A little further up the hill from the Grand Hotel Gardone is the home and gardens Il Vitoriale. We took the easy route by catching the small road train which drops you off outside the entrance to the gardens adjacent to the church San Nicola, it is only five minutes by the train and takes the steep hill out of the equation had we had to walk there. We popped into the church first, built in 1740, the church stands in a prominent position with lovely views overlooking Lake Garda. Inside there are lots of colourful frescos and lots of decorative plasterwork and well worth the visit. Opposite the church is the grounds and gardens of Il Vittoriale degli Italiani. 

 The Vittoriale is a popular and unusual attraction, its eccentric charms range between amusing, creepy and bizarre. Gabriele D'Annunzio was a poet and nationalist with a love of the grand gesture. Our tour guide claimed that D'Annunzio was the ultimate Italian. He was flamboyantly eccentric and was presented with this large Liberty-style villa by the Italian State. Mussolini wanted to keep the self-styled war hero away from politics. D'Annunzio spent his time here dreaming up fantastical additions to his house and gardens, and filling the darkened rooms (bright light apparently hurt his eyes) with his collections of clutter, from religious art (it didn't matter what religion) to the gilded shell of his dead pet tortoise. In his study, the most normal and light-filled room, he kept a bust of the Italian actress Eleanora Duse, a former lover. Her head is covered with a veil so it shouldn't distract him.

Outside there is a large open air theatre where concerts are held. The aeroplane that d’Annunzio used to drop propaganda leaflets over Vienna during WW1 is suspended from one of the ceilings. There are various items of militaria dotted around the grounds including speedboat and the bow of the battleship ‘Puglia’