Hi Everyone :) 4th trip to Italy. Advice/Opinions for Lake Garda, Bologna, Tuscany

Bologna- no day trips, Sornd your whole time exploring wonderful Bologna! We stayed in the historic center at the Hotel Novecento
Lake Garda-
Look at toney, Saló. Not many Americans stay there, mostly Europeans. Italian friends recommended we stay there and we were glad we did.SW coast.
Malcesine in the NE part of the lake has beautiful mountain view’s, beaches. More touristed but you are able to get away from that. Recommend
Hotel Il Castello.
Tuscany- Start in Siena and then explore the Chianti villages, Radda, Castellina, , Panzano, Greve and more.
I hope others reply although the long, long lists you are asking fellow posters to read through are extremely daunting.

Wow, you've seen a lot of things - but here are my suggestions. Many of these I've visited some are from my "to do" list just so I'm upfront about that.

Lake Garda I would look at Malcesine - it offers a mid-lake ferry (like Varenna) with access to Limone Sul Garda
and Riva del Garda as well as a cable car up into the mountains. I don't know if it warrants five nights but it seems like the best jumping off place for the upper lake area. The lower lake area is easily accessible by train but is also super touristy as a result.

Bologna is worth a couple of days on its own - food focused but there are other things to see as well - but I would recommend Modena and many people like Parma as well in the Po valley. Ravenna has amazing mosaics and is a pretty easy day trip from Bologna.

If you want the full Tuscany experience I would choose an upper and lower base for this time. It seems like you've seen the usual northern Tuscan towns lister: Volterra, SG, but also Arezzo, Greve, Castellina, and lower Pienza, Montelcino, San Quirico d'Orcia, Montepulciano. It sounds like a southern focus might be in order.

For places you don't list I might through into the mix are Verona, Brescia, Padova/Padua nearish Bologna.
Verona feels much smaller than its population with the old Roman town inside the bend in the river surrounded by distinctive bridges. It is a very pedestrian friendly town with cafes, shops as well as an intact Roman Arena and theater (both still in use) and it has an arty, cosmopolitan feel. The town has the "elegant decay" feel they do so well in the Veneto.
Brescia is underrated if you're interested in Roman ruins at all. The town itself (ignoring the work-a-day area between the train station and old town) is an interesting series connected great piazzas chained across town with the remnants of a Roman Temple and forum you can tour and an amazing basement to the Santa Giulia Museum which is in situ mosaics because the museum is built on the old baths and the partial walls of the museum displays are actually Roman.
Padova/Padua has some really impressive sights - the town impressed me less than others but I saw it after Bologna and Brescia and it reminded me of both those mashed together. If I had seen it first I might have felt differently.

Hope that helps some, have a great trip!
=Tod

Thank you Suki! and sorry I will edit it down :)

Thank you =Tod :)

I have just sort of passed through Lake Garda, as it were, so I have no specific suggestion for you there. However, I want to warn you that lodgings on Lake Como for August 30 - September 3 were very picked-over when I booked a room a couple of weeks ago. I'd expect the situation at Lake Garda to be similar.

I'm a big Ravenna fan and would like to point out that a lot of cruise ships formerly docking in Venice are now going to the port of Ravenna instead. I've read no reports that cruise passengers are inundating Ravenna, but you know it will eventually happen when word gets out about what a slog it is to get off a cruise ship in Ravenna and go to Venice. I highly recommend seeing Ravenna now. It takes 2 days of concentrated effort to see all the mosaic-related sights, but you can accomplish a lot on a day trip from Bologna.

@Tigger I stayed in Bologna for a week last Fall. This wasn’t the first time I stayed there. It’s a fun City with loads of energy from the university student population. I day tripped to Ravenna. It took all day to walk to the sights scattered throughout the historic center. Other places I recommend for daytrips are: Parma (famous for cheese) or Modena (famous for balsamic vinegar and Michelin restaurants), Florence (only 35 minutes by FrecciaRossa train) and you can also tour the Ferrari car museum nearby.
However, don’t just sleep in Bologna and daytrip to other towns; it has a lot of see with so many streets, eateries and shops to explore.
For Tuscany, you could stay in or near Lucca or Pienza. The latter has beautiful countryside around it for walking. It is also close to Montepulciano (which is very nice complete town with restaurants and wine bars). Generally, the views from the Southern Tuscan hill towns are fantastic.

Forgot to add: The upper part of Lake Garda doesn't have train service so best plan for Malcesine is probably a bus from the Verona train station - probably with a change - or from Peschiare del Garda which a short train ride from Verona.
Also Brescia also has a castle at the top of the hill that overlooks town.

You might look into dropping the rental car in Chuisi or Orvieto (Hertz only I think) and training into Rome to avoid driving anywhere near Rome.

When you're in Tuscany look on-line - and realistically more successfully in person - for any sagras happening in the any of the surrounding towns. Something like the Castiglione d’Orcia SAGRA DEL CROSTINO that happens in August. Or the Sagra della Bistecca around Cortona in the middle of August. It's my goal to attend the Sagra del cinghiale some year.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Thank you Everyone!!! :)
I will look into all that you have said :)