Help with Lake Garda

it may be obvious but the reason that most posts are over a year old is that the tourism industry and everything else has stopped for covid. Only now are some areas coming back, and only for some tourists. Not the UK or China and only very recently the EU.

Thank you Nigel....yes that is why I needed help.

I stayed at Sirmione on the south end of the lake... it's pretty touristy. I made it to Riva at the north end of the lake for a day of hiking. I wasn't in the town much, but the hiking was great. And you get to hang out with a lot of Germans 🙂. That's where I would stay if I went back to Lake Garda.

Lake Garda is the largest and most popular lake in Italy, therefore, unless you go during low season, there will be tourists everywhere, albeit not as many Americans as Lake Como. However it is the closest major lake to the Brenner Pass, therefore very convenient for tourists coming from Germany and Austria, so you will hear a lot of German spoken (Italians jokingly call the lake the “Germans’ Sea”).

The north side is more beautiful in my opinion. Any town will do: Malcesine, Torbole, Riva, Limone, just to name a few, are all beautiful and quaint. However they are all popular destinations therefore all will have tourists.

Since you plan to be without a car, a farmhouse is not really an option for you. Malcesine would be my recommendation, although I really like Limone, which however is very small and kind of overrun with tourists in summer.

To do some search on the area you can start with the official website for the area below (click on the flag to shoo se the language of your choice). But I’m sure you can find other websites as well.

https://www.visitgarda.com/it/lago_di_garda/

Thank you so much...appreciate this help

We loved our time (3 nights) in Malcescine a few years ago.

Monte Baldo rises some 5000 feet above the lake and offers great hiking, with our without the cablecar assist.

https://www.visitmalcesine.com/en/mountains

The page has lodging offers as well.

We stayed at the Hotel Lago di Garda in Nago-Torbole in May 2019 and it was amazing. I'd go back there in a heartbeat. We had one of the rooms with the big private deck and personal hot tub. It was my favourite of the 9 different hotels we stayed at on our 4 week trip. The hotel itself was nice, but it was the deck, hot tub and VIEWS that made it spectacular. The town is a bit touristy, but all the other tourists were German or Italian. Cannot wait to go back and explore more of that area.

Have fun!

We drove both sides of Lake Garda coving and coming back from the Dolomites. On the SW coast, an Italian friend recommended Saló which was lovely, promenade on the lakefront, toney shops, all European visitors. . We did not see any Americans. We stayed at Hotel Belvedere. On the NE coast we stayed in Malcesine at Il Castello, right on the water with it’s own beach. The views are better here but it was more touristy in town than Saló. Pretty lake with good vistas. Are you also going to the magnificent Dolomites? It is an easy combination with Lake Garda.

wow, thank you all....I was getting to that frustrating time in planning. I am traveling alone so, it is so helpful when you also give me hotels that might be nice. Thank you

Hotel Castello in Malcescine is very nice----when I saw the location I wished we had stayed there.

I doubt there will be lots of tourists there this year.

Although you won’t have a car, however inquire about the possibility of hiring a driver for a day to take you to some of the most majestic spots on the lake, such as:
The village of Tremosine Sul Garda. The village is on the lake but on the very top of the cliff. I presume that from the dock to the topthey should have a bus or a taxi service. Inquire. It is probably one of the quaintest villages in the region, and in Italy.
Strada della Forra. This is a very narrow road, also near Tremosine, which goes through some gorgeous gorge (no pun intended)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW835VqLq4c&feature=youtu.be