Lake Garda, Italy

[pilates]

We are doing a fly drive end of July with dd (9) & ds (6), any recommendations/advice would be appreciated? Is the journey from Verona airport to Garda fairly straightforward? Would like to do a trip to Venice, apart from the gondolas and ice cream what else is there to see and do?

Yes don't miss the opportunity to go to Venice. I'm sure the DCs will enjoy the Vaporetto water buses. You can catch the train to Venice from Lake Garda (Peschiera if I recall correctly). The drive from Verona is fine. Do you plan to visit Verona itself? The amphitheatre is not to be missed.

As far as Lake Garda is concerned don't miss the following towns (all south/east coast)Sirmione, Lazise, Torri del Benaco and Garda Town. So pretty. You can catch a ferry between towns if you don't want to drive. Traffic can be quite grim. The cable car up Monte Baldo in Malcesine is great fun. There is an Aquapark and Gardaland theme park near Garda town.

If you haven't already done so I suggest you do some research on the Tripadvisor Lake Garda forums

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Have you booked any accommodation yet?

Yes, Italian drivers. Overtakers will expect oncoming traffic to slow down not to hit them! Take note of all the fancy cars parked in the towns that have at least one dent or bump on them! Also the roads are very narrow at points round the lake esp in the tunnels at the north end (v scary if a bus or lorry is coming in the other direction) but Riva is worth a look. It's very pretty.

But do go up the cable car. It is lovely. We were staying on the opposite shore and got the ferry over which was nice.

Venice is lovely and very easy to walk round. Plenty of opportunities to 'get lost' from the crowds. Although we went in April so was relatively quiet. Eat in cafes off the main drags and you won't feel ripped off or just snack on pizza slices and gelato.

Park and ride is available but can't remember the name of the town where it goes from. Sure you could google it. Arriving by boat up the Grand Canal was a highlight.

If you go up int he cable car, remember that just because it's lovely weather at ground level, it could be freezing up the top. We wore flip flops and no cardigans.

Felt like right fools at the top in the freezing cold

Oh and, don't bother with the gondolas. The vaporetti are fab for just getting around, get a day pass so you can nip on and off, and try one of the little traghetto, which is like a gondola, but just cross a single stretch of canal. And costs a lot less!

Computer down for a week, thanks everyone for replying. We have an apartment in Garda for 2 weeks the end of July.

In Venice, go to the island of Murano and you can watch the glass makers blow and shape glass - fab.

Aqualand on the south of Lake Garda is good - you can hire a rubber ring or else you have to pick one up from the bottom of most rides and roll it up to the queue at the top. Also Mount Baldo cable car (cold at the top though, but friendly cows), lots of fun castles in Sirmione etc. And you could hire bikes to cycle round parts of the lake.

DH and I flew to Verona and then got bus to Bardolino where we stayed a week, then bus back and train to Venice, so didn't use a car. There's previous threads on Venice.

Gosh, yes, the whole theme park thing round the south east side of the lake. Fab.

Is there a train from Garda to Peschiera del garda? Can't remember. But if you do get the train, there's then a specific theme park bus, thus avoiding the car parking round there.