Lake Garda

You could stay in Verona & take a day trip to Lake Garda.

You can get to the lake by bus or train.
I would suggest taking the train to Peschiera (14-16 mins) then take bus or walk to the ferry dock.
Take the ferry & cruise the lower lake & visit Garda , Bardolino, Lazise & Sirmione.
If you buy the day pass, you may hop on & off the ferry all day.

For ferry schedule: go here

Reason for recommending train vs. bus to get to lake: If you take the bus, it may take much longer if there is traffic.

Beware: If you decide to take the bus to the lake, the schedule is different on Sundays with less frequent buses.

We were there in September & decided to take the bus & it took 1 hr, 30 minutes due to heavy traffic.
We took the train back in the evening & it only took 14 minutes!

When is your trip?

Enjoy your trip!

I agree with the previous post. My wife and I stayed in Verona a couple of years ago, and did a day trip by train to one of the towns on Lake Garda. Verona was a great base, because it's quite charming, lots to investigate, and makes a great base for train trips to other cool towns in the area.

I like the north lake, therefore without a car I would probably choose Malcesine (although I've always had a car at lake Garda.) Malcesine can be reached by bus from Verona.
If you want to stay along the rail line (which passes only on the south side, then Peschiera is my recommended choice. Very famous fortress city. Peschiera and Desenzano are the two main towns on the lake. If both visiting the lake and Verona are in your plans, I would base myself in Peschiera and use it as a base to visit Verona and the lake from there. That would be a perfect hub.

If you want to stay on lake Garda, I suggest you ride a ferry up the lake to one of the very picturesque towns at the north end, like Limone or Malcescine. It is much less crowded there, and the lake is much prettier---surrounded by cliffs and mountains, not flat land.

The town of Sirmione at the south end is supposed to be charming, but attracts a lot of day-trippers for that reason, and is really crowded.

Jo

If you've been to Verona in the past & prefer to stay at the lake, you can take train to Peschiera
then take ferry boat to Malcesine & then to Limone.

I have not been to this part of the lake, however, Roberto, may chime in with more information since he's an expert on Lake Garda.

P.S. Roberto already posted above while I was writing this...

Jo,

I was also in that area at the end of September and if you want to explore Lago di Garda, I agree with Roberto that Peschiera would be a good choice for a place to stay. A few thoughts.....

• Peschiera - I was there for several days and I quite liked the town, although I didn't have much time as I wanted to explore there as I was also visiting other parts of the lake. I used a hotel right beside the station, which was most convenient for transportation. It's also a good location to access the boats that run up the lake. I timed my walk from the boat dock back to the hotel at 13 minutes (once you know the way). There are usually Taxis by the station and it's relatively cheap to get from there to the docks.
• Desenzao - it seemed nice, but I was only there briefly so didn't have much time to form an impression. It felt larger than Peschiera and I preferred staying in a smaller town.
• Sirmione - a town that I hopefully will never return to. Not only is it awkward to reach, but I found it extremely crowded with pushing and shoving tourists, and with nothing but packed shops and restaurants from one end to the other. The scenery is nice but that didn't overcome the negative aspects for me.
• Limone sul Garda - towards the north end and accessible via boat. It's a very scenic town with a beautiful lakeside promenade and a dramatic appearance up against a huge rock face. There is a small Museum there but I didn't find a lot of other attractions there to pique my interest. The day I was there it was moderately crowded but not hectic (seemed to be a lot of Germans, judging by the conversations I could overhear).
• Malcesine - I didn't have time to stop there but the boat docked briefly to let passengers disembark so I had a brief look. It seems like a really nice town and with some encouragement from Roberto, I would like to get back there to stay for a few days to explore the town a bit. There's also a Cable Car there that goes up the mountain, and that looked intriguing too.

Having a car to visit the towns at the north end of the lake would add some convenience, however I prefer to use public transit if it's available. That way I don't have to deal with the costs of rental, insurance, fuel, parking, etc. For one person, a car is often not the most cost effective method.

With the boats, I tried to minimize the travel times to allow as much time as possible in the towns I was visiting. Using the Catamaran (fairly quick) or the Aliscafo / Hydrofoil (really quick) is the method I used. I tried to avoid the elegant older boats, as I wanted a fast trip.