Mills on the water and tortellini
A few kilometres south of Lake Garda, in the municipality of Valeggio sul Mincio, Borghetto is a tiny village of mills and houses on the clear waters of the Mincio, the river that flows out of the lake towards Mantua, and one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia". With its wooden water wheels, its flowered balconies over the river and its small bridges, it looks like a fairy-tale village.
Borghetto is dominated by the imposing Ponte Visconteo, a fortified dam-bridge over 600 metres long, built in 1393 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti as a military work to divert the waters of the Mincio and defend his territory, and by the ruins of the Scaliger castle on the hill above. Valeggio is the capital of tortellini: here they are made very thin, with a delicate meat filling, and are called "nodi d'amore", love knots, after a legend of a nymph and a soldier who left a knotted silk handkerchief as a token of love. Every June, on the Ponte Visconteo, the "Festa del Nodo d'Amore" sets a table more than a kilometre long for thousands of diners.
Tip: Borghetto is lovely in the morning or at sunset; the cycle path along the Mincio from Peschiera to Mantua passes through the village.
Discover Valeggio sul Mincio →
Where it is
More things to see in Veneto
Where to stay near Valeggio sul Mincio
Tours and activities nearby
Offers from GetYourGuide. Some links are affiliate links: if you book we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.