Where to stay on Lake garda??

We stayed in Peschiera del Garda on the south coast. It's a bit flat, but very pretty and the town itself is very nice. Traffic round the lake is a total nightmare, so best to leave the car and take the boat all over the lake. Just the job if you've had lots of wine at lunchtime.

Nigel

Probably the best place if you are not mad about mountains is Sirmione. It is located at the northern end of a long, narrow peninsula at the southern end of the lake. It has hot springs, fascinating buildings, a pretty castle and great restaurants and shops.
If you want mountains, try Riva at the northern end.
In either case, you can travel about the lake on the ferries. Some are high speed ones.
Ken

Nigel,

Nod to the lots of wine at lunch time!

KenM, My father visited Sirmione and said it was fab. I'm thinking of going in June. I'm in Turin tomorrow so hopefully the natives can halp me out.

Thanks gents

KK

I wouldn't normally recommend a single restaurant from the selection offered by a whole Italian region, partly because you never know whether someone else will share your taste. And it is 55km away from Garda, but nevertheless one of the very finest meals of my life was had at Baba Jaga, on the hill above the village of Soave. Sensational.

It is a beautiful part of the world, have a great time.

Italy is possibly the world's best place for food and wine. The guides are good, especially Veronelli. Restaurants with a "snail" symbol are members of the Slow Food Society and specialise in traditional fare, often at low prices.

If you go to Sirmione, the Continental is (or was 3 or 4 years ago) superb for food and service.
Ken

The southern end of Lake Garda tends to be the most populous end, not least because of its proximity to the Autostrada and communications elsewhere.

Sirmione at the southern, flatter end of the lake is very chic - and always has been, you will find Virgil's mansion (not so bad for a place of exile!).

On the western shore is Limone, which contains fabulous gardens.

On the east side, and going quite a way up is Malcesine, where Mrs JWM and I honeymooned (ah), a rather more understated place, and not always part of Italy - belonged to Austria until 1918. It has a castle and is famous for some writer or thinker - I'm afraid I forget who. It is also at the bottom of Monte Baldo, which can be access by foot or cable car, and the home of Bardolino wine.

Boats and ferries (of various speeds depending on how fast you want to travel) ply their way up, down and across the lake.

James

The 1st part of our honeymoon was in Sirmione. Absolutely lovely. Great food, people & wine. Hired a vintage Alfa Spider & drove to Verona for the open-air opera. Stunning. Maybe not for the real opera buffs, but hey, we still thought it was superb. I can't think of a bad word to say about the whole area.
Matt.

We too had a night out at the Opera in Verona (and the luxury of a super air-conditioned hotel in an exceptionally hot summer!). Aida - what really made it was during the last scene when the hero and heroine were being walled-up, there was a distant thunderstorm, just enough to give slight bursts of light and the rumble of thunder - you don't get that at The Garden!!

James

We like Limone, but your stay and success in finding decent accommodation will depend on the season and the time in advance you book.

Most nice places are booked quite a bit in advance and the lake area often feels like a suburb of Munich, which is why we prefer other lakes. Maggiore is nice, for example.

Huw

Sirmione, beautiful and with the hydrofoil connections you can reach anywhere...

Riva and Torbole at the top of the lake are excellent for the mountains. Big mountain bikeing and windsurfing centres, also good for walking/Via Ferrata in the surrounding dolomites. We stayed there in May a few years ago-not too crowded and with a friendly buzz.

It does take a while to drive along the lake to get there from the south though.

Bruce

Malcesine is well placed, and ideal if sailing is on the agenda!
John

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
On the east side, and going quite a way up is Malcesine, ...Monte Baldo, which can be access by foot or cable car

Malcesine was a great place - the view from the top of Mt Baldo is superb. The cable car trip was fun, but due to my sister's laziness, I was unable to walk back down. Possibly a good thing as it would have taken all day!

We stayed in Garda in a hotel called the Villa Al Mulino or something - great food and a nice pool despite the place being equivalent of (I think) 3 star.

Great summer thunder storm while I was there too - now that's REAL weather