Veneto · Verona
Costermano sul Garda
A morainal-hill commune above the eastern shore, home to one of the largest German military cemeteries in Italy.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Costermano sul Garda is on our list.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 34 min from Verona
- Population
- 3,967
- J8°
- F10°
- M13°
- A16°
- M20°
- J25°
- J28°
- A27°
- S23°
- O18°
- N12°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The commune sits on a moraine amphitheater twenty-five kilometers northwest of Verona. The hills were a feud of the Brescia monastery of Santa Giulia in the early Middle Ages, then passed through Scaliger and Venetian rule before joining Italy in 1866; the name sul Garda was added only in 2018, to anchor the town's tourism identity to the water it sits above rather than on. That distinction matters here: this is not a lakefront village but a hill settlement looking down at the shore, its center, its cemetery hill, and its vineyard slopes arranged around the belvedere at Marciaga rather than around a harbor.
The economy runs on olive oil and hillside vines, and on the holiday accommodation that has filled these slopes since the 1970s, but the single largest reason people come here is not agricultural. The cemetery holds the dead of a war fought decades after the monastery's feud and centuries after the Scaliger lords, and it sits on the same morainal hill as the sanctuary, the parish church, and the vine rows, a place where the working landscape and the memorial landscape occupy the same short walk rather than separate zones.
How to get there
From Verona (VRN), about 42 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 1 h 22 min away.
By car from the center of Trento 57 min or Brescia 58 min.
Coming from Verona, Venice or Bologna?
Coming by train into Verona Porta Nuova? Costermano sul Garda is about 32 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Verona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Santuario della Madonna del Castello
Sanctuary on the spur of Marciaga, its fifteenth-century frescoes intact, with a terrace looking over Lake Garda and the eastern shore.
Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof
The graves cover the hillside above the lake, laid out since 1967 for the dead of the Second World War, a place kept in silence rather than commentary.
Chiesa di San Siro
Parish church rebuilt in the nineteenth century in the center of the village, its freestanding campanile visible from the surrounding slopes.
Belvedere di Marciaga
Lookout above the village at around 350 meters, the principal point from which the lake and the morainal amphitheater are read as one landscape.
Bardolino DOC vineyards
Hillside vines for the Corvina-Rondinella-Molinara wines of the Bardolino zone, with cantine open through the warm months.
From the guides
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.
La Casa degli SpiritiRistorante
La Casa degli Spiriti holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Osteria dai CoghiRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at Osteria dai Coghi.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Costermano sul Garda is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 3,967, with Cavaion Veronese (5,997 people) 11 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Verona, a city of 255,039, is 34 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 3,967, up 7.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Verona, 34 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Bussolengo, 17 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,850 to €3,100 per m² to buy
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 74% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Verona airport (VRN), 42 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Venice, 1 h 40 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Germany and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 80 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. There are 197 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 50% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Verona province ranks 7th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Bussolengo, 17 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Verona, 26 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Verona, 26 km away. The nearest IB school is International School Brescia, 25 km as the crow flies. There are 2 within 30 km.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.03% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Veneto spends about €2,310 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €490 a year for water, on the Veneto average. In Verona, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.25, a meal in a pizzeria €11.58 and a man's haircut €22.03.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 1% in a high or medium one. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
GERMAN CEMETERY
Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof opened in 1967, with 21,931 Second World War graves, the second-largest German cemetery in Italy.
GARDA BALCONY
Morainal-hill position at 237 meters above the eastern shore, with a continuous view across the lake.
OLIVE AND WINE
Olive groves and Bardolino DOC vines on the moraine slopes, the working agriculture behind the holiday economy.
Common questions
- What is Costermano sul Garda known for?
- Costermano sul Garda is a morainal-hill commune at 237 meters above the eastern shore, home to one of the largest German military cemeteries in Italy.
- Where is Costermano sul Garda?
- Costermano sul Garda is a comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto.
- What is the nearest airport to Costermano sul Garda?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Verona (VRN), about 42 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Trento to Costermano sul Garda?
- About 57 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Costermano sul Garda?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Costermano sul Garda?
- Bellagio, Cannobio and Tremezzina.
- How many people live in Costermano sul Garda?
- 3,967 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Costermano sul Garda a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Costermano sul Garda is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Cavaion Veronese, 11 min). The nearest city, Verona, is 34 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Bussolengo, 17 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 74% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 237 m
- Population: 3,967
- Surface area: 16.74 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.
The ranked lists
Lists Costermano sul Garda appears in
- The best lake towns that eat well within 90 minutes of VeronaNear Veronalakewithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 1,500 residents · closest 30 min away
- The best lake towns within two hours of BolognaNear Bolognalakewithin 2 hours6 towns · smallest 3,967 residents · closest 106 min away
- The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of VeronaVerona provinceserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 1,500 residents
- The best wine towns within an hour of BresciaNear Bresciawithin 60 minwine zone6 towns · smallest 3,967 residents · closest 28 min away
- The 7 best small towns that eat well in VenetoVenetoeats wellsmall7 towns · smallest 1,500 residents
- The best wine towns within 75 minutes of TrentoNear Trentowithin 75 minwine zone7 towns · smallest 2,888 residents · closest 57 min away
Featured on
Costermano sul Garda appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Costermano sul Garda
What all six share with Costermano sul Garda: lake towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
The letter
Costermano sul Garda 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Costermano sul Garda comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Chioggia, 127 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.