Dolomites and Lake Garda

There is still quite a distance between the two locations. I suggest you stay in the mountains for 3 nights and then spend the rest by the Lake.

I would split it up into two stays. The "heart" of the dolomites is an hour to two hours of driving time away. Longer by bus. If you stay at Lake Garda there are plenty of smaller, lesser known mountains and trails nearby, but you'll want spend time up in the Marmolada, Selle, Lavaredo, Alto Badia, etc. areas.

Too far apart Diane, as such not practical.

If you split between the two, you will need more time in the Dolomites. The impressive area largely is not concentrated along the main roads/rail lines; main road/rails are in very pretty but wider valleys. You need to travel up smaller valleys perpendicular to the wide valleys to get to the good stuff. And then once there, if you aren't staying there, you need to ride lifts, walk, etc. So like most mountain places, the Dolomites take a bit more time.

2 nights on Garda, then 3 in Ortesei, Brixen, or Merano are all good depending on your priorities. If the heart of craggy mountain viewing then the first; if beautiful, smaller cities located in pretty settings next to nice mountain stuff, then the latter two work.

You can also just see Garda, spend the night afternoon and morning, one night, and then four nights Dolomites if you want to range around a but more ... It might not be optimal to some that short of time at Garda, but it is certainly a lot better than a kick in the teeth 🙂

I just typed out a long and detailed response but I'm working on my husband's laptop and I clicked the wrong button and woosh! there it went. Sorry.

Here's the short version. Unfortunately, trying to do this with one base will not work out well. Maybe technically doable, but who would want to. Here's what we did in May 2019:

2 nights at the Hotel Di Garda in Nago Torbole, which is next to Riva Del Garda. North end of Lake Garda. My favourite hotel out of 11 on that trip because we had a private hot tub on our deck with breathtaking views.

3 nights at Hotel Lamm in Castelrotto. I was confused about the Dolomiti, so I just went with Rick Steve's advice of Castelrotto. Not sorry. It was a grey weekend, so the views were come and go, but the town was fun. There was a medieval equestrian event going on , which was super fun, and then we ended up partying with the locals that night. Very Rick Steves backdoor experience. Take a look at the Hotel Lamm -- it was gorgeous,

Thanks for the info. We’re planning based on good advise here

We have been both Lake Garda and the Dolomites, beautiful places to visit. We drove up along the west side of Lake Garda and stayed in lovely Saló, not an American in sight besides us. Nice shops and dining. We spent four or five nights in Ortisei at family owned Hotel Grones, one of the most perfect stays we have ever experienced. The scenery is spectacular! We took lifts up to mountain valleys to hike each day.mWe left our car in the hotel’s garage the whole stay.
When we left, we drove down on east side of Lake Garda, stopping to stay in Malcesine. The views were beautiful but it had a more touristy vibe. Our hotel, Il Castello, had its own sandy beach, a nice surprise. Then we drove on south to Bologna.