What is Costermano sul Garda known for?

Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof opened in 1967, with 21,931 Second World War graves, the second-largest German cemetery in Italy. Morainal-hill position at 237 meters above the eastern shore, with a continuous view across the lake to the Monte Baldo ridge. Olive groves and Bardolino DOC vines on the moraine slopes, the working agriculture behind the holiday economy.

When is the best time to visit Costermano sul Garda?

Apr–Oct. April through October is the working window. April and May bring the lake back to swimming temperature on the shore four kilometers below, and the morainal hills into wildflower. June through August fills the holiday rentals and the lakefront day-traffic from Garda and Bardolino; the hills stay a few degrees cooler than the shore. September and October are the harvest months for olives and wine. November through March is quiet, with the cemetery still open daily and most holiday accommodation closed. Fog can sit over the lake for days at this elevation. The view from the Madonna del Castello toward Monte Baldo is clearest after the first October rain when the haze lifts off the basin.

Where is Costermano sul Garda?

Costermano sul Garda is a comune in the province of Verona, Veneto region of Italy, about 35 kilometers from Verona.

How do I get to Costermano sul Garda?

From Verona, Costermano sul Garda is roughly 35 km by road.

Veneto · Verona

Costermano sul Garda

A morainal-hill commune above the eastern shore of Lake Garda, with one of the largest German military cemeteries in Italy.

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 to the Monte Baldo ridge.
OLIVE AND WINE
Olive groves and Bardolino DOC vines on the moraine slopes, the working agriculture behind the holiday economy.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Antonio abate, 17 January

Why come

Costermano sul Garda sits on the moraine amphitheater behind the eastern shore of Lake Garda, twenty-five kilometers northwest of Verona. The hills here were a feud of the Brescia monastery of Santa Giulia in the early Middle Ages and passed through Scaliger and Venetian rule before joining Italy in 1866. The municipality added sul Garda to its name in 2018 to anchor its tourism positioning.

The largest single visitor draw is somber: the Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof Costermano, opened in 1967, holds 21,931 German military graves from the Second World War on a hill above the lake, the second-largest German cemetery in Italy after Pomezia. The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Castello of Marciaga sits on the spur above the village, with frescoes from the fifteenth century. The economy runs on olive oil, Bardolino DOC vines, and the holiday accommodation that has filled the morainal hills since the 1970s. The view from the parish church of San Siro looks straight west across Lake Garda toward the Monte Baldo ridge.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Costermano sul Garda’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Santuario della Madonna del Castello
Sanctuary on the spur of Marciaga, with fifteenth-century frescoes and a panoramic terrace over Lake Garda and the eastern shore.
Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof
German military cemetery opened in 1967, with 21,931 graves from the Second World War; the second-largest in Italy.
Chiesa di San Siro
Parish church in the centro of Costermano, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, with a freestanding campanile and views to Monte Baldo.
Belvedere di Marciaga
Lookout above the village at around 350 meters, used as the principal viewpoint to the lake and the morainal amphitheater.
Bardolino DOC vineyards
Hillside vines for the Corvina-Rondinella-Molinara wines of the Bardolino zone, with cantine open through the warm months.

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Living here

Population 3,974
In-betweeni
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Verona, 42 min drive
Regional capital Venezia, 1 h 40 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

Elevation: 237 m
Population: 3,974
Surface area: 16.74 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Verona

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, 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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