Lake Garda

bride2be2012

We are going off to Lake Garda for a week next Wed for our honeymoon! I've just a quick few questions, if anyone is able to help that would be great!

We are staying in Garda town, what is there to do in the town itself?

We'd love to go to Venice for a day trip, is it easy to do this on our own or are we best booking an organised tour?

What other towns/villages on the lake should we make a point of visiting?

Bit of 'piece of string' kind of question this, but how much should we be looking at taking as spending money?

We haven't been abroad in about 4/5 years so have no idea what to expect. We are staying half board, but might eat out a couple of evenings and at lunchtime. We'll prob do a day trip to Venice and one to Verona, and spend most of the other days chilling out, maybe visiting another couple of towns on the lake. Neither of us our really big drinkers but do enjoy a wine/beer with our evening meal.

Thanks in advance!

Tescodealqueen

We went years ago but I remember that we loved the town of Sirmione, you can get there by boat. It is a town within a walled castle. Verona is nice, but watch your belongings, and Juliettes balcony is down a bit of a sidestreet, not what you would expect really.
Others will know more but have a great time!

Miró

Can recommend doing a boat trip round the lake, stopping off at places like Limone, Malcesine, Sirmione etc.....:)

peb

I flew out on the 6th June last year - so roughly the same time. Most operators have trips to both Venice and Verona, both of which are beautiful. Be prepared to pay a tourist tax for both of these places - we weren't informed in advance so everyone was looking for euro coins!


As Miro says a trip round the lake is beatiful and from Garda you will go to Malcesine and I think Limone - both of which are nice.

There is a cable car up into the mountains from Malcesine but it was too cloudy last year, went about ten years ago and it was very scenic and you could walk for a couple of miles - then the mist came down!

There are some museums in Garda but they are shut I think on a Monday - this was a pain as it was the last day for us and it was raining but so be it.

Be prepared for rain - we had rain every day; partly because Garda is right under the Mountain range. when we went to venice and verona it was raining when we left but lovely on arrival.

Enjoy.

andygb

We loved Lake Garda - stayed at San Zino di Montagno - and it didn't rain at all. Verona is well worth a trip, particuarly if you could book the opera at the Roman ampitheatre. If you go to Malcesine, then a trip on the cable car is worth it (up Monte Baldo), because the thing revolves, but take some warm clothes because it can get chilly and damp at the top.

zagfles

Lake Garda is lovely. You can get around by boat fairly easily, but maybe worth hiring a car for a few days (we did the "4-lakes drive" which was stunning).

Verona is easy to get to yourselves, we drove there (don't remember any tourist tax someone mentioned, maybe it's very new?).

Malcesine is a big parasailing centre, if you're feeling really adventurous they do it tandem though it's quite expensive, about EUR80-100 (inc the cable car up), and you need to book in advance.

andygb

zagfles wrote: »

Lake Garda is lovely. You can get around by boat fairly easily, but maybe worth hiring a car for a few days (we did the "4-lakes drive" which was stunning).

Verona is easy to get to yourselves, we drove there (don't remember any tourist tax someone mentioned, maybe it's very new?).

Malcesine is a big parasailing centre, if you're feeling really adventurous they do it tandem though it's quite expensive, about EUR80-100 (inc the cable car up), and you need to book in advance.

We are going to Italy later this year, and the "tourist tax" varies from around 1E to 2E per person per day - makies me livid that they are charging people extra to help their economy, I think that it is time we started doing some of the same.

zagfles

andygb wrote: »

We are going to Italy later this year, and the "tourist tax" varies from around 1E to 2E per person per day - makies me livid that they are charging people extra to help their economy, I think that it is time we started doing some of the same.

But how does this work? Is it a hotel tax? The PP said there was a tax for Verona and Venice, but if you just go for a day trip how do they collect this?

motherofstudents

We stayed in Riva which was lovely. There was a little train that takes you round the town and it's pretty at night with all the fairy lights. As others have said, it is easy to take the ferry and visit other places on the lake. Malcesine is quaint, Limone, Sirmione etc etc. You MUST have several ice creams, they are fantastic.

The day we visited Verona was extremely hot and the only way we could cool down was to go in all the (very nice) shops such as Gucci and Versace as they had nice cold air con. I absolutely love Venice. Shop around the back streets for cheaper Venetian glass. Gondolas are expensive but if you really want the experience, try and haggle a little. You could go all out and have a bellini in Harry's bar but it is just as atmospheric to wander around St Mark's Square and listen to the string quartets.....oooh, I want to go again !!

chipp

I have stayed in Malcesine and took the bus one day to Verona, I think it took about an hour. It gave me most of the day there, which was wonderful. The official resort trip to Verona was only half a day and at least double the price. Did the official day trip to Venice as that wasn't so easy to get to on public transport, but enjoyed Verona much more, doing my own "thing".

Don't try to be posh, always have the local wine (served in a jug) with your meals, it will probably be Bardolino and is very drinkable

mummybearx

We stayed in Malcesine last May for a family wedding, was lovely and quiet.

Didn't have much time to do anything, certainly not trips to Verona etc (how I wish we did have time!), but we did go up the cable car at Monte Baldo. Take a jumper though if you aren't used to cold weather (me and DH were up there in shorts and flip flips, but we are scottish, the weather at the top was like a scottish summer :rotfl:)

It's really easy to get about on the public transport, just ask the staff at your hotel what bus to get. Personally I wouldn't pay for any excursions, but I do like to plan what things i want to see before I go, look online etc to plan it myself.

We went back to Italy in October, few days in Milan then up to Lake Maggiore for a week. All in all we spent about £1200 (just spending money, not inc hotels etc), but about £200 of that was on plates and bowls I brought back in my case. Dinner, lunch etc, it can really cost as much as you want to spend. We found a lovely cafe/bar in Stresa, got a 3 course dinner plus soft drinks for both of us for about 40euro, the next day lunch (pizza each and one drink) cost us the same at a different place!

Personally, if it was my honeymoon and I'm not reeeeally watching what I'm spending, I could easily spend £1000 on food and excursions. Would take that at least to cover you x