3 Nights--Verona or Lake Garda Area?

Train from Munich to Roverto [direct] 7:34-12:17; taxi or bus to Riva del Garda, room at the Hotel Sole.

Sorry, I should have specified. Our stops are from Munich to Hall in Tirol (AU), then to either Verona or the Lake, then to Florence, and then finally to Rome. Five destinations, probably will do something like 3-2-3-4-7 as far as nights spent.

I like the idea of finishing up with a week in the Eternal City...

Thanks for the Riva del Garda recommendation!

hey hey jay
few years back we stayed in bardolino at hotel nettuno. we rented a car in venice and drove to attend their wine festival (festa dell uva) last weekend in september. it was fabulous, hotel is located on the lake, paths to walk up and down, catch a boat to travel around the lake to see the other towns.
bardolino is known for vineyards and light body red wines.
spent 2 days but i would go again and spend more time. small town with restaurants, shops and cafes. drove a little ways up the lake to see how small and quaint the villages are.
lago-di-garda-tourism.com
beroldiboats.com
likegarda.com
take a ride/tour up to see madonna della corona sanctuary in spiazzi, gorgeous church built into the hills, mount baldo has the cable car (funivie di malcesine)
handluggageonly.co.uk/tag/italy has info about places on lake garda.
deliciousitaly.com/bardolino
we stopped in peschiera del garda, the southern end, for a good lunch, on a main walkway thru the town. lots of other towns to look at around the lake. as you can see i really liked lake garda.
looks like a fabulous trip you're planning, see you're spending time in rome, if you want i can send you a few off the beaten paths things to do. enjoy
aloha

I can't help with the Verona or Lake Garda decision, but 7 nights in Rome will be great, there is so much to see.

Yes, Barbara, this will be the 2nd time we will have done Rome for a week. After that will be a month...then a winter, just under the Schengen rule. Bucket list stuff!

We have stayed in Verona three times and have visited Lago di Garda all of those times via bus. We have gone to the very fun Bardolino wine festival in late September/early October as mentioned. The town of Garda is beautiful and next trip we are going to the northern section of the lake. I love Verona, the history rivals Florence and once you get passed all the visitors running in and out to rub the breast of the Juliet statue, it is fantastic.

What month of the year are you going?
Assuming it’s summer or late spring, if you decide to spend 3 nights on the Dolomites, I would go to Ortisei. The Val Gardena is well served by buses, if you don’t plan to rent cars.
If you prefer the Garda lake, try the north lake. It’s more beautiful in my opinion. Malcesine, Riva, Limone, Torbole, are all nice. I know there is a bus from Rovereto to Riva, if you come from the north. For Malcesine you may have to change buses in Riva or maybe in Torbole.
If you prefer city life, then Verona is a nice town. If you go during the summer months (when Verona gets hot) I’d rather stay on the lake and maybe visit Verona on a day trip from Malcesine or Riva. If you go in the cooler months, then you might do the opposite, and visit the lake on a day trip. Sirmione is a nice town to visit, but it gets crowded in peak season and weekends (it’s a popular day trip destination).

We stayed 2 nights in Malcesine a couple years ago. It was beautiful! We were in a B&B on north end with view of castle from balcony. Weather was misty/foggy so we didn't go up cable car or across lake as we'd thought we would, so that'll be next time! Good shops and restaurants in walkable area. Limoncello is a must at Lake Garda. We prefer smaller towns and nature so this area was perfect for a stop between Venice and Merano (another place off the beaten path but a wonderful area, where we now have good friends originally met on train from Munich to Venice in 2014).

We stayed at the north end of the lake this past May, in Torbole. It was stunningly beautiful and I can't wait to go back.

Thanks, all. My vision of this trip--and it's our first time traveling with anybody else, our best friends--is twofold. A--to utilize public trans as efficiently as possible (i.e. less time on the road), while B--to have each of our five stops be decidedly different from one another.

Thus, if I pick a spot on the north side of Lake Garda, I would have: (1) upscale German city (Munich); (2) scenic Austrian mountain town (Hall in Tirol); (3) Italian lakes (Riva del Garda or Torbole); then (4) Florence and (5) Roma, which are in my opinion as different from one other as can be.

It's still a ways off--we're targeting April 2021, so I'm not expecting warmth but will enjoy few tourists--but we are looking at 16-18 nights on the road. And except for the Hall in Tirol to Riva del Garda/Torbole leg, train times are all 2 hours or less. And that 4+ hour leg is over the Alps, which was fabulous when we did it a few years ago in March from Lucerne to Milan. It was a highlight of the trip, the train going up into snow squalls then down into a sunny, green valley.

We drove north to the Dolomites via the west side of Lake Garda and stayed overnight in lovely Saló, recommended by Italian friend. No Americans, Italians and Germans on holiday. After four nights in Ortisei in the Dolomites, we stayed on the NW coast of Lake Garda in Mascesine, nice Mountain View’s, a castle, , beach at our hotel, Il Castello.

Since you are going in April you could consider staying in Sirmione. It gets horribly crowded in the summer but maybe Apri would be OK. I've stayed in Malcesine and loved it but Sirmione has a really nice castle and the advantage that since it's on the lake, but in the south you could do a day trip up to the more scenic north end (where Malcesine is and also Limone and Riva) but also to Verona which is a bit different from all your other destinations and very worthwhile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1vN1gGlxfc

Isabel--have you (or any others) tried these thermal hot spring baths in Sirmione? Holy moly. Even in April (especially in April!) those might feel quite nice. Might be the determining factor as to where to stay on Garda. Like you say, Isabel, it might not be too crowded then. Seems to be plenty to do there as well as a straight shot to Verona or even Venice for a daytrip.

You might want to consider staying in Verona and taking the public bus up to Sirmione as a daytrip. I did that last year. Easy and cheap to take public bus to the lake. I liked Verona and Sirmione very much. Sirmione is quite small so if you go there for three days use it as a jumping off place to explore other towns on the lake.