Wander with Annette

24/06/2026

Why Lake Garda Is One of 2026's Most Popular Holiday Destinations

There are some destinations that quietly become fashionable, and then there are places like Lake Garda, which seem to tick every box at exactly the right time. This year, Lake Garda has become one of Italy's most sought-after destinations, and it is easy to understand why.

Unlike some Mediterranean resorts where prices have risen sharply, Lake Garda still offers excellent value. Visitors can enjoy beautiful lakeside towns, mountain scenery, excellent food, rich history and authentic Italian culture, often for less than the cost of many Spanish islands or Greek resorts.It also offers beautiful Towns, Each With Their Own Character

One of Lake Garda's greatest strengths is that it is not a single resort. Instead, it offers dozens of charming towns, each with a completely different personality.

Sirmione – with its medieval castle, Roman ruins and elegant waterfront.
Malcesine – A beautiful town beneath Monte Baldo with cobbled streets and spectacular mountain scenery.
Limone sul Garda – Famous for its lemon groves, pastel-coloured houses and peaceful atmosphere.
Riva del Garda – Popular with walkers, cyclists and water sports enthusiasts.
Bardolino – Known for its wines and relaxed lakeside promenade.
Lazise – One of the prettiest medieval towns on the southern lake.

Many visitors stay in one town and use ferries to explore several others during their holiday.
The Dolomites on Your Doorstep

Lake Garda also offers something many beach destinations cannot: easy access to the mountains.

The spectacular Dolomites are within easy reach, making day trips extremely popular. Visitors can experience dramatic alpine scenery, mountain villages and cooler temperatures, all within a relatively short journey.

Excursions often include:
The Dolomites mountain tour.
Verona day trips.
Venice excursions.
Wine tasting experiences.
Monte Baldo cable car.
Garda lake cruises.
Local market visits.
History Around Every Corner

Lake Garda combines natural beauty with thousands of years of history.
Visitors can explore:
Roman villas in Sirmione.
Medieval castles.
Ancient churches.
Venetian architecture.
Historic harbours.
Traditional fishing villages.

The famous Scaliger Castle in Sirmione appears to rise directly from the lake itself and remains one of Italy's most photographed landmarks.

Wonderful Climate
Lake Garda enjoys a warm climate from spring through autumn.
Typical temperatures:
May: 21–24°C
June: 25–28°C
July & August: 28–32°C
September: 24–27°C
October: 19–23°C

The lake helps moderate temperatures, meaning evenings are often pleasantly warm rather than excessively hot.

Food, Wine and Local Specialities
Italian food is naturally one of the highlights of any Lake Garda holiday.
Local dishes include:
🍝 Fresh pasta dishes
🐟 Lake fish such as trout and perch
🧀 Local cheeses from nearby mountain regions
🍋 Lemon desserts from Limone
🥩 Braised meats and risottos
🍕 Traditional wood-fired pizzas

The region is also famous for:
🍷 Bardolino wine
🍷 Lugana white wine
🍾 Valpolicella wines from nearby Verona

Average Eating Out Costs
Lake Garda remains surprisingly affordable compared with many European destinations.

Typical prices:
☕ Coffee: €1.50–€2.50
🥐 Pastry and coffee: €4–€6
🍺 Local beer: €4–€6
🍷 Glass of wine: €4–€7
🍕 Pizza: €10–€16
🍝 Pasta dish: €12–€18
🥗 Vegetarian meal: €10–€16
🍽 Three-course dinner with wine: €30–€45 per person
🍦 Gelato: €3–€5

Many restaurants offer excellent value lunch menus, particularly away from the main tourist areas.
Excellent Value Compared With Other Destinations

Many travellers are discovering that Lake Garda can cost less than:
The Balearic Islands.
Some Greek islands.
The Algarve during peak season.
Certain areas of Croatia.
Because of the wide choice of accommodation, from family-run hotels to luxury lakeside properties, there are options for nearly every budget.

Why So Many People Are Choosing Lake Garda
Lake Garda offers:
✅ Beautiful scenery
✅ Charming Italian towns
✅ Excellent value for money
✅ Rich history and culture
✅ Wonderful food and wine
✅ Mountain excursions
✅ Lakeside relaxation
✅ Family attractions
✅ Romantic settings for couples
✅ Easy access to Verona, Venice and the Dolomites

Perhaps its greatest attraction is that it offers so many holidays in one destination. You can spend one day exploring medieval streets, another cruising the lake, another sampling local wines, and the next enjoying spectacular mountain scenery.

For many travellers in 2026, Lake Garda represents something increasingly difficult to find: authentic Italy, stunning scenery and excellent value, all wrapped together in one unforgettable destination.

18/06/2026

🇱🇻✨ WANDER WITH ANNETTE – THE JOY OF DISCOVERING SOMEWHERE NEW ✨🇱🇻

There are places we dream about all our lives.

Paris.Rome.New York.

And then there are the places that quietly tap us on the shoulder and whisper, "What about me?"

Riga is one of those places.

I confess it wasn't a city I knew much about until recently. But the more I discovered, the more intrigued I became.

Cobbled streets polished smooth by centuries of footsteps.

Church spires rising above red-tiled rooftops.

Grand Art Nouveau buildings decorated with faces, flowers and mythical creatures.

Markets bursting with colour, conversation and the scent of freshly baked bread.

The sort of place where you can spend an entire afternoon wandering without a plan and still feel you've had a wonderful day.

As I've grown older, I've realised that travel isn't always about rushing to see the world's most famous landmarks.

Sometimes it's about curiosity.

It's about turning down a street simply because it looks interesting.

It's about sitting in a café with a coffee and a slice of cake while the world carries on around you.

It's about hearing a language you've never heard before, tasting something new and learning a little more about how other people live.

That's what draws me to places like Riga.

Not because it's on everyone's bucket list.

But because it isn't.

There is something rather lovely about discovering somewhere before everybody else does.

And perhaps that's one of the greatest gifts travel gives us.

The reminder that no matter our age, there is still so much of the world waiting to surprise us.

🌍 Have you ever fallen in love with a place you knew very little about before you arrived?

I'd love to hear where it was.

16/06/2026

15/06/2026

🗽 WANDER WITH ANNETTE 🗽 to New York in January?

Most people think of New York at Christmas.
The lights. The decorations. The crowds.
But I've often thought there might be something rather special about New York once the Christmas rush has packed its bags and gone home.

The city is still there, of course.
The yellow taxis still weave through the streets. Steam still rises from the subway grates. The skyscrapers still reach for the clouds.

But perhaps January lets you see a different side of New York. A quieter side.
A chance to stand in Times Square and actually take it all in.

To wander through Central Park wrapped up against the cold, listening to the crunch of winter beneath your feet.

To find a little café and watch the city hurry past while you slow down for an hour.

I've always believed travel isn't really about ticking landmarks off a list. It's about moments. The conversation you didn't expect. The view that stops you in your tracks. The memory that somehow stays with you long after you've unpacked your suitcase.

New York has all the famous sights. The Empire State Building. Central Park. The Statue of Liberty. Broadway.

But I suspect the memories people treasure most are often the smaller ones.

A snowy morning. A street musician. A corner deli. A sunset reflected in glass towers. Perhaps that's why so many people return again and again.

Not because they've seen everything.
But because they haven't.
And that's the wonderful thing about travel.
There is always another street to wander down.
❤️

If you've visited New York, what is the one memory that stayed with you after you came home?

I'd love to hear your stories.

11/06/2026

I was wandering through the woods the other day with the dogs, notebook in hand, when it occurred to me that I've spent most of my life being curious.

My mother would probably tell you I was born nosy. That sounds a bit harsh, so let's call it curious.

At sixty-nine years old, I still find myself wondering who lived in that old cottage, where that footpath disappears to, why people do the things they do and what might be waiting around the next corner.
I've never quite grown out of asking questions.

It's probably why I love history.
It's definitely why I love travelling.
And it's certainly why I can lose an entire afternoon reading about something I wasn't remotely interested in ten minutes earlier.

Life has taken me down some roads I expected and quite a few I didn't. Some have been wonderful. Some have been difficult.
A few I'd happily hand back and ask for a refund. But every one of them taught me something.

One of the biggest surprises came after I retired. Most people thought I'd slow down.
To be fair, some days I thought I might too.
Instead, I decided to learn a completely new trade and became a travel advisor. Not because I needed another job, but because I wasn't finished learning.

I've always believed retirement should mean having the freedom to discover new things, not stopping altogether. Travel has given me some wonderful memories over the years, but what I've always loved most are the stories behind the places and the people who visit them.

These days you'll usually find me with a notebook, three dogs and a head full of ideas.

The dogs are sensible.
The notebook occasionally is.
The head full of ideas is entirely hit and miss.
So that's me really.
A country girl at heart.
A grandmother.
A traveller.
A writer.
A collector of stories.
Still learning.
Still wandering.
Still occasionally taking the long way home because something interesting might be around the next bend. Because, let's face it, it turns out curiosity doesn't retire when you do.

—Im Annette , the person behind Wander with Annette and Escape Yourself Travel :::
I'm always willing to help.

05/06/2026

A magical read for Friday night.

🗽☕ NEW YORK THROUGH THE EYES OF AN IRISH TRAVELLER ☕🗽

There are some places that never seem real until you're standing there.

New York was one of those places for me.
Growing up, it was the city from the films. The place of yellow taxis, towering skyscrapers and Christmas movies. A place that felt impossibly far away from the quiet country roads and coastal towns that I knew.

And then one day, there I was. Standing on a Manhattan street corner, looking up. And up.
And up some more.

No photograph prepares you for New York.
The scale of it is extraordinary. The noise. The energy. The feeling that something is happening on every corner, every minute of every day. Yet what surprised me most wasn't the famous landmarks.
It wasn't Times Square.
It wasn't the Empire State Building.
It wasn't even the Statue of Liberty.
It was the people.
The elderly gentleman reading his newspaper in a diner at breakfast.
The waitress who somehow remembered every customer's order.
The street musician playing a saxophone beneath the glow of a subway entrance.
The couple holding hands as they crossed Central Park on a frosty January morning.
Those are the moments I remember.
January, especially, has a wonderful atmosphere.

Christmas has just slipped quietly away. The city is still sparkling in places, but the crowds have thinned. New Yorkers are getting on with everyday life and visitors get to see a more authentic side of the city.

I love wandering through Central Park in winter. The bare trees create beautiful views across the skyline and there's something wonderfully peaceful about watching the city wake up around you.

Then there's the simple pleasure of finding a little café, ordering a coffee and sitting by the window watching Manhattan unfold outside.

It's a city of contrasts.
Grand and intimate.
Chaotic and peaceful.
Historic and modern.

A city where every visitor finds something different to love.

As someone who loves history and stories, I often find myself thinking about the millions of people who arrived here through Ellis Island, seeing the skyline for the very first time and wondering what their future might hold.

New York isn't just a city.
It's a collection of millions of stories.
And every visitor becomes part of one.
Perhaps that's why so many people return again and again.
Not because they've seen everything.
But because New York always has another story waiting around the next corner.
❤️🗽

Have you ever visited New York?
If so, what was the moment that stayed with you long after you came home?

25/05/2026

✨🌍 ANNETTE'S BUCKET LIST TONIGHT 🌍✨
❤️ THE SILK ROAD ❤️

The Silk Road… where history whispers from every corner and every step feels like walking through the pages of an ancient storybook.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine standing beneath the magnificent turquoise domes of Samarkand, glowing beneath the warmth of the evening sun.

Picture the bustling bazaars of Bukhara where traders once travelled from distant lands carrying silk, spices, jewels and treasures from worlds unknown. The air feels alive with aromas of saffron, warm breads, exotic spices and rich teas, while colourful fabrics dance gently in the breeze.

For thousands of years this wasn't simply a route across countries. It was a pathway of ideas, cultures, stories and adventure. Empires rose and fell here. Merchants, explorers and dreamers travelled these roads searching for fortunes and discovery.

Today, cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Tashkent still carry that incredible magic. Ancient mosques, dazzling mosaics and grand courtyards stand proudly beside vibrant cafés and modern life. Every corner seems to hold another story waiting to be discovered.

This isn't simply a holiday.
It's stepping into a living history book. It's standing where travellers once stood centuries ago and feeling that same sense of wonder.

Tonight's question...
✨ Would the Silk Road be on your bucket list? ✨
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22/05/2026

Friends, if you would like more information on tonight's wander destination, please nip over to Escape Yourself with Annette. I'm always happy to help.

Tonight's little wander takes us to Italy... but not just one Italy. Three versions of Italy, each with its own personality, its own heartbeat, and its own stories waiting quietly around every corner.

There is something rather magical about travelling by rail through Northern Italy. No rushing between airports. No staring out at motorways. Instead, you settle into your seat beside the window with a coffee in hand and watch the landscape slowly unfold like turning pages in a favourite book.

First comes Venice. A city that somehow still feels like a dream, even after centuries. No traffic lights, no busy roads, only canals glistening beneath old stone bridges. Tiny cafés spill onto narrow streets where the aroma of fresh coffee and warm pastries drifts through the air. Gondolas glide quietly through hidden waterways while church bells echo softly across the water.

Then Florence arrives, almost like stepping into an open-air museum. Streets where artists, writers and dreamers once walked. The colour of terracotta rooftops stretching into the distance. Small family restaurants tucked into side streets serving bowls of fresh pasta and glasses of wine as conversation spills onto the pavements long after sunset.

And then Verona... perhaps one of Italy's most romantic little secrets. Juliet's balcony may draw visitors, but there is something gentler here too. Elegant piazzas, beautiful old buildings touched by golden evening light, and the simple pleasure of sitting outside with a glass of wine while the world slows down around you.

Sometimes a bucket-list journey isn't about ticking off famous places. Sometimes it's about train windows framing vineyards and mountains, hearing a language you don't quite understand, and collecting those tiny moments that somehow stay with you long after you come home.

If I had to disappear for a week tonight... I think I know where I would be heading. ❤️🇮🇹


I am visiting Verona in September ❤️

22/05/2026

It's Friday everyone, and a long weekend. What have you all got planned for the weekend? I have work to do, travel quotes to work on and more vegetables to prick out. My sprouts look like triffords lol They are taking over.