see

  • Chiesa di San Severo

    Romanesque church built between the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries on the foundations of a structure mentioned in a 893 charter.

  • Chiesa di San Zeno

    Ninth-century church in the centro storico, one of the oldest in the province of Verona, on a Latin cross plan with a small apse.

  • Centro storico

    Walled medieval core around Piazza Matteotti, with arcaded streets dating to the Venetian period from the fifteenth century.

  • Lungolago

    Lakefront promenade running north toward Garda and south toward Cisano, with public swimming areas and the harbor for ferries.

  • Strada del Bardolino

    Wine route through the hills behind town, signposted across Cavaion, Affi, Pastrengo and the vineyards of the Bardolino DOC.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Bardolino fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 6,919
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Verona, 44 min drive
  • Regional capital Venezia, 1 h 43 min drive

Common questions

What is Bardolino known for?
Lake Garda's east-shore wine town at 65 meters, where Corvina and Rondinella grapes have made Bardolino and Chiaretto since the Roman period.
Where is Bardolino?
Bardolino is a comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto.
What is the nearest airport to Bardolino?
Verona (VRN), about 44 minutes by car.
Can you get to Bardolino without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Brescia to Bardolino?
About 55 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Bardolino?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Bardolino?
Yes. Bardolino Freddo, Sagra Dei Osei and Festa dell'uva e del Vino Bardolino. August is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Bardolino?
Iseo, Lazise and Malcesine.
How many people live in Bardolino?
6,919 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 65 m
  • Population: 6,919
  • Surface area: 57.33 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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