Car or train/bus in Veneto?

Verona is a lively, arty, mostly pedestrian 'cafe culture' feeling city in the bend of the river with an intact Roman arena and theater. There are some larger lots but in general a car is an unnecessary burden in Verona.

Straightforward locations:
- Vicenza is an easy train trip from either Verona or Padua/Padova since its lies between them on the train line.
- Brescia is an easy train trip from Verona. Amazing Roman ruins continued in the Santa Giulia Museum in Brescia don't miss out. (I preferred Brescia to Padua but I seem to be alone in that.)
- Several towns along the lakefront like Peschiera del Garda, San Martino della Battaglia and Desenzano are an short train trip from Verona and you can get to Sirmone from there. The lower part of the lake is as touristy as you imagine in summer and if you want more of a lake experience the eastern coast of the lake is accessible by bus from Verona train station and may make for a better visit.

You could pick up a car in either Verona or Padua for visiting the the other locations you want to visit in this area like Mantua+Sabbioneta which are about an hour away, but San Marino is probably too far for a day trip even with a car. San Marino is well south and not well served by Italian transit - it is a foreign country after all. Without a car you best best is trying to get to Bologna or Rimini (closer) and arranging something.

Hope that helps, have a great trip,
=Tod

As a follow up here is a page showing the various bus options from Verona to Sirmione and the west coast of Lake Garda.
https://arriva.it/app/uploads/sites/6/2022/09/linea-ln026.pdf

Note that a shuttle bus may be needed to get to the tip of Sirmone if that's your intention. There is a shuttle bus and a taxi stand across from the bus stop at Piazza Unità D'Italia.

You can also train close and then taxi or bus the last section.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Thanks for the helpful info. Sounds like train/bus is the way to go.
1) For train, is there a good app to check schedule and buy tickets before getting to the station?
2) For bus, does each city has their own app that shows schedule and track location of the buses?

You'll want to use the official site of Trenitalia which is the state train company of Italy: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
They also have an app for use in country that also let's you track trains in realtime and validate tickets etc. Use the Italian city names for best results when searching on train sites: Roma for Rome, Firenze for Florence and get used to 24 hour times for train use.

Local train tickets - called regionale - do not come with seat reservations, never sell out and always the same price so buy them when you need them. Tickets in the app need to be purchased a minimum of 5 minutes before the departure time and validated in the app a maximum of 1 minute before the departure time. Paper tickets are available from train machines and these should be validated in the stamping machines as you approach the tracks.

Google maps transit tab does a good job with local city buses but longer distance companies tend to run independent of one another especially when you move from region to region. Buy local bus tickets at the T sign labelled tabac shops although this is less dependable in Verona since you can buy tickets on board buses at a slight up charge. I believe it is 2e versus 1.4e a ticket pre-purchased. The bus system in Verona is consolidated outside the train station so local, airport, longer distance buses mostly leave from there.

The bus company that runs the buses from Verona to Simone directly is Arriva and they have an app: https://brescia.arriva.it/en/
The company that runs buses along the east side of the lake from Verona is call ATV https://www.atv.verona.it/en/LineeLago
The places like Omio and Moovit are consolidated third party sellers for buses. They can be helpful for schedule, line or map information but I would always prefer to buy from the carrier directly if possible.

Similarly there are many taxi apps but I've had good luck with AppTaxi in the Veneto area. There is, of course, a taxi stand outside the train station and one deep downtown in Piazza delle Erbe.

Have a great trip, the transit system in Italy can be intimidating at first but it is the way the locals get around and is easy once you get used to it.
=Tod