For my 2-week Italy trip I started in Verona. For more information about my time in Verona, see this blog post.

Next stop on my Italian food adventure was Desenzano Del Garda. I hopped on a train from Verona and was there in 23 minutes. Another 20 minute walk and I was in the lakefront. It was incredibly beautiful, just as I’d imagined, and I was excited to see more.

Tourist information: What to do
  • Hire a pedalo for an hour
  • Get a day ticket on the ferry to explore more of Lake Garda
  • Travel to Sirmione to see the beautiful castle
  • Enjoy the weekly Tuesday market
  • Chill
Food in Desenzano

Again, I’m going to split my food into the same sections as previously – pizza, pasta, coffee, gelato. Please note that I did not eat any gnocchi here so that section has been removed.

1. Pizza

First port of call in Desenzano was to grab a pizza. After eating a lot of prosciutto in Verona, I thought perhaps I should try something new. I found a lovely restaurant overlooking the famous square of Desenzano (pictured above) that had great pizza and cheap wine. I went for a rosemary potato pizza, which sounds unusual. However, I absolutely loved it! It was very filling, as you can imagine, but I would highly recommend.

🍽 Potato, rosemary, red onion

📍 Ristorante Columba

Next up was an amazing restaurant that we found up a side street. I went inside and it was huge inside! I got pizza bufalina and they did not skimp on the buffalo mozzarella. Simple pizza yet one of my favourites.

🍽 Pizza Bufalina (tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil)

📍 Ristorante Alessi

2. Pasta

I went to a lovely restaurant full of locals that had a very small menu. There were only 7 pasta dishes to choose from. I chose the spaghetti with fresh crab. It was amazing. Unfortunately for all of us, I cannot seem to find the photo for this.

Now I don’t normally like filled pastas such as ravioli or tortellini. However, this fresh homemade ravioli really won me over. It was filled with, what the menu referred to as, ‘cheese of the mountain’. The cheese was fantastic and not too overpowering. An utter success. Also tried another duck ragu and it was even better than the one in Verona.

🍽 Cheese ravioli with Parmesan, duck ragu

📍 Ristorante Columba

3. Coffee

Had plenty of lovely latte macchiatos. My favourite was at Frontera. Coffee by Illy Coffee.

🍽 Caffe latte macchiato

📍 Frontera

Now this is not a coffee but does fall under the category of hot drinks. My first Italian hot chocolate. What can I say? Wow. Thick creamy hot chocolate that was basically just a mug of melted chocolate. In other words, my type of drink.

🍽 Hot chocolate, cappuccino

📍Sirmione

4. Gelato

Okay so this one technically wasn’t in Desenzano. It was in Sirmione, which was 20 minutes away by ferry. I walked into this place with confidence ordering my flavours then got asked which cone I wanted. I pointed to one with sprinkles on that didn’t look larger-than-normal. Then she handed it to me. It was literally so much bigger than my face. It was a bit of a struggle to finish but I just about managed.

🍽 Strawberry and passionfruit yogurt gelato

📍 Cremeria Bulian

And that just about rounds up Desenzano Del Garda. Oh wait, in wouldn’t be a trip to the lakes without some fresh seafood. Check out these mussels:

🍽 Mussels with tomato, white wine and garlic

📍 Ristorante Alessi

Next stop: Rome.