Lake Garda- in the rain!- and other advice please!

[SummerHols25]

We're due to go to Lake Garda next week and the weather doesn't look ideal 😬 quite a lot of rain/thunderstorms forecast.
I was banking on a fair bit of pool time and outside stuff. Whilst I'm not bothered about wandering a bit in the rain, it'd be good to have some ideas of what we can do if it's chucking it down.
We're staying near Bardolino/Lazise and haven't hired a car.
Any ideas? Any other Garda related advice also welcome! Thank you.

There are loads of indoor attractions at Movieland.
Bardolino has a thermal spa centre called Caesius
There are a handful of cookery schools dotted around the lake if you fancy making fresh pasta, pizza or bread.

You could do days out to Milan or Verona on public transport.

We went to the caessus spa and it’s lovely there were nudist areas tho which is apparently normal in Italy. Bardlino has little shops and restaurants too and it’s not far on the train/bus from Verona if you fancy exploring

The cable car at Malcesine will still be functioning in the rain.
The ferries are partially covered and you can get day tickets which allow you unlimited rides. You can literally sit on the ferry and do a whole circuit, hopping off for refreshments whenever you feel hungry or thirsty!

Day trip to Verona or Venice, via public transport

I found when we were the there the forecast said rain - and it would rain, hard, but for about 20 mins and then that would be it for the day and the sun would come out.

Don’t worry about the forecast, the area includes mountains and the rain often stays up there!

Are you staying in Cisano? Lovely little spot for people watching

Thank you all for taking the time to make suggestions! I'm praying you're right about the weather @CountryQueen and @MissAmbrosia but like to be prepared just in case..
Love the idea of a thermal spa- providing they're open if it's thunderstorms..
DD is desperate to do the cable car, which I'm happy to do, but would be better views wise if it was relatively clear! Cookery classes would be my preference but I'm not sure I can sell it to the 7yo.
Will definitely do a day trip on the ferries- trying to get my head around the timetable is harder than I expected! As long as we don't get stranded I don't suppose it matters too much.
Yes @CountryQueen we're staying in Cisano, it looks walkable to Bardolino/Lazise so hopefully there will be a bit to do and see in both.
Had got Gardaland on the list but Movieland looks tempting..

Movieland is brilliant, honestly, don’t miss it. If you’re at Camping Cisano you’ve got a great restaurant on site with a playground and outdoor gym on the lake. Walk 25 mins in either direction to Lazise and Bardolino.

The pool is brilliant and just across the road from the village restaurants on the lake. It will be warm enough to swim in the afternoons. For the ferries you’re going to need to get the bus up to Garda. I’d choose Limone as it is very different to Bardolino and is lovely. The bus stop is opposite the tobacconist and that’s where you pre-purchase your bus ticket.

The stop outside the tobacconist will take you to Movieland, Gardaland, Peschiera for the trains, or just stay on the bus all the way to Verona. Enjoy!

Just noticed your DD wants the cable car. In that case, get the bus to Garda and change there for Malcesine. You can see the castle etc and there’s some cool museums but go up the cable car early. At the top you can walk alpacas through the mountain on a lead! She will love that I’m sure.

Thanks @CountryQueen that's really helpful! We're staying next to the campsite at the apartments (can use all the campsite facilities). Really hoping it is warm enough/not thunderstorms for afternoon swimming- obviously not bothered about showers as we'll be in the pool anyway.
The ferry timetable is really confusing- I'm assuming they just don't run very often to and from Bardolino- so a bus up to Garda it is. Will definitely have a closer look at Movieland- DD liked the look of the Legoland waterpark in Gardaland but other than that I'm not sure how many of the rides she'd like. She's not into huge rollercoasters, despite being tall for her age and able to go on lots, she usually shies away. Alpacas on the other hand 😍 I hadn't seen this!

Sisan apartments, you’ll be right next to the pool area. Your dd will love it. Just a short walk to the bus stop also

You should definitely have a day trip to Verona, plenty to do there! I love Lake Bardolino/Lazise I went to a lovely winery.... the wine is gorgeous in that region... Enjoy!!

That's the one @CountryQueen good to know we have pool & bus stop within easy reach!
@Retro12 I hadn't really thought about venturing that far but Venice/Milan are options too maybe? I've no doubt I'll sample plenty of the wine..

I keep getting excited then checking the forecast and feeling disappointed 😔 DD would spend all day in the pool if she could and it just doesn't look like pool weather for any part of our trip so far. Really praying it isn't as bad as the forecast for at least some of it or it's going to be a stressful & expensive washout!

The ferries can be tricky this time of year....they run on different days and you have to understand which I'd which. It's not easy to visit more than one place I'm a day. The buses are faster and cheaper you can get to the other end of the lake on a third of the time and a fraction of the cost.

The bus will take you directly from the tobacconist shop to Verona. It’s not far. Get off at the piazza, not the main bus interchange. Then walk all the way through to Romeo and Juliet’s balcony. You could go there on one of the rain forecast days and Movieland or Malcesine on another.

But honestly, I think you’re worrying unnecessarily, any storms will likely be in the mountains and brief. Looking at accuweather you’ve actually only got a very small chance of rain. You will be able to use the pool every day.

We were recommended this weather app for Lake Garda and it was very accurate when we were there…
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/meteo-by-ilmeteo-it/id338851554

This app worked for the local buses and the bus to Verona. You can buy tickets and use it to track the buses too. The bus to Verona was really easy and it was a really great day out. You can get to Venice too (by train maybe?) which we didn’t do, but if we ever go back we will.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ticket-bus-verona/id1504712303

The cable car trip was by far my teenagers’ best day. The views were amazing and we had a lovely time exploring the castle in Malcesine too- beautiful views over the lake.

Have a great holiday and I hope the weather is better than you think.

I found the ferry timetable webpage that I’d saved too…
https://www.navigazionelaghi.it/en/tickets-and-timetables-lake-garda/

That's good to know @jannier thank you, I thought I was just reading the timetable all wrong! Happy to do some bus journeys too so maybe just a day trip down to Sirmione/Desenzano on the ferry for the novelty rather than using it to hop around the lake.

Top tip on the bus journey to Verona thank you @CountryQueen I'll do some more research on Verona- I think DD would like the arena bit, she's a big fan of Horrible Histories!
I hope it's all unnecessary worrying, I checked AccuWeather for Cisano and it's showing a fair whack of rain thurs-mon (we're visiting weds-weds) but I'll just have to hope it's passing through/elsewhere. Nothing at all I can do about the weather, it'd just be so disappointing!

Thanks @CrochetMadRosie I'll definitely download the bus ticket app! I'd read about that somewhere else but forgotten all about it. I'll try and avoid looking at the weather til we're there and need to plan so will save the weather app for then!

If you read the comment and don’t just look at the pic of a rain cloud you’ll see it’s just “a spot of rain in the morning” or “chance of a morning shower”. It’s because it’s mountainous. We’ve visited loads and it’s always the same, you’ll be needing a gelato after a swim by the afternoons! Go to Movieland on the worst forecast day. It’ll be deserted

If you are planning to go to the theme parks I would advise checking opening times for this time of year as I recall a holiday some years back when we planned to go on DS’s birthday but it was closed when we arrived and only opened Thurs - Sunday at that time of year.

There is a train station at Peschiera - train to Venice, Verona, Milan.

I wouldn’t recommend either being on the cable car, or on the lake if there’s a storm - they can blow up quite quickly.

If you are going this Saturday, weather looks good the first few days. I have Lazise saved on my weather App as we’ll be going there on 31st so watching for our forecast to start showing - and I’m saving this thread for additional ideas of stuff to do.

We had a wonderful trip to Milan in March. The Duomo is amazing with the views from the roof a highlight. Castle sforza is beautiful. QC Termemilano is a very relaxing, not too expensive spa, aperitivo tour in the navigli district is lovely . You'd need to book in advance to seethe last supper but I don't recommend it with kids.

You sound very knowledgeable about the area @CountryQueen so I'm taking your word for it! I'll throw a pac a mac in and a few layers just in case/for evenings and it'll be gelato time rain or shine I'm sure 😅

Thank you for the reminder @ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea when I looked at Gardaland it was open as usual but well worth checking with Movieland too as I suppose it's quite "early" in the season yet. I was hoping to do the cable car on a clear-ish day if possible for the best views but will certainly dodge that and the lake if it looks too unsettled. Unfortunately not going until next Wednesday- just as the weather seems to turn a bit. Banking on @CountryQueen being right! Will report back if there's anything we come across that hasn't been mentioned on here.

@ZenNudist thank you, Milan sounds heavenly for a couples break but I'm not sure how bothered DD would be for it at her age- although we love a good castle!

Do report back. I hope I’m right but we have been lots of times and it’s always the same old story with the weather apps. You can get the odd rainy day of course but it’ll be glorious most of the time I’m sure!

Movieland and Gardaland open for the season in April and will be fully open May half term.

We're back! Had a fabulous time and you were pretty much spot on @CountryQueen we had a bit of rain but not disastrous at all. The only thunderstorm was overnight then just one afternoon and one morning of rain & pool closure. It cleared quickly and the sun was so intense!
DD's swimming has come on leaps and bounds thanks to all the pool time and I think I've gained approx 3st from gelato, pizza and aperol spritz 🫣🥂