Lake Garda: Gargnano or Malcesine for best view

Choose based on your preferred accommodations. Driving times are similar to all locations (about 2-2.5 hrs), including Riva or Limone, further north. That's because if you go to the northernmost tip, you would take the A22 up to Rovereto and cross the tunnel to Riva from there. As such going to the northernmost tip to Riva or Torbole, is actually faster than Malcesine or Gargnano further south. However the difference is minimal. It might be 5 to 10 min difference, therefore 2h 20 min instead of 2 h 30 min. All those locations are great: Gargnano, Limone, Riva, Torbole, Malcesine, are all excellent choices. Since while there you will be traveling all other places, by car or boat, it doesn't really matter.

Be careful driving while jet lagged. Drink lots of espresso and ask your traveling party to keep the driver awake. If too tired to keep your eyes open. Stop and nap for a bit.

Thank you for your driving tips - very helpful!

We plan to stop in Verona on the way - we'll refuel with espresso!

Dawn,

We will be driving from Venice, after an overnight flight from the US....so I was hoping not to have to go all the way to the north end of the Lake on our first day in Italy!

Take heed to Roberto's advice regarding driving when experiencing jet lag.

I would definitely not recommend driving after a Transatlantic flight.

Here is another option... Since you plan to stop in Verona, why not take the train to Verona, spend the night, then pick up your car on the way out of Verona?

Have a wonderful trip!

Dawn,

In addition to the good advice about driving in a jet-lagged state, I assume you're aware of the usual potentially expensive "caveats" for driving in Italy - IDP's, ZTL's, etc.?

Hi Dawn. We drove to Lake Garda (after visiting Venice for 5 days) last August. We stayed in Lake Garda for 3 days (1 night in Sirmione and 2 nights in Malcesine and we stayed at Hotel Vega which I see you are considering). From Malcesine, we took the ferry to Limone sul Garda and Riva del Garda for day trips. We were very satisfied with our base in Malcesine and also Hotel Vega. Our room overlooked the lake and the views were incredible. Parking was very easy at the hotel and the hotel itself was immaculately clean, modern, relaxing and comfortable. The views from the dining room and sun deck were beautiful as well and the owner of the hotel was very friendly and accommodating. Malcesine is a quaint little town which we immensely enjoyed. We were glad we did not stay in Limone or Riva but everyone has different tastes. We found Riva to be a bigger and less quaint town and didn't enjoy it as much as Malcesine. I don't think you can go wrong with Malcesine and Hotel Vega but that's just my opinion.

I'm not sure what part of the U.S. you are flying from but we flew from CA to Venice and could not have driven to Lake Garda after such a long flight; it would have been exhausting. Can you stay in Venice for a few days? Or, take Priscilla's advice and take the train to Verona, overnight there, then rent your car in Verona the next morning and drive to Lake Garda. We were lucky enough to get about 6 hours sleep on our flight to Europe which mitigated our jet lag a lot but there's still no way we could have driven to Lake Garda after landing in Venice. You might also be underestimating the time it takes to get your luggage, make your way to Piazzale Roma, rent the car, get on the road, etc. And, if you're considering stopping in Verona en route to Lake Garda, I think your plan is too ambitious. We drove to Verona and spent half a day there and then drove to Sirmione in the late afternoon but I can't imagine doing this the day we landed in Venice.

No matter where you stay I recommend visiting Limone, it is good for your heart.

http://did-you-know-that.com/the-genetic-mutation-that-protects/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11306522

Hello,
Just jumping into the conversation, I would love to hear more about those expensive Driving caveats as we will be driving for 2 weeks between Rome and the Alto Adige.
Thanks

Sorry for the delay - I lost track of things! I'm not sure if I should start a new post, but I'll try asking my new questions here (some comments to my original post are after these new questions):

1) FERRIES: How early do we need to arrive for a Lake Garda ferry, eg Limone to Riva? Do the last ferries of the day ever fill up? Can you see scenery from the fast ferries? I ask this because in Greece the windows of our fast ferry were covered in water so we couldn't see out (& no decks)
2) MONTE BALDO: If we get to the Monte Baldo cable car in Malcesine by 10am in mid September, would there be more than an hour wait for a car to the top? (I'll buy tickets online the day before)

My Comments on your very thoughtful suggestions:
Yes, we have driven in Italy before so know about the IDP, ZTLs etc.

I'm not worried about driving after an overnight flight. Unlike myself, my husband can sleep on flights so he's usually fine driving! But with your input, I have decided not to do a quick stop at Verona on our way to Lake Garda. That's probably pushing it for our arrival day. We'll have 2 cars, so anyone wanting to stop can be in the other car.

As for Malcesine vs Gargnano. I'm STILL torn. Someone said go with the hotel we like - & I do like our Gargnano hotel. But, being based in Malcesine gives us more time to explore the town. If we stay in Gargnano, the day trip to Malcesine/Monte Baldo is a bit tight with the ferry schedule. I don't want to feel rushed. Nor do I want to play tour director with my friends and have to keep herding them along! (Even taking the first ferry from Limone to Malcesine & allowing 1 hour to wait for cable cars, 3 hours at the top of Monte Baldo = that only leaves 1-2 hours to see Malcesine. hmmm)

Since we like smaller, low-key towns, I'm wondering if I should stick with Gargnano.

William from MIlwaukee - Google ZTLs and you'll find lots of info on these zones you should avoid. I usually identify the Parking outside of the ZTL area before I go, and enter those addreses/GPS coordinates into my GPS. Much less stressful.

Thanks everyone!