Provocative title I know.
I don’t see any mention of Garda and its environs in my RS book. I understand they can’t possibly cover everything, but I need some help.
We will be in Verona on an extended stay and want to stay in a less touristy town or village for a couple of days. Does the community have any suggestions for destinations and accommodations?
Many thanks in advance.
The southern part of the lake is crowded and not as scenic as the northern end. Riva del Garda is likewise crowded but very scenic.
My favorite town by far is Limone with Malcesine a distant second.
Rick has said on interviews he prefers como and has referred to garda as the water sports lake. While there are many water sports activities due to the unusual and very ! cool winds you get at Garda (wind and kite surfing being the top attraction) it is also very scenic with natural beauty and history. Summer is full of Germans , increasing number of English and this past summer I saw and heard more ‘eastern’ europeans (polish etc) than before. If you search under lake Garda on this forum you will have a number of town recommendations from the flatter south to the more mountainous scenic north. The eastern side will be closer to Verona and public transport. Bardolino , Desenzano are a few mentioned on this forum - Malcesine and Riva are als popular here. But it is a very busy summer destination - just historically more popular with Europeans.
Rick Steves’ books cover primarily the places where his tours go.
It’s about marketing my friend.
Lake Garda (“The Germans’ Sea) is also very beautiful and has more things to do than lake Como, that’s why Lake Garda is the lake that is by far most visited in Italy (25 million visitors a year, twice as many as the entire island of Sardinia).
But for whatever reason Americans tend to prefer Lake Como. Blame George Clooney (and Rick Steves).
The Valpolicella area is very scenic and restfully rural. Mantua is a gem
I always thought the tours went to the curated areas the books cover.
@ OP: we are on Lake Garda every year a few times, again next week for carnival parade. So, which month will you be at Verona and how many days?
From Verona it is an easy and short trip by bus to Bardolino or Garda Town on the eastern side of the lake. If you want to explore the lake more northern you have to change bus in Garda town, or take the ferry.
The western side of the lake is not so easily reachable from Verona, and let me say, it is not so beautiful there.
If you need some special information please ask.
I think a lot of it has to do with train access to various places. With easy train access it becomes easy to recommend and easy for people to schedule from the states from a city with easy air access - Varenna on Como from Milan - and it gets written up. Then it gets popular and then everyone talks about it and tells their friends to go. If you had to train to Lecco and then bus to Varenna it would still be just another lakeside town and not on the American tourist trail.
As soon as a bus gets involved in the schedule American tourist interest takes a significant dive. But even Verona is barely on the American mass tourist radar so it would mean get to Verona or Brescia (that they've never heard of) to get on a bus or two buses? Not going to happen. If there was a train from Verona or Rovereto to Malcesine or Riva del Garda I think it would be a different story. Not as bad as Varenna since Verona is not Milan, but I think there would be a significant uptick in American tourist traffic.
My $.02,
=Tod
PS I've heard Italians say that Lake Iseo is the Italian escape lake without non-Italian tourists and not to tell anyone.
That’s crazy! An hour ago, I started considering Iseo. I’m thinking that might be the experience I want.
Thanks to for your kind replies.
Tod
I don’t think RS covers certain locations because of easy train accessibility, otherwise neither the Val D’Orcia (Montepulciano) or the Alpe di Siusi (Castelrotto/Kastelruth) and certainly not even Vieste (and much of Puglia) would make his books. No, those are simply famous locations that his tours go to, and by covering them in his guidebooks indirectly help marketing the tours. I’m not blaming the Rick Steves’ Europe company for doing this. Business is business.
I, too, would look at Lake Iseo. I have an Italian cousin who lives near Garda and he recommended Lake Iseo!
Iseo is small and nice - - great suggestion.
In 2023, we stayed in the town of Garda and absolutely loved it! See my blog post here: https://kevinduboisphoto.blogspot.com/2023/07/italy-travel-2023-day-2-fontanellato.html
Driving along the lake the next day we also stopped in Malcesine to take the gondola up to Monte Baldo - spectacular! See the blog post here: https://kevinduboisphoto.blogspot.com/2023/07/italy-2023-day-3-lake-garda-to.html
We loved Lake Garda and would love to go back to explore the western shores.
Kevin
hey hey timatspc
there really isn't much info about lago di garda unless you do your own searching and learning from posters here.
years ago learned about the lake from a customer of mine and found out of their annual wine festival "festa dell'uva" in bardolino september/october. we would be a week in venice for a greek island cruise, so double booked a hotel in bardolino, rented car at piazzale roma and off we went on a sunday. reserved room at hotel nettuno right in front of lake, parked car in front, dumped luggage, walked pathway around side of hotel to "let's get this party started!!" it was a fabulous day for eat drink & be merry, the lake and mountain views, wasn't that crowded back then, lots of germans & austrians, small shops/restaurants in the village, boat dock for ferries, firework show last night over the lake, driving back to venice we stopped for lunch in pescheira center.
transportation hub bottom of lake, buses go so far up the lake which we didn't get to.
lake garda was "quiet & less crowded" back then but not anymore. lots of travelers go to lake como on tours/private drivers, buses,etc that get so so crowded, social media explosion, buses/trains packed with day trippers hoping to see george clooney, madonna, sylvester stallone, movie locations.
nice to check out other lakes, few posters mention lake maggiore & iseo
lakegardatravel.net
earthtrekkers.com
lake garda bucket list: 25 things to do
gardavisit.it
click the towns top of page, click experiences & find inspiration, also look for farmers market days in towns
isoladelgarda.com villa and gardens
we loved lake garda what we did see, it's beautiful. i would go again in a heartbeat. one of my favorites places we visited.
enjoy yourself and enjoy what the lake offers, have a glass of bardolino wine and taste some olive oil.
aloha
AFAIK, one of the other reasons that Lake Garda isn't listed in the Rick Steves guidebooks is because Rick's publisher has imposed a limit on the number of pages. He couldn't possibly list every destination in Italy that readers might be interested in, so he features places that he thinks his readers might be interested in.
Lake Como has been popular with aristocracy and the rich & famous for a long time, and the elegant villas and hotels provide a certain "mystique". It's a beautiful location and it's been featured in some notable movies, including some of the James Bond series, the Oceans 11 movies and older movies such as *A Month By The Lake". It's also easily accessible from Milan. OTOH, on Lake Garda only the towns on the southern end are accessible by rail so some of the more popular towns are more difficult to reach (unless you have a car).
I haven't been to Lake Iseo (yet) but it looks like a beautiful location and towns at the southern end are easily accessible by rail from Verona.
"""there really isn't much info about lago di garda unless you do your own searching and learning from posters here"""
If anywhere needs more information about Lake Garda, just ask me. I am on the lake every year a few times, everytime about 2 weeks, next time for the carnival-parada at Bardolino on Febr. 7, where we also stay 2 weeks. So I know the lake very well, in all seasons.
