The Lake Garda Riviera Culture

Olive oil is the shore's identity. Garda is among the northernmost places in the world where olives are grown commercially, and Garda DOP oil is lighter and less peppery than southern Italian oil precisely because of the latitude.

Bardolino gives its name to the local red -- light, fresh, meant to be drunk young -- and to Chiaretto, the rosé made from the same grapes, which the shore drinks far more of than the red.

The lake fish tradition is real and shrinking: lavarello, coregone, sardines dried in the sun, and eel. The harbours at Garda and Torri still land fish, in small quantities.

The German and Austrian presence is the shore's other culture. Families have returned to the same campsites and hotels for generations, and menus, signage and staffing reflect it -- which is either part of Garda's character or a complaint about it, depending who you ask.

Limonaie -- the tall stone-pillared lemon houses built to shelter citrus through the winter -- are the shore's most distinctive vernacular structures, and a handful survive.