i_am_kane

We have the option of either Milan (Malpensa Airport) or Venice (Marco Polo Airport) to travel to Gardone Riviera, preferably using train/boat or ferry. No car rental.

What would be the quickest and most efficient route from either Milan or Venice? (As an aside, we will be flying to Italy rom Paris (CDG).

i_am_kane

I should have proofread: it's OR, not of.

PalenQ

Well Venice may be a bit closer - especially since Milan's airport is so so far west of Milan so if you have a choice chose Venice and then take a bus from the airport to Venice-Mestre station (across the lagoon from Venice Santa Lucia station on a canal) - from Mestre you want regional or Ingter-City trains that stop at Gardone Riviera, from where buses or boats go to many lake hotspots, such as Sirmione.

Some of the faster trains may stop there too but i believe many do not. For schedules i would go to the www.bahn.de or German Railways web site which i use for all of Europe train schedules - easier to use for me by far than www.trenitalia.com - the Italian Railways web schedule - for a quick way to access the English schedule page of the Wunderbar bahn.de site i suggest going to the home page www.budgeteuropetravel.com and click on the link "The Best European Railways Timetable" (or some such nomenclature) and up pops the bahn.de's English schedule page where you put in Venise-Mestre for the From bar and Gardone Riviera for the To space - and date and you will get all the trains - i reference this home page because it also gives you several valuable tips on fully using the bahn.de site that may not be apparent as first glamnce.

Put in both Venise-Mestre and Milan Centrale to get times from both - again not a whole lot of difference i think between Milan and Venice-Mestre but getting from the airport to Milan Central station takes a long time as it is so far - and Milan Central station is also one of the most hectic huge stations in Europe with zillions of tracks to track down for your train.

Note - i said put in Venise-Mestre instead of Venice-Mestre because it seems a glitch in the bahn.de English page as if you put in Venice it will ask you to change it to Venise.

And to show all trains and not just the fast trains click on the schedule page - or unclick the box "show only fastest connections" as faster trains may not stop at such smaller stations as Gardone Riviera.

i_am_kane

Thanks PalenQ, I understand the Malpensa issue. Have you even visited Gardone Riviera?

I'm looking for a town on Lago di Garda, which would be similar to Stresa on Lago Maggiore.

I'll check after I send this message, but I didn't think Gardone Riviera had a train station and you need to take a ferry from one of the more southern towns on the lake.

PalenQ

Woops - I have been to Gardone Riviera and though i would not equate it with Stresa in its own way it is very delightful - i took a bus from it to Brescia and that is what you want to point at.

I did mix up the name with a town i stayed in that had a train station - Desenzano, which was an OK lake town but more workaday than resort.

Now Brescia, looking at the map, is closer to Milan than Venice by about 1/2 as close so i think Malpensa would be just as good though Venice a bit more manageable IME

sorry about the mix-up

BTW Brescia i found to be rather nicer than expected.

bobthenavigator

I have stayed there, and I believe you can train to Desenzano del Garda as Palenq desribes and then the ferry to Gardone.
It is a cute town but I do prefer the scenery further north on the lake---such as Riva, Limone, or Malcesine. The ferries hit all points on the lake anyway.

PalenQ

Il Vittoriale degli Italiani - [ Translate this page ]
[Gardone, BS] Inaugurato nel 2000, valorizza il ricco e prezioso patrimonio storico legato all'esperienza militare di Gabriele d'Annunzio.
www.vittoriale.it/

Small World: Il Vittoriale, Lake Garda - Europe, Travel - The ...
You don't need to know much about d'Annunzio to enjoy a visit to Il Vittoriale. The views from the park across Lake Garda are splendid, there is lots to see ...
www.independent.co.uk › Travel › Europe

Well to me the highlight of my whole sojourn around Lake Garda was Il Vittoriale, one of the most unusual and intriguing places i've ever chanced upon in decades of European travel.

annhig

hi 'kane,

I agree with Pal that gardone riviera is delightful. we visited there one day from Garda and though it was stinking hot, very much enjoyed the Vittorale. there is also a botanic garden about half-way up [or down] the hill, and being half way up [or down] the lake, it is easy to get to either the north or the south.

as we were on a package tour [a great last minute offer] we didn't have to negotiate the trains, but Pal's advice is incomparable on that subject.

hope this helps,

regards, ann

PalenQ

very much enjoyed the Vittorale. - yes a surprise at every turn - weird all the black out windows as the dude-war hero suffered from being too sensitive to light and holed up in near darkness - check out the boat on top of it all - pointed out to sea (lake).

annhig

and what about that weird poetry?

i_am_kane

Here I am again with my misspelled caption. Oh well. This is an old post of mine, which PalenQ and annhig responded to (see below). However, this trip never happened.

My husband and I are in the process of once again planning this trip for late spring 2014 with a new twist: Rapallo (20 km +/- south of Genova)and a short stopover in Como. The bulk of our time will be spent in a town on Lago di Garda. Most likely we will be flying FL to NY/JFK to Italy.

There are no restrictions on the length of our stay; we are retired and in good health.

I can't figure out where to start the trip and where to end the trip. Can anyone help me out with the logistics?

annhig

I_am_kane,

being a fan of Venice [and married to a bigger one] I would fly into Venice, then go to Lago di Garda, Como, Rapallo, and fly home from Milan, Turin, or possibly Nice.

i_am_kane

Hi annhig, thanks so much for responding (again) after three years!! We had considereed Turin (and Alba), but neither place had a strong draw for us, but I can see how many people would enjoy these cities.

The option of taking a train into southern France was also a consideration. Back a few years ago, we had traveled by train to Menton, FR as our base, and were able to visit that area. We would have to travel further west in France to experience a new itinerary.

i_am_kane

ttt

annhig

Hi, I_am_kane, nice to hear from YOU again.

i was responding to what I understood to be your new itinerary, and in particular which airports to use to complete what is essentially an east-west trip. [or west -east I suppose], rather than suggesting that you actually stay there. [though personally, I can never resist the opportunity to spend a few days in Venice].

A have only been to the area around Alba for skiing, many many years ago, but I have only ever heard good things about Alba.

i_am_kane

Ann, We went over the trip once again this morning, and decided to drop Rapallo - it's too far out of the way.

New Itinerary: Fly nonstop from JFK into MXP. We could take the Malpensa Express train to Saronna for a Como Nord Lago train to Como San Giovanni station. In the town of Como, we can base ourselves to visit around the lower part of the lake (already have visitied the northern half).

Next, we would train from Como to Desanzano on Lago di Garda and base ourselves in either Sirmione or Riviera di Gardone and visit the other towns on the lake.

Last on the hit parade would be to train from Desazano to Venezia where we can spend a couple of days before departing nonstop into JFK. (Don't need more than a couple of days there because we spent eight days there last May.)

If you have any thoughts on this new itinerary, I would be most pleased to hear from you.

annhig

I_am_Kane,

I'm sure that it's a sensible decision to drop Rapallo - as you say it's a long way off the rest of your route.

I don't know much about Como, but as for Lake Garda, I'd go for Gardone rather than Sirmone. firstly, Sirmone gets very crowded with day trippers, and secondly, staying in Gardone will make it much easier to get around the lake because being half way up the western side, you can get to either the north, south or the other side relatively quickly; if you stay at the far north or in Sirmone's case, south, you spend a lot of time travelling up the lake.

And it's a very nice place with a lovely botanical garden AND il Vottoriale to visit on your doorstep.

i_am_kane

Yeah! I'm so glad you agree. Now, it's time to book the airline tickets.

Thank you so much for your input.


Cindy

annhig

no probs, Cindy. sounds like my sort of trip. you probably know already that you can get boats to almost anywhere on the Lake from Gardone; we particularly liked Gardone itself [because of the gardens and Vittoriale [which I managed to misspell up thread - scusa!] and also Malcesine on the east bank of the lake which is not only a lovely little town, but also has the cable car up to the top of the mountain.

we went up there on a very hot day, only to find thick fog, so the views weren't stellar. but there are some very nice restaurants up there with great local food like tagliatelle con coniglio [rabbit].
a nice spot to get a change of temperature at least!

Garda itself, where we stayed, is also very attractive and has lots of interesting shops and restaurants. Sirmione we thought was too crowded and touristy, but if you hit it early or late, it might be better.

PalenQ

Sirmione is one of Europe's most hectic most plastic IME tourist traps - in day jammed with day trippers, many of whom arrive by boat - it is fun to watch the boats ejaculate their loads into an already mobbed small main square lined by every tourist shop/schlock you could imagine - the archaeological park at Sirmione is one of the finest I've seen in Italy - neat location overlooking the lake and completely separated from the tourist hullabaloo in tiny Sirmione itself - a former fishing village now angling for tourists euros.

Like annhigh I'd suggest Gardione or where I stayed Descenzano (?) - the two rail heads for Lake Garda.