Lake Garda

Hi Doug
Lake Garda is really pretty. We went to their annual wine festival "festa dell uva e del vino". Fun times. This year is oct 4 to oct 8, Music, dancing, tasting, food, stalls of goods for sale, firework show on sunday evening, shows in center of town on the lake. Look it up and you won't regret a fabulous time. Look at booking.com for a hotel room in or near bardolino, you have a car and parking available. We got there sunday morning, checked in and started our wine party with the crowd, stayed for firework show, back to hotel to sleep. Next morning drove a bit up lake but we had to get back to venice where we were staying. Happy Travels
Aloha Princess Pupule

Douglas,

Sirmione might not be the best choice, especially if you have a car. There's a large car park outside the walls, but I've found that it can be horrendously crowded at times. You might also have a look at Malcesine or Limone sul Garda.

I second the suggestion of Malcescine. The town is charming with some narrow cobbled streets and a picturesque ruined castle. There is great hiking on Monte Baldo which rises 5000 feet from the town. Also mountain biking and probably paragliding if you want more adventure. A large cablecar takes you to the top. We hiked up and walked down.

http://360gardalife.com/en/cable-car-malcesine-monte-baldo

Lots of nice places to stay, right on the lake if you wish. I think it was Hotel Castello, on the beach just below the castle, that we chose for our next visit ( not scheduled yet). I will check and correct that if I am incorrect.

Scroll through this site for photos of the town and more information on activities.

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

Photos of Hotel Castello:

https://www.visitmalcesine.com/en/where-to-sleep/hotel-castello-lake-front/6

We loved Malcescine. It has a scenic walkway along the lake and the town is very picturesque. We stayed at "Residence Sporting", an odd sounding hotel, but a beautiful place to stay, overlooking the water and a short walk into town. Having never been to lake Garda before, we found Malcesine an unexpected treasure.

Limone or Malcesine, nearly across from each other on the North Lake, are the towns I prefer. Both are very quaint. Limone is smaller. Both are connected by regular boat service and also private boat excursions as they are the most popular destinations on the north lake. Sirmione is very quaint also on the south, but I prefer the north lake because of the dramatic mountains (the southern half of the lake is flat). As Ken mentioned, Sirmione can get crowded in high season, and in July a couple of years ago it was a nightmare for me getting in and out by car. It was packed. However I’ve been there in October in the past and very few people were there on weekdays (there are several day trippers on weekend however also in October, if the weather is nice).