Lake Garda question

If you change hotels every night you will waste a lot of time checking in and out of hotels.
To me the most beautiful part of the lake is the north side. However there is no rail line there, as the only rail is in the south (Peschiera and Desenzano) along the Verona - Milan line.
I have always had a car there, but if I had to go without one for 3 nights, I would base myself in the north (Malcesine or Riva). You can get there by bus from Verona. All towns are connected by boat. Limone is my favorite village, but is smaller. Riva, Malcesine, Torbole, Torri, Gragnano are all nice. Take the gondola to Mt. Baldo from Malcesine for a nice view.
On the south side, Sirmione is a very popular quaint village. It's extremely crowded with tourists though, yet you can't go there without at least a short visit. It would be like visiting Orlando without going to a Disney park. You could visit it while you are based in Verona though. It's a short train+bus ride from Verona. But of course you can also go there by ferry from the north side of the lake.

Hello Roberto! Thank you so much.

If I wanted to approach the lakes from Brescia, what about taking the bus to Sirmione (1hr?) and seeing a bit of sirmione before taking the Ferry to Malcesine, and dropping the anchor there for two nights?

After that I'm heading into the Dolomites but assume there is a bus at the north of the lake that would take me to the train route...

J

J, I went to Sirmione by bus from Verona last May, about one hour. Sirmione is actually a small peninsula jutting into the lake. Very near the bus stop is a short, wide pedestrian bridge, leading into the town. That area is indeed very crowded and touristy, with an interesting old castle you can explore and climb up in, the main "site" in town. Nearby is the boat dock and a large number of restaurants, gelatarias and shops. But if you explore further, there are long quite rural paths and walks, overlooking the lake and with almost no one around. Out on the point of the peninsula, again overlooking the lake from up high, there are extensive ancient Roman ruins, a small museum, and what I was told was a 2,000 year old olive grove. I spent 60 to 90 minutes walking there, a very non-touristy experience. Then I walked back to the center of Sirmione and got a ferry to Bardolino on the southeastern side of the lake. Check the schedules and fares, but my impression was that the ferries from south to north were quite slow and expensive, and another approach might be to take a short ferry to Bardolino or another nearby town, explore it, and then catch a bus up the eastern shore to Malcesine. Roberto can no doubt correct my thinking, or fill in some details.

Below is all the transportation info you need.

As I mentioned, train transportation is limited to the south shore in the main towns (Desenzano and Peschiera), which are along the Milano-Verona-Venice line. For train schedules to those to towns see here:
www.trenitalia.com

Buses cover the lake extensively. The lake is in 3 provinces in 3 separate regions (Prov. of Brescia in Lombardy, Prov. of Verona in Veneto, and Prov. of Trento in Trentino-Alto Adige). Desenzano is in the province of Brescia, while Peschiera is the province of Verona.
As such, there are 3 separate provincial transit agencies that cover the different shores:
ATV - Verona Transit Agency
TT SpA - Trentino Trasporti (SpA is the Italian equivalent of INC.=Incorporated).
Trasporti Brescia Nord
But fortunately all bus schedules from the 3 agencies are in the website below:
http://www.lagodigarda.it/Linee-autobus/1158-1.html

For boat transportation, the same website above will direct you to the Italian Government Lake Navigation website. Select Garda and the boat timetable is available here:
http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/g_illago.html

To go to the Dolomites from Malcesine, it would be nice to have a car, because it's just over one hour. With the bus and train, it's a much longer trip. You would go up to Torbole, on the northern tip of the lake. Then from Torbole, you would take another bus (the Riva to Rovereto). Once in Rovereto, you are on the Verona-Bolzano-Brenner rail line. Not sure where you are going in the Dolomites, but if you want to go to Ortisei in the Val Gardena (my recommendation), you would get off at Bolzano and take a bus to the Val Gardena from there.

Roberto, thank you thank you, this is super - you did all my work for me!

It looks like a bus from Brescia to Salo should be quite easy. Is Salo a good place to stay while in Garda, considering both atmosphere and value? We can happily take a boat tour to Sirmione and Malcesine on one of our days there.

Afterward, I suppose we will take the bus from Torbole to Rovereto, but were considering a stop in Trento overnight before continuing to - you guessed right - Ortisei.

I've only driven through Salo' but never visited. But I suppose most towns would do.
However if you don't have a car, you are coming from Brescia, and ultimately need to go to Rovereto, you should base yourself a bit further north in Riva, on the northernmost tip of the lake.

Riva is an excellent base for the north lake because it's a very pretty midsize town, it's a short distance from Malcesine and Limone, two gems. Also Riva is the largest town on the north lake and the end of the line of all boat lines in the north lake. It is also the end of the line of all bus lines for all 3 transit agencies mentioned above. It is also the end of the line for the bus line that connects the lake to Rovereto. From Riva you don't need to change buses in Torbole, because the bus to Rovereto originates from Riva. In other words, all roads (at least those of lake Garda) lead to Riva.

Trivia: Riva is the town where the family of Rick Santorum (the GOP presidential candidate in 2012) is from. it's a very unusual and rare Italian last name that can be found only in or around Riva.

Buono! I have reserved already for three nights in Malcesine - which I hope is far enough north to get easily to Riva.

Rick Santorum is a very unique person who I am somewhat regretful to call either an Italian OR an a American, but thank you for the trivia! For the record, I am a musician, and Salo will always be the town of Gasparo da Salo! :)

To us Italians Salo' will always be the town of the "Republic of Salo'", the last Fascist Government bastion when Central/Southern Italy was already under the control of the Allies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Social_Republic

Between Rick Santorum and Benito Mussolini I'm not sure whom I'm more regretful to call Italian.

Yes of course, I know about that. But it's nice to know that, for some of us, the violin maker eclipses the fascists.