Castello Scaligero di Malcesine

The castle at Malcesine stands on a rock directly above the water at the northern end of the Veneto shore, with the lake on three sides and Monte Baldo behind it.

It is the best preserved of the Scaliger castles on Lake Garda, built by Verona's lords in the fourteenth century on a site fortified since the Lombards.

Its oddest claim is literary. In 1786 Goethe was arrested here as a suspected Austrian spy, having sat down to sketch the castle. He talked his way out of it, and wrote the episode up in Italian Journey -- so a provincial misunderstanding became one of the most famous things that ever happened on this lake.

Malcesine is a small town taking a very large number of day visitors, most arriving in the middle of the day. Coming early, late, or by ferry is the single most useful adjustment.

The castle is medieval masonry on a rock, with drops at the edges of terraces. Keep off the walls, and take care with children on the upper levels.

Do not fly drones over the castle or the harbour; it is prohibited and heavily enforced here.

The town's old centre is residential above the shop level. Keep noise down in the lanes at night.

Buying the combined castle and cable car arrangement, where offered, spreads spending across the two institutions that actually maintain what people come for.

The castle charges a modest admission, generally around six euros, and is open daily in season with reduced winter hours.

It is in the middle of Malcesine, a two-minute walk from the harbour and the ferry landing.

Allow an hour.

This is a castle on a rock: steep steps, uneven stone, terraces at different levels and a tower climb. It is not accessible, and the keep in particular is a narrow stair.

Malcesine has no through traffic in the old centre; park outside or, better, arrive by ferry -- the approach from the water is the best view of the castle you will get.

It combines naturally with the Monte Baldo cable car, whose lower station is a few minutes away.