Blue Flag Beaches in Lombardy 2026: Lake Garda Honored, Limone Joins the List

In Lombardy, 2026 sees 4 municipalities awarded the Blue Flag, the international recognition the FEE grants each year to destinations that meet strict criteria for bathing water quality, environmental management, services and safety. Lombardy touches Lake Garda along a single stretch of shoreline, the one belonging to the province of Brescia, yet it packs in four Blue Flag beaches for 2026: Limone sul Garda, Toscolano Maderno, Gardone Riviera and Sirmione. These are the region's only Blue Flag lakeside destinations, spread along the western shore of Italy's largest lake (370 km² in surface area, with a maximum depth of 346 metres), from the northern tip down to the southern peninsula.

Where Lombardy's Blue Flag beaches are

The 4 award-winning municipalities break down by province like this:

Province	Blue Flag municipalities 2026
Brescia	4

Upper Garda, Brescia shore

Limone sul Garda sits at the northernmost edge of the Brescia shoreline, wedged between the slopes of Monte Baldo and the lake's deepest waters. The town owes its history to 19th-century lemon houses (limonaie) built in terraces up the rocky hillside, once the northernmost citrus cultivation in Europe. The Gardesana Occidentale, the coast road blasted through the rock in the 1930s, links the village to the rest of the shore via tunnels that hug the water's edge. Limone sul Garda holds onto its Blue Flag this year, along a stretch where the lakebed plunges past 300 metres just off the shore.

Central Brescia riviera

Moving down toward the lower lake, you reach a belt of historic gardens and parks. Gardone Riviera is home to the Vittoriale degli Italiani, the monumental estate of poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, alongside the Hruska Botanical Garden, with over 2,000 plant species set across a rocky slope above the water. A few kilometres east, Toscolano Maderno preserves one of Europe's oldest clusters of paper mills in its Valle delle Cartiere, active since the 14th century, along with the Romanesque Duomo di Sant'Andrea in the Maderno district. Both towns keep their Blue Flag status on their beaches, in a sheltered stretch of coast that has drawn visitors since the 19th century.

Lower Garda

Sirmione rounds off Lombardy's Garda map, occupying a peninsula that juts roughly 4 kilometres into the lower lake, the widest and shallowest part of the basin. At the tip of the headland stand the Grotte di Catullo, among the best-preserved Roman villa ruins in northern Italy, while the 13th-century Rocca Scaligera marks the entrance to the old town. The town also sits atop sulphurous thermal springs that rise from the lakebed at 69°C. Sirmione carries the Blue Flag, the only award-winning destination on this southern stretch of the lake.

Full list and map

You can browse the full list of 4 Blue Flag beaches in Lombardy, with amenities, accessibility info, a map and sea temperature, on the dedicated Lombardy page. Each entry shows the municipality, the awarded localities and the services found nearby.