Bardalino, Garda….

[MonkeyTennis34]

Considering a holiday in this area next summer.
Found a hotel I really like the look of but the dinners don’t get brilliant reviews.
What sort of prices are the meals in local restaurants?

I stayed in Garda but spent a couple of days in Bardolino. Don’t go half board, eat out. So many lovely restaurants. We’re holiday abroad 4/5 times a year and out of all the other countries we visited I found Italy the best value for money.

Thank you @SpaceAngel1999
Wiykd you say the prices are in a par with the UK. Will be 2 adults and 2 older teens so might get expensive!

I would say that prices are on par with UK. We tend to stay self catering so we are only eating out for one meal a day. There is plenty of choice of places to go though, also in neighbouring towns Garda and Lazise. It tends to be cheaper if you stick to the pizza and pasta rather than the meat or fish dishes. Actually probably slightly cheaper than UK as I tend to read € for £. We visited earlier this year and I certainly never thought anything was massively pricey, but OTOH not cheap either.

I thought the ferries on the lake were quite expensive. Nice to go on one trip (maybe to Sirmione or Desenzano as it’s a long drive round to there with the traffic) but It’s a lot more pricey than the bus.

Thanks all.
I’ve narrowed down my choices to 3 hotels.

The Hotel Sportsman in Bardalino which looks like it’s in walking distance to Bardalino and Garda but the evening meals get very bad reviews.

The Hotel Savoy Palace hotel in Riva which is more out of the way but the hotel looks gorgeous. But it’s a 2 hour transfer from the airport.

The Olivi hotel in Sirmione. The food looks incredible but I need to research the location a bit more.

We’d like to do some walking and DS2 likes water sports.

I can’t begin to tell you how amazing my holiday in Riva and Peschiera was this summer (August). The transfer from Verona is slow due to the traffic not the mileage, we arrived on a Tuesday evening and it was quick but when we drove Riva to Pescheira on a Sunday morning it was slow. We stayed at the Du Lac et Du Parc and ate out in Riva in the evenings. We went on a ferry to Limone and did various bits around Pescheira but it was very busy and very hot - I won’t return in the summer. We had been to Verona before, Riva is my new favourite place in Italy.

We stayed here. A couple of minutes walk to the town. The restaurant had a Michelin star and all meals were superb.

https://www.colorhotel.it/en/offers?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand&utm_term=Hotel%20color%20garda&utm_content=eng&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=311945342&gbraid=0AAAAADksKeK6UPD3QTJSjt-Z3JpYH2U-a&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6bfHBhDNARIsAIGsqLh2jTuqVarCjQX8qGVVwNKkU_iyQr5goABuOkMg3mehWawWuyvVPI0aAoAiEALw_wcB

If you want to do water sports and walking, you may be better staying in Riva, but it does then become a very long way to the south of the lake if you want to visit eg Sirmione. Will you have a hire car and where are you flying to? It takes longer to get around the lake than you may expect, so probably best to stick to either north or south. From Riva you can visit Torbole which is popular for windsurfing, and Malcesine for Monte Baldo and inland to Arco.

I would say that the southern part of the lake is a different holiday.

If you wish to visit Verona I think it’s accessible from both Riva and Bardolino without driving to the south of the lake with cuts through to the main road running parallel to the lake road.

We spent two days in Verona this summer. Moved onto Bardolino for four days (Hotel Nettuno) from where we visited Lazise, Garda, Monte Bardo. Then onto Venice for two days. Trains great, buses cheap but not reliable.
I’m glad we did overnights in Venice and Verona. Loved spending evenings/eating out there. Day trips to both would have been too rushed.
We ate out everywhere. So much choice. Wonderful atmosphere. Prices similar to UK.
We went in September and had a very warm week. Also still very busy. Would personally avoid the height of summer.
Loved it so much though, will definitely return.

Sirmoine was beautiful but absolutely packed. Personally would chose Garda or Bardelino. My boys are 13/17, we hired bikes to go from town to town. Was brilliant and safe as the cycle tracks go around the lake. Food in par with uk, average glass of wine was 3 euros! Was a bargain on the wine front. Average meal of pizza or pasta 9/10 euros. We also took the train to Venice to spend the day there and the reasonably prices surprise me as I expected it to be more expensive than it was. Enjoy