Sirmione Info Wanted

Sirmione is a wonderful magical place. But hwether it would be worth the effort is up to you. What time of year did you have in mind? How will you be traveling? Where will you be coming from and going to?

More info please.

We would be traveling from Venice via Padua and Verona going the next day to Milan, and this would be around October 20th (+ - one day). We will need a place to spend the night along this route and Sirmione looked interesting.

If you are driving, I think that it would be perfect. Public transport makes it a bit harder to do. October will be a bit less crowded. Stay within the city wall. There is a tourist info station just before you get to the city entrance, they can make all the arragnements for you. I have never made advance reservations and have not had a problem. You basically stop in and give them a price range and they handle the rest. There are several hotels although some may be closing for the season, as well as several nice places to eat. If you are planning on making advance reservations, just be careful to get something in the old part of the city within the wall. We have stayed at different hotles each time and were very satisfied. Unfortunately I can't remember any fo the names right now. If i find them , I'll post again.

Ron, I forgot to mention that we will be travelling by train. Will that make getting to Sirmione too complicated? I haven't yet determined where the closest train stop is (I'm working on it) but I think there should be one in the vacinity of Desenzano at the base of the peninsula. We could probably take a bus or taxi from there to Sirmione.
Doug

I'd never heard of Sirmione before. Per the trenitalia website, the closest train station is Desenzano Del Garda. There might be a bus to Sirmione proper. An excellent resource for these kinds of questions is to find the website of a hotel in the village and see what they say about how to get there.

As much as I really like Sirmione, you might be better served to stay the night in Verona or add an extra night if you were planning an overnight there already. There should be a bus from Desenzano del Garda to Sirmione but I have never taken it.

something else to consider would be to spend some time in Vicenza after Padova. It was Palladio's home town, so lots of interesting architecture. Then arrive late at Verona, overnight there tkae in some sights the next day and then on westward.

We stayed in Desenzano a few years ago, and took the ferry to Sirmione. It was a pleasant trip, only takes a few minutes, and let us see the beauty of Lake Garda. The winter ferry timetable is at www.navigazionelaghi.it/ita/gar/Orario%20Invernale/nlg_ora_dsr.html. Desenzano is an attractive small town on the lake with good hotels and restaurants. Desenzano station is quite convenient to the town, and has trains to Milan, Venice, Bolsano, etc.

The bus from desanzano train station to sirmione takes about 20-30 minutes, runs about every hour or two. You can find more about it on the commune of sirmione site.
We stayed at the Grifone. You will find many not so good comments about it, but we liked it. We had the two 'romantic' rooms with little balconies. Their restaurant is very good. Right on the lake. We were there in late May before the heat and bugs of summer.

Doug.Don't miss the chance to visit Sirmione and lake Garda.I was there a month or so ago.Breathtaking.We took two side trips.The first day we drove around the lake stoping along the way for lunch and pictures.The whole lake area is surrounded by little towns with hotels and restorants.Ended up taking the night stroll in Sirmione.Second day we went to Gardaland(a pretty good imitation of Disney World),which is a couple of miles from Sirmioe.Had a blast even in winter time.But we had a car,my brother was driving.He lives in Ialy,so i can not help with transportation ideas.As far as accomodation,try this site:www.lagodigarda.it.Click to Sirmione and you'll be able to find plenty of hotels to research and compare.Good luck.

We stayed in Sirmione in May 2005. We were traveling from Venice to Bergamo airport so I was looking for somewhere to stay 1/2 way between the two. It was so cool!! We stayed at Hotel Grifone. They don't have a web site. I faxed them at 030-916-548. They are in Frommer's. It is on a narrow peninsula in the old town next to the moated Castello Scaligero. The guard lets you across the moat if you can prove you have hotel reservations on the peninsula. The rooms were nice and clean but simple. The restaurant was fantastic. We had a view of Lake Garda from our room. Then we walked to Lido delle Bionde Beach where the bar was renting lounge chairs with umbrellas for 5 euros for the day. We sat on the lounge chairs in 80 degree weather (i think that was not normal for May) with our beers and watched the boats cruise by on Lake Garda. It was heavenly. Then we walked through the pedestrian-only town and there were lots of shops, gelato stands, and restaurants. We are going back someday.

Grifone is closed in winter. Last year they first replied to our fax about 25th March, after we had faxed and called several times in previous weeks. Last year we received reply from them with this return
grifonesirmione@gmail.com
Albergo Grifone
Sirmione
Italy
Tel 030/916014 - Fax 030/916548/