Just booked a holiday in Lake Garda!

[RipplePlease]

Me, DH and DCs 17 and 19.
Our hotel is in Garda, the Regina Adelaide.
Never been to Italy as a family . Staying on bed and breakfast.
Can anyone recommend any restaurants…activities..days out.
We’d like to go to Verona and/or Venice.

The Dolomites sound amazing! DH wants to do a wine-tasting tour and I’d like to do the cable car ride.

Apart from the Romeo and Juliet balcony, what else is there to see or do in Verona?

Thanks for this thread. We are going end of August and I now have plenty of links for things to do.

@RipplePlease Verona has a huge Roman amphitheatre which holds concerts in Summer. I think you need to check how it can be visitied when evening performances are on.

Agree about the dolomites - we went on a 'just graduated' budget and we chose that over Venice, thinking we could always go back to Venice. Absolutely loved it.

We visited Verona and didn't really enjoy it- I think what we did wrong, was leave it till the last full day of our trip. We found it busy and bustling and restaurants giving the hard sell after being in the tranquility of garda for a week. With hindsight, I'd have gone on day 2/3 and think it would have been a lot more enjoyable!

We used buses and ferries with ease to get around - it was wonderful and I'd love to go back!

Bardolino red wine is delicious 😋 and it's where I first drank prosecco (it was about 1 euro for a glass- it hadn't exploded into the UK in the way it has now, so I doubt it'd be that cheap any more!)

Verona is lovely but was heaving with tourists, we went to the Arena to the opera, absolutely amazing experience, especially in the interval when members of the audience took turns to sing Nessen Dorma, no microphones yet what voices from the audience.

Also honeymooned in Garda. Beautiful place. We stayed in Gardone Riviera, just a walk up the hill to the Vittoriale which is stunning. There was a restaurant up there that did the most amazing burrata! We had a car, but used a lot of the ferries too. Day and night tripped into Verona, we managed to catch La Traviatta at the arena, I’ve never seen an opera before as it’s not my thing at all. I was in tears by the end of the first act! Everyone lit a small candle before the performance, it was magical.
Also took the train to Venice, I was hugely underwhelmed by Venice, it was just too busy to enjoy (it was the end of July)

After a weeks honeymoon, I had put on nearly a stone 🤣 mmmmm Spaghetti vongole!

If you are going with Tui then it might be an idea to look at what trips they offer, as even though they are likely to be more expensive than doing things yourself, it would make some things easier for you. Also, make sure you don’t spend the whole week on trips taking you away from the lake. The first time we visited Lake Garda we went on a coach holiday (1990s) and did a trip out every day. We actually repeated the same holiday two months later and just spent a week relaxing by the lake.

This is where we went for the wine tasting last year. We thought it was good value as there was a good tour of the winery, 7 wines to taste and a snack plate per person. It might be an expensive taxi ride from Garda though. I think we booked it through Get your Guide.

www.bergaminivini.it

We loved Garda last year, hadn’t been before and didn’t really know what to expect. It was very busy in peak season but not overwhelmingly so.

Tui definitely do a Dolomites trip and one round the lake which is v popular. About £70-80pp. We got the bus to Verona for the day, the bus station is just a couple of minutes walk away from you. Be prepared for a scrum to get on, especially on way back if it’s a smaller bus! One person get tickets, others get seats. Went to the arena and then for a wander for a few hours up to the castle and back. That was enough but worth going. Juliet's balcony had a big queue so didn’t bother but you can peek in and see it from the street. Kids also took bus to the big water park for the day and had a good time.

Your hotel looked fabulous. The cafe on the street side served gorgeous cakes and coffee, only about €1-2 euro each. And the reps said served the best croissants. You are so close to the water and the first swimming platform, though there are nicer ones closer to Bardolino it was too hot to walk any further when we went!

The Tui reps did a little walking tour of Garda after the welcome meeting which was really useful and no hard sell.

There are occasional concerts down by the water and a big rowing regatta in August. Enjoy!

At Verona, take the funicular up to the castle for beautiful views over the city. It's gorgeous! I enjoyed Verona but mainly just wandered the back streets, went up to the castle and had a very nice lunch.

Following! We are planning Lake Garda end August but I’m struggling on where to base ourselves for 10 days with easy access for day trips. Don’t want to move as it eats into the days. Went there when I was about 9/10 last and the whole campsite when down with V&D from a sewage incident in the lake. We fled to Interlaken! Need to exorcise that ghost!

Mosquito spray!!!

Will be crazy hot

We went last Sept weather was perfect every day, sunny and warm. The Dolomites are stunning and Verona is beautiful but very busy. We went by bus to Verona took approx 1 hr.
Eating out is as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. The side street cafes are plentiful and just lovely to sit with a glass of wine and a grazing board whilst enjoying the views and atmosphere.
All the places mentioned by pp are beautiful too. You will have an unforgettable holiday.
We loved it and will definitely return.

Crazy hot to me is 40. What is crazy hot to you?

Will be last 10 days of Aug.

Yeah I wouldn't risk July or August in Italy. They've had temperatures bordering 50°C this past few years in those 2 months! 😱 I would even avoid the second half of June, as that often reaches 42-43°C.

I would go for May, or the first half of June. OR say, the middle 2 weeks of September.

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Following with interest! I have just booked flights for late August and very much looking forward to it.

Oh dear. I purposely booked the week of June 14th - 21st, to avoid the extreme heat of July & august

We were there in august once, and it was unbearable

I have been to the Italian lakes during August, mid and end of August. My experience of the latter part of August was that several days there was clouding over towards the end of the afternoon with some amazing thunderstorms. Beautiful blue sky again the following morning.

in terms of where to stay, I can’t recommend an actual hotel/camp site as we’ve rented through Vrbo, but I would suggest Peschiera/Lazise/Bardolino area in terms of easier access to other villages and places like Verona, Venice, as the lake road is likely to be very busy and slow. Alternatively if you stay in the north and have a car you can access Arco, Trento, Molveno and also the road which runs parallel to the lake the other side of Monte Baldo. I think the west side is quieter.

Thank you. Will research those places.

looking for somewhere with a pool not necessarily self catering.

regards weather - we can only go end of August due to school holidays. I thought nudging Sept would be slightly cooler than July early Aug.

We stayed in Garda last summer with our boys 13/17. We hired bikes and rode around the lake visiting Bardelino and Lazise. Beautiful places and bikes were so fun. Took the train to Venice, took 2.5 hrs each way. We left early at 7am. Very glad we did. It was a long day but a lovely day. Also took the fast ferry to Simoine. Beautiful but very busy!

Cooler temperatures August going into September has been my experience and I would think temperatures approaching 50 degrees would be unusual in this area. However it’s been some years since I visited at that time. We were there first week of June last year, it was around 28 degrees and the locals said that was unusual that early.

@LittleMonks11
The hotel we’ve booked has a pool.
The Regina Adelaide in Garda. We’re staying on a bed and breakfast basis.

Don’t bother with Venice if you’re only going for a week. I also wouldn’t be getting on a bus for seats while the other one was in the shop getting the tickets! Bizarre advice from pp

Looks really lovely but we really want an outdoor pool.

Any thoughts on where to stay? Still need to book the flights before they start climbing up.

Lucky you! We spent 10 days In Bardolino last summer. It was utterly fabulous! Best bits:

-Beautiful scenery
-Loads of folk having fabulous fun
-There are ducks everywhere!
-Cycling round the lake paths
-Strolling around the lake at sunset
-Folk enjoying the simple pleasure of an ice cream by the lake after dinner
-The amazing food and local wine
-The Italians are fabulous, welcoming hosts
-Paddleboarding round the lake and mooring at a lakeside cafe for lunch

I cannot imagine why I never visited Italy before. I am converted forever.