"Napoleonic museums and battlefield tours in Northern Italy" Topic

Dear fellow enthusiasts,
I am visiting Bergamo and the Garda Lake next summer.
What places would you recommend to visit? I guess I could have a full day travelling by car from the Garda. Maybe some hours an afternoon as well.

I can only go on my own visit to Northern Italy some years ago, as part of a family holiday. I would certainly recommend the battlefields of Castiglione, Arcole and Rivoli. I'm not sure how much might have changed over the years but the scenery then was fantastic and the people so friendly and helpful. The battlefields appeared to be virtually untouched compared to others, apart from the odd road, houses and farm buildings etc. Unfortunately, I did not have my own transport at the time so could not spend as much time at each battlefield as I would have liked. I would have liked to have visited Lodi, Caldiero and Mincio River areas. However, I can still remember a taxi driver driving me into and through what appeared to be a vineyard, which was a bit worrying at the time, to see a monument to the battle of Rivoli. I think you could just about fit in those three battlefields in a single day, if you have your own transport. I had to rely on buses, trains and the odd taxi. But I am sure you will enjoy it. It is a fantastic experience to walk the actual battlefields you have read about and very atmospheric and helps bring history alive.

Lonato
Peschiera
Borghetto
Rivoli
Casiglione
Bassano
Arcole / Ronco

So from the lago di garda you are well placed, and within one hour with the car you can do a lot, with a bit carefull planning even more, I am full of envy, not only about the battle fields, but more of the excellent food and wine in this area.

Thank you very much, that was very helpful.

Rivoli, including the museum:
link

Arcole, including the museum:
museodiarcole.it

The wrong Napoleon (unless you did actually mean Napoleon III) but worth a mention if you're doing Castiglione anyway:
Solferino
link

And nothing to do with Napoleon but highly recommended if you've never seen a warship sticking out of a mountainside before:
vittoriale.it/en

And the fortress of Mantua, which so many major operations revolved around.

Essential reading: ;-)
link
link
link

The fortress of Palmanova is still in good shape and well worth a visit.

Thank you.
Great links and tips.
I already have those books plus a few other :)

Glad to hear it. :-)

Magnano, just south of Verona, is an important 1799 battle which rarely gets mentioned and which I am keen to get onto my tabletop some time. No idea whether the battlefield is worth a look though.

Custozza if you have any interest in 1866.
ossariocustoza.it/?lang=en

Thank you Chris!
I will see if I can gather more information on the battlefield of today.