Boretto is a riverside town on the banks of the Po River. It was important in Roman times and still today has an equipped national and regional river tourist port. Tourist motorboats set off from Boretto to view the landscape and the profiles of the historic centres passed along the river.
The best times for cruises and navigation are certainly spring and September, combined with guided visits to the “small capitals of the Po”.
The town is separated from the Po River only by the main embankment, behind which is the town centre, where the imposing Basilica di San Marco Evangelista stands out, attesting to Boretto’s importance for the Venetians, who used it as a stopping off point on the Po River, for both their conquests and their trade. The Town Hall, whose Council Hall is embellished with Art Nouveau decorations by Marcello Nizzoli (the designer of the Lettera 22, the iconic Olivetti typewriter from the 1900s), is located in the same square of San Marco.
A visit to the "Museo del Po e della Navigazione interna" (Po and Inland Navigation Museum), the Casa dei Pontieri Museum, and the Museo multimediale della Bonifica (Multimedia Reclamation Museum), the only one of its kind, with sounds and images projected on the walls of a drainage node in the style of the Fascist era (1920s).
The town of Boretto is also the home of the Borettana onion, which boasts the “De.co” mark (officially making it a traditional local product). Its adaptability makes it possible to obtain two varieties and two harvests, one in spring and one in autumn, ensuring its presence throughout the market year.
The town has an equipped navy and a small tourist and sports port linked to motor boating activities. In the spring and summer months there is also a river cruise service of variable duration, by request, to Mantua.
The presence of the river allows the practice of various sports: canoeing, motorboating and sports fishing.
For cycling lovers, there is the naturalistic bicycle path on the banks of the Po River, which runs through the entire “riverside” area of the Municipality of Boretto, interconnecting the area of the Municipality of Gualtieri to the one of Brescello.
Spring Fair - From April 25 to May 1
Funfair, stalls, exhibitions.
Idro Gp-the International Motorboat Grand Prix - First half of June
International motorboat races.
PiroPo - Second half of June
Fireworks-musical show with fire magic on the Great River.
September Fair - First weekend of September
Performances, concerts, stalls, tastings of the Borettana onion and local dishes.
In the nearby hamlet of Santa Croce is the "Pietro Ghizzardi" Al Belvedere Museum House.
