weekend_celebrations

I am planning a road trip for next summer with 4-5 day base somewhere on Lake Garda to take in the scenery, hike a little, and do day trips to Verona (and may be as far as the Mediterranean beach but not certain). Although I myself prefer quieter less touristy towns as bases, I have a teen in my family and he needs to be able to move around on his own so ideally the town we stay on Garda would have some activity in the evening he could walk to on his own. thank you for your input, Lake Garda "insighters"

weekend_celebrations

I should clarify that this would not be the only "base" on this road trip. we would be arriving from somewhere north (Germany or Austria) via Brenner pass

PalenQ

Several towns at the northern tip of the lake - coming from Austria/Germany you would arrive here I think - are neat and this IMO is the prettiest part of the lake - once there you can use boats to scoot around the lake - get a day pass as driving on crowded roads around the lake may not be much fun.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...lake+garda+map

I just day tripped from the southern tip of the lake to the two towns at the northern part on this map - both looked like neat towns but Limone is smaller and more scenic perhaps.

HappyTrvlr

An Italian friend recommended we stay at Saló on the SE coast of the lake. It fits your requirements for your son. Didn't come across others from US, mostly Italians and Germans. Toney shopping street. Long waterfront promenade filled with restaurants, hotels.

weekend_celebrations

Thank you, @Happy Trvir and @PalenQ. where did you look for accommodations?
@PalenQ where on the southern tip have you stayed?

traveller1959

The northern half of Lake Garda has dramatic scenery while the southern half is flat.

My personal favourite town is Limone.

PalenQ

Pechera di Garda

Descenzano

I stayed at Descenzano at the SW tip of the lake because that's was the first train station on the lake and found it a rather nice lakeside resort and also real town.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dese...FcnigAodCiUAWg

Pechera di Garda is at the SE tip of the lake and looked nice too - an older looking town with some old Napoelonic Era or so fortifications right in the town center.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pesc...FdCvgAodw7EBjg

weekend_celebrations

@PalenQ - do you remember if Pechera had a promenade/restaurants open late etc - evening activity for a teen to get to so to speak? thanks. We will have a car for day trips (off Lake Garda) and driving from Germany (and also considering day trips to Verona)- the Eastern part seems more practical

PalenQ

I did not look around Pechera good enough to recall seeing such a place - at least lakeside promenade in town though there may be one but Descenzano sure had one - Peschera to me a much nicer town - Desenzano a nicer lakeside resort. Hopefully others will chime in as it was a while ago I was there - about a decade or so. But loved the lake.

annhig

if you want to day trip to Verona it would make sense to stay on the eastern side of the lake. Staying in the middle, rather than at either end, makes it easier to visit both ends of the lake - stay at one end and it can take a whole day just to get to the other end an back again.

for a teen to roam around, I can thoroughly recommend Garda itself - small enough to be safe, a lake-side eating/shopping area, a nice promenade, easy access to the boats and roads and plenty going on until quite late.

weekend_celebrations

Thanks all for very helpful comments
@annhig Garda makes total sense as you describe it

Taking this a bit further- after time on Lake Garda and moving along on our trip, would it make sense to stop on Lake Como for a few days (or would it be just more luxurious version of Garda?). Lakes are my thing these days, having thoroughly enjoyed all the Bavarian lakes on the trip this past summer but wondering what others think about visiting both Garda and Como on same trip.

Thank you.

sandralist

The name of the town is Peschiera del Garda -- and there is plenty of activity there in the evening, plus it has the advantage of being close to Gardaland and the waterpark if that is of interest to your family, and a train station that makes for easy access to Verona.

However, it is not in the scenic part of the lake. The flat lakeshore of the south is great for kids' activities like biking and pedal-boats and feeding the geese, and there are few nice small tourist towns with castles and ice cream. But with respect to vistas, it looks like any large lake you might find in the northern tier of America. To get see the dramatic scenery, you would need to take a long boat ride back up to the northern end of the lake.

You can of course visit Verona if you have a car, and staying on the eastern side of the lake will make it easier. I have heard that there is intense traffic on the weekends, so you might want to keep that in mind.

I am unclear what you mean by "do day trips to Verona (and may be as far as the Mediterranean beach but not certain)"

A day trip to the Mediterranean from the southernmost end of Lago di Garda is easily 3 hours driving one way.

weekend_celebrations

@sandralist Peschiera del Garda and Garda are 2 different towns- both discussed above. Garda being more centrally located on the Eastern side and closer to us as we are making our way from Germany (this is what @annhig recommended). I agree with your point about "flatness" and it's a consideration in favor of Limone and probably Malsecine...However I am still imagining the towns on the "flat" side have an Italian character that would make them different from the towns in New Hampshire (no offense).

PalenQ

The northern part of the lake to me was fjord-like and yes more awesome and there was it seemed a definite Germanic look and feel and when I was there lots of Germanic speakers - tourists probably -but yes the southern towns were Italian thru and thru.

isabel

I was just there a couple months ago and stayed in Maclesine and was very happy with the choice. It is in the northern half - as stated above, a much more scenic area. Although it is more than halfway up the lake, it is on the eastern side, so if you have a car you could do a day trip to Verona. It also has the added benefit of having a cable car up Mt Baldo which has some good hiking. Your teen could do that on his own safely. There are of course, boats to the other towns. The towns of Limone and Riva del Garda are the closest.

Of the three northern towns, Limone was the most touristy, although of course they all have plenty of tourists. Malcesine also has a small castle. The most impressive castle is on the southern end of the lake, in Sirmione. That town is also very touristy - at least mid day.

Here's my trip report - just scroll down to the Lake Garda portion. There's a link to the photos as well. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-castles.cfm

sandralist

weekend_celebrations,

I was talking about the town that PalenQ called "Pechera". I wanted you to have the correct spelling since you repeated PalenQ's incorrect one.

When I wrote my post, I almost included a sentnce that said that the southern end of Lago di Garda looks like a very large lake in Minnesota or Michigan or Wisconsin -- but I wasn't sure if you were American or had ever seen one of those lakes, so I omitted it.

Only a few of the towns on Lago di Garda have what most people think of as a characteristic Italian look. Most of the waterfront has 20th c. development. There is an historic center in Peschiera del Garda with an interesting military history, but most of the town has modern-ish hotels. I have never been to the town of Garda, so have no idea.

I disagee with PalenQ's description of the southern towns on the lake, which are heavily dominated by German tourism, and where one more readily encounters German as the second language (on menus, spoken by hotel staff).

Anyway, you can look online at pictures of Peschiera del Garda and the town of Garda -- but if you are looking for something that at least visually resembles an antique Italian lake town that is on the eastern side of the lake, you might be looking for Malcesine. I wasn't suggesting you stay somewhere flat., just letting you know that the flatness of the southern end of the lake makes the vistas rather undistinguished.

sandralist

You might also want to check out Torri del Benaco, since you want to day trip to Verona and have a car.

Rubicund

If you are planning to visit Verona from anywhere near Peschiera del Garda, I wouldn't drive and would most certainly take the train. The station in the town takes you into nearly into the centre of Verona, (where you could change trains to get into Venice),avoiding parking problems. You can't catch a train from anywhere north of PdG on the east side of the lake. The only other station is in Desenzano, a nice little place with a busy market on certain days, good hotels and restaurants.

Don't be misled by the ferry service on the lake. Garda is long and narrow and it can take a long time to get from the southern "coast" to the northern tip. It's not a day trip unless you want to spend most the day on the ferry.

Huggy

Just returned from a short stay in Salo on Lake Garda's west side. Stayed at Hotel Laurin. Great staff, great view and good food. Salo was a very nice lakeside town with good restaurants along the lake shore. They even have a doctor with Tuesday and Thursday hours dedicated specifically to tourist needs.

Since many have advised locating on the east side for convenience, we stayed in Garda at the Regina Adelaide two years ago. Very nice hotel, good food and good staff. The Garda lakeside promenade is quite good and the town full of good restaurants.

I can recommend either town and hotel.

weekend_celebrations

Thank you everyone for your input- so helpful.

@Isabel great pictures (just based on pictures I feel I am connecting to Limone). Too bad day tripping between towns is not much of an option (or is it?? may be driving not ferries). I would love to explore different parts of the lake and after this summer's whirlwind, would rather have one hotel base for 4-5 nights in Garda.