Day trips from Mantua: Sabbioneta, Grazie, San Benedetto Po, Borghetto and Lake Garda

Golden Suites Italy editorial team · Updated on 22 October 2026 · 4 min read

Around Mantua the plain hides villages and masterpieces worth a day trip: an ideal city of the Renaissance, a sanctuary on the water, a great Benedictine abbey, the mills of the Mincio and, less than an hour away, Lake Garda. Here are the destinations we recommend, with journey times from Mantua by car.

Sabbioneta, the ideal city

About forty minutes from Mantua, Sabbioneta was founded by Vespasiano Gonzaga from 1556 as an ideal city of the Renaissance: a regular plan, star-shaped walls, streets and squares designed from scratch. Since 2008 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Mantua, which stands for an ancient city transformed.

• To see: Vincenzo Scamozzi's Teatro all'Antica, inspired by the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza; the Palazzo Giardino with the Galleria degli Antichi; the Ducal Palace; the church of the Incoronata and the walls.
• Tickets: at the information office in Piazza d'Armi. The Mantua and Sabbioneta Card also covers the monuments of Sabbioneta.
• Time: half a day.

Grazie di Curtatone

A few kilometres from Mantua, on the shore of the Upper Lake, the village of Grazie gathers around the sanctuary of the Beata Vergine delle Grazie, also famous for a stuffed crocodile hanging beneath the vault. In mid-August, for the Fiera delle Grazie, the sanctuary square fills with madonnari, pavement artists who draw in chalk all night long: in 2026 the fair ran from 13 to 16 August. Boats for the Valli del Mincio Reserve also leave from Grazie, and from Mantua you can get there by bike along the lake.

San Benedetto Po and the abbey of Polirone

South-east of Mantua, beyond the Po, San Benedetto Po grew up around the Benedictine abbey of Polirone, founded at the start of the eleventh century and linked to the figure of Matilda of Canossa. The basilica was renovated in the sixteenth century to a design by Giulio Romano; the cloisters house the Museo Civico Polironiano. It is a quiet outing, to combine with lunch in the trattorias of the Bassa, the lower plain.

Borghetto sul Mincio and the Sigurtà Park

To the north, about half an hour away, Borghetto is a small village of mills on the water at the foot of the Visconti Bridge, in the municipality of Valeggio sul Mincio. Nearby is the Sigurtà Garden Park, large historic gardens to visit on foot, by bike or on the little train. Borghetto is also the loveliest stop on the Mantua–Peschiera cycle path.

Castellaro Lagusello

On the morainic hills of the Alto Mantovano, Castellaro Lagusello is a fortified village overlooking a small heart-shaped lake, one of the sites of the UNESCO-protected prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements. It is a perfect stop for a walk, combined with the wines of the Mantuan hills.

Lake Garda

Peschiera del Garda is about 45 minutes by car, and by bike you get there along the Mincio. From there you can reach Sirmione, the villages of the Verona shore and the theme parks of the southern shore. The ideas are in the guide Lake Garda: what to do in every season, and if you want to sleep by the lake there are our homes Peschiera Near the Beach and Gardone Riviera Private Beach.

Tips

• Car: the most convenient way to reach Sabbioneta and San Benedetto Po.
• Bike and boat: Grazie and Borghetto can also be reached by bike, and Grazie by boat too.
• Guide: for private tours of Mantua and surroundings there is our partner offer with a licensed tourist guide.