Lake Garda Itinerary help - late May

hey hey skhazel
welcome aboard
your days are very short with things you want to do or see. how are you getting to malcesine and are you flying into MXP (milan malpensa airport?) your travel times will be longer than you think. what time do you land, time to go thru immigration/passport/get luggage, train/bus/taxi to your hotel in malcesine could be at least 10 hours+, is front desk 24 hours? check-in times 3-4pm check-out times 10-11am, jet lag day after arrival may be "fuzzy/cloudy", think of reservations for meals
do your research about transportation, traffic on 2 lanes roads, buying train/bus tickets, ferry tickets, the costs for 5 of you. you are traveling during high high summer/HOT season with crowds everywhere, wanting to see the same places you want to see.
sirmione is high on the list for many to visit, all day long, not only later daytime. many tours (private, van, buses, ferries) show up early from towns all around the lake with many coming from milan/verona, "bumper to bumper bodies" worse than a can of sardines. on different sides of lake, could take over 2 hours to get to, always look at times ferries leave each town
gardavisit.it lakegardavisit.net (under things to do is market days/towns)
stop at a tourist kiosk for things they have to do, ask your hotel host/hostess for boat tours. don't know about stopping in verona, drop luggage in storage at train station?? then onto venice. my own opinion this is italy oveload, like many newbies wanting to fit a square peg in a round hole. give your family to sit and relax at outside cafe and enjoy the views, people watch, charcuterie tray, wine from around the lake.
we stayed in bardolino several years ago sept/oct for their annual wine festival which was fabulous "eat drink & be merry". loved staying in bardolino closer to lower lake and transportation was easier even though we had a car and drove back to venice for a week before greek island cruise. have a great time, enjoy the lake, drink wine & eat gelato
aloha

Hi @princesspupule
Thanks for the reply.
We I didn't count our arrival or departure days. We arrive on a Tuesday, and then have Wed/Th/Friday for Lake Garda. We depart on Sat. We fly into Verona and have a ride arranged to get to our hotel on Tuesday. And, do you feel that end of May is "high high summer/HOT season" as you wrote? I thought we were on the earlier end of summer but perhaps I'm wrong. And the forecast certainly does not look hot, but I realize that can change quickly too.

We do plan to sit and enjoy eating, outdoor cafes, people watching - we just wanted to pick a few places on the Lake to do this.

Thank you for your input. Just wanted to add some clarifying points.

We were in Malcesine last June without a car.

1. It is a long way from Sirimone. I visited on a different trip and while worthwhile I don’t think it is a good idea.
2. We rented a boat for 2 hours in Sirimone. My twenty something son drove the boat. Many boats can be rented with just a drivers license. The rental place helped us choose a route. It was great fun and for our group of 7 less expensive than the ferries. I would think you could rent something at that end of the lake also but have no personal experience. I had to call to make a reservation for the boat. You couldn’t do it online. I called the day before from Verona.
3. I would wait until you arrive to buy tickets. We did not end up going (had just gone to the Dolomites) but did talk to people at ticket booth and it did not seem like you needed to reserve ahead.

We enjoyed the town of Malcesine a lot as well as Limone and Riva. There is a special boat that goes to Limone only that was more expensive than ferry. But it does actually run more often, as we found out. Riva was more charming than we expected. It does not have the narrow winding streets of the other two but is more like a pleasant lakeside resort.

Hope this helps.

hey hey skhazel
thanks for more info. you got it together with your transportation.
many people think like you about traveling early, not anymore. got USA spring breaks, graduations gifts, getaways. italy and france are top countries to visit especially big cities. lake garda or lake maggiore have become another option instead of lake como with all the crowds, long lines and waits, destination weddings, social media/instagram posts.
we use to travel late september/october with kids back at school/after labor day, not now. many cruise ships are still sailing with thousands & thousands still traveling. just go with the flow to have fun.
getyourguide.com
a reseller of things to do but gives you ideas to look at.
how many days are you in venice, where you staying and any plans? been 4-5 times, roaming around, took a gondola ride with
[email protected]
born & raised family gondolier, pickup near jewish ghetto. we emailed him to schedule ride. he was fabulous, told us history of venice, went back canals and crossed busy grand canal, sang to us. we brought bottle of prosecco & plastic glasses to celebrate with 2 friends who never been
schezzini.it
alessandro does a bar/appetizers crawl to small places to taste the small "tapas" you pick and taste venetian wines. email him on his contact page.
don't forget some gelato, prosecco (vineyard area close by) we did a tour of prosecco road. had tiramisu at all restaurants since home is nearby in treviso.
aloha
aloha