Lake Garda - advice

[H2023]

Evening everyone :) we are planning a little babymoon excuse to get away in July for 4 days. Has anyone any got any recommendations on where to stay? Part of me was thinking the north side as I like the mountains but I’m not going to be doing much of the adventure/hiking activities so think maybe south side will be more realistic. Any thoughts and what towns would be best? We will be hiring a car but would rather not spend our time driving around too much. We like to walk around, see things and have nice food. Thank you

We love Bardolino has nice walks to Garda and cisano/Lasize. Driving distance to Sirmione and Pescheria and easy drive from the airport

I recommended on another thread Hotel Gardenia Al Lago in Gargnano. It’s on the West side of the lake. It’s. A lovely family run hotel in a quiet location with lovely garden right on the lake . You can swim from the garden and hire bikes and canoes. The food is amazing too. You don’t really need a car as the road around the lake is always busy and a short walk from the hotel to the town you can get a boat to lots of towns around the lake. The local buses are quite good too.

https://www.hotelgardenialakegarda.com/

We really liked Bardolino. Lots of nice restaurants and shops and not too far from Sirmione and Peschiera del Garda which are both lovely. We took the train to Verona which was great and worth a visit.

We went to malcesine. Absolutely stunning, and there is a cable car to take you to the top of the mountain for those amazing views without the stress of hiking. It can be quite hilly and cobbled streets though the town so might be best for a day trip rather than a base - I probably would have struggled when pregnant.

Desenzano is nice. Easy to get to on the train from Milan, so you won't need a car at all.
Go to Verona for a day trip by train.
Also visit Sirmione and Garda by boat.
Just relax - lots of cafe stops!

I second Malcesine. Lovely little town.

I went to Bardolino last year and it was beautiful and easy because it was for tourists but in an anmazing Italian way. It was very easy to get places on the ferry and bus. It was one of my top family holidays and we will go back!

Wow thank you for all the feedback! That gives me a lot to consider, excited to look into everything

I really like Desenzano and we used it as a base to get to Sirmione, Garda town, Bardolino on the ferry. I wouldn't hire a car - traffic can be awful. Peschiera and Desenzano are on the train line between Milan and Verona / Venice.

Ive been to bardolino and Riva. Liked bardolino but loved Riva. So much that we went back the next year!

We stayed in Garda, and when we went I had no idea there is a ferry daily, that takes you to all of the villages it’s about from memory and hour maybe hour and half from top to bottom on the slower ferry, it’s kind of like a hop on hop off bus, so you can stay anywhere, and jump on the ferry daily have lunch in different places. It’s super cheap and in most hotels they give you a discount code. The timetable gets a bit confusing but you can just ask.

so where you actually stay can be based on a few criteria but for 4 days it really won’t matter as you can explore, I genuinely wouldn’t hire a car, it’s so beautiful on the water and the roads and drivers are a bit bonkers.

Malcesine. It's gorgeous.

I think your aims (and the comments from people on here) are a bit higher than we went for, but we got a cheap flight into Bergamo (stayed there for one night, did the old town which is lovely) and then got the train to Peschiera le Garda, and walked to Camp Butterfly 30 mins (there are at least 10 eurocamps in the area). Mobile home was "cheap and cheerful", but 5 mins walk from the Lake, pool was good, restaurant onsite was fine. Can't moan for what we paid, lots of kids around (probably MORE in high season), and we had a side trip to Verona, look, it wouldn't suit everyone, but it was nice enough for a low price. Be warned, the Italian Lakes Mosquito, biting everyone anywhere from April onwards !