Is it easy to get around without a car (Lake Garda, Italy)?

[CountryLovingGirl]

Hi,

We are a family of four (myself, DH, DS12 and DD8) going to Italy for the first time in August. I can't decide whether we should hire a car or not. We are staying at the southern end of Lake Garda so not too far away from Verona airport (where we fly in). We could get a taxi to our apartment.
DH has driven abroad before but isn't keen on driving in Italy. We plan on taking the train into Venice one day and the kids want to go to Gardaland (theme park).
Anyone who has been - how easy is it to get about by public transport (the tourist/scenic areas)? We will obviously go around Lake Garda but we do like to venture off a bit elsewhere too.

There are buses around the lake as well as ferries. The lake road on the east coast is very narrow and readily becomes congested. We hired a car to stay at Torbole at the north end but it wasn't really necessary and pretty stressful. We mainly used it for transfers and to take the dc to sailing school.

The train is great (from Peschiera) to Verona and even Milan.
The ferries will take you all round the lake, you can buy family day tickets to save some money. Last year all the hotels handed out books of vouchers for attractions, travel and some restaurants which was handy.
The buses are regular too but can be busy, particularly to e.g. Malcesine as a lot of people go for the cable car trip up the mountain. There are free buses to and from the parks which leave from the local bus stations.

Remember to validate your tickets before getting on trains and buses, a lot of tourists get caught out as they don't realise about this.

Have a great time, it's one of my favourite places in the world

We are staying in Peschiera so it's good to know that we can get around from there quite easily. I really don't think we need a car. Nice to know that there are free buses to the parks. That is ideal.
I will have a look in to the public transport around the area.
Thanks :-)

Oh, we get free international train travel (all 4 of us) so that will come in handy too!

We went to Lake Garda a few years ago and didn't hire a car and it was easy to get around. We used the ferries and buses. We also got the train as far as Venice for the day.

I found Lake Garda one of the best car free holidays i have ever had. Public transport is great around the lake itself. We took day trips by bus to different parts of the lake, and a train to Venice Milan. Looking forward to going back again soon.

"I found Lake Garda one of the best car free holidays i have ever had"

Same here. You absolutely don't need a car to enjoy a holiday on Lake Garda. The market in Peschiera is worth a visit. We stayed in Sirmione last time we were there and just took ferries everywhere. It is such a relaxing way to visit other lakeside towns.

If you want to go to Malcesine consider taking the fast ferry because the normal ones take hours to get to the north end of the lake. We loved Gardone, Garda and Lazise as well.

I want to go back to Lake Garda.