I'm looking at Lake Garda lodging for 3 nights beginning Sept 15, and I've been leaning toward either Limone sul Garda or Malcesine. We will have a rental car at that point of our trip but would prefer to be within walking distance of markets & restaurants for food and a ferry dock for sightseeing. We are really hoping to have a lovely lakeside view from a balcony or terrace (yeah, like everyone), so that is somewhat limiting our options unless we're willing to spend gobs of euros. For those who have spent time on this beautiful lake, what would be your suggestion for a base town? From there, I can narrow down my search on vrbo/airbnb and booking.com. Thanks!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
Both are great places, probably some of the quaintest lake villages in Italy. Your ultimate choice will probably depend on accommodation availability. Limone is a bit smaller but a very popular destination and therefore there might be fewer choices so you should try to book soon. September is a month when the hordes of Germans come down to Italy in big numbers and Lake Garda is known to us as "Il Mare dei Tedeschi" (The Germans' Sea).
Posted by
11609 posts
Malcesine gets crowded but if you book a room at Il Castello you will have a private beach on the lakefront.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17563 posts
We have only been to Malcescine and Desenzano on Lago di Garda. Malcescine is the place I would return to in a heartbeat. We had reservations there for 3 nights last September, but BA canceled our flight into Milan and we had to cut a day from our trip. So we had to switched from 3 nights at Malcescine to 2 at Desanzano. It just wasn’t nearly as beautiful,,even though we had a lakefront room with a direct view from our balcony.
The hotel,we had booked in Malcescine was Hotel Venezia, also with a room facing the lake, with balcony. It is the blue hotel in this photo on their website:
https://www.hotelvenezia-malcesine.it/en
Also try Hotel Castello, which is right below the castle with their own sandy beach.
Posted by
OP
NC, US
219 posts
Thank you all for the feedback! I didn't realize September was known as "Il Mare dei Tedeschi" at Lake Garda. I'm afraid my German is strictly that which I needed to sing choral works in German (Carmina Burana being a favorite). I checked out the hotels mentioned - very nice! If nothing else, we'd love to have a drink one evening on the lakeside terrace at Hotel Venezia.
It would be great to find a nice lakeside B&B. If anyone who reads this has stayed in one they'd recommend, I'd love to hear about it!