Lake Garda - Lazise or Garda?

[OuiOuiMonAmi]

Which of these towns do I want to stay in?

We plan to go to Venice and Verona but by bus, not train. It seems equally easy to do that from both, would you agree with that?

Lazise beach seems nicer than Garda? I like the look of the grassy bit at the back so there's something more comfortable to sit on than stones.

We want to eat by the lake in the evenings - is one better than another for this?

The last consideration is that we want to visit Malcesine/Limone by boat and people have said that the boat connections from Garda are easier than from Lazise. I am only interested in using the fast service - anybody know if the fast ones run from Lazise to Malcesine in late August? I can only find the winter timetable at the moment and you can't get a fast boat from Lazise then.

Sorry, that's a lot of questions! :)

Garda.
We visited Lazise when we stayed in Garda, and there seemed more to do in Garda than Lazise. The cafes in Garda have tables right by the lake, and the ferries were very regular. I expect there will be fast boats in late August. We took a day trip to Malcesine from Garda and made the mistake of getting the slowest boat back to Garda. It took three hours!

There is no train station at either of those two towns, and getting a bus to Verona is the only option really.

Lazise is delightful but quite small. It is also at the opposite end of the lake from Malcesine and Limone and it's a very long ferry trip - Riva would be a better base if those are your must-dos (though would add a lot of time to Verona; Venice is a really long day trip anyway, I would only bother with that if you're desperate to go). Bus is quicker than ferry, but still tricky from Lazise. It would be easier from Garda (also a long ferry trip but manageable bus).

Thanks!

We booked Lazise in the end because there is a good campsite there.

Another question now though! I'd like to visit the northern end of the lake to see the more mountainous parts. Malcesine is a definite because we want to go to Monte Baldo - is Riva del Garda significantly more mountainous than Malcesine? (they look similar in photos but it's hard to tell). I'm wondering whether we need to visit both, but the last buses back are quite early so I'm not sure we'd fit it all in one day.

I haven't been to Riva del Garda, but it is practically in the foothills of the Alps, so I would hazard a guess that it is. Malcesine is beautiful. We didn't have as much time as we wanted there because the boat trip from Garda took a long time. With hindsight the fast boat would have been a better idea.

Will you be camping under canvas? We stayed in Garda the last week of August and it was very hot at night. I wouldn't want to not have aircon because it was far too hot to sleep.

We'll be getting the bus - the boat would be much more pleasant but the bus is far quicker. No, not in a tent - we have a mobile home with aircon!

Malcesine has a mountain actually in it, or just behind, which you can go up on a gondola. In Riva the mountains are a bit further away and you need to change to another bus to get into them. I think I would stick with Malcesine in your circumstances.

We visited Malcesine and Riva in one day trip from the south western part of the lake - near Salo. We had a car so did a mad crazy itinerary that involved the car ferry to Torri Del Benaco, a drive up to Malcesine, a trip up the (two) gondolas and down again, a boat to Riva, lunch in Riva, boat back to Malcesine and same way home. Loved it!

Malcesine has the mountain and the trip up the mountain is so worth doing. I'd recommend going early if you can - depends on your bus timetables. We got there at 9am and only had to queue for about 15 minutes but on the way back the queues at the bottom were huge.

A round boat trip to Riva took a while, but in many ways it was worth it, as you get to see the narrowest, most mountainous part of the lake. At Malcesine, you get the general feel of the mountains on either side, so if short of time, you will probably be happy enough just seeing Malcesine. Boat ride was fun though. If you look carefully at ferry timetables online, you could make maybe make it work.