Hi All. We're starting to plan our trip to northern Italy next September. Part of the itinerary will be driving from Bolzano to Bologna, and we'd like to spend 3 or 4 days on Lago di Garda along the way. I'm not sure what there is to do there, other than water sports, and so far I've come up with:

-- Spend a day in Riva del Garda
-- Day trip to Verona
-- Visit Sirmione
-- Visit Malcesine

But these places are far apart. Does anyone have a recommendation as to where a good place to stay would be? We don't have to visit these specific places and I'd like to be in one hotel the whole time. Thanks!

A thousand options...we ended up at the Hotel du lac Bardolino. Quite by chance....but we found it to be very nice and I would certainly recommend it. Check it out. Right on the lake promenade, bikes provided, great breakfast, close to many great cafes bars and attractions. Clean, friendly and a good value. This was my experience.

Just me, but I'd skip Riva and visit Limone sul Garda and Pieve instead. If you're into great and unique drives, you can do the Strada della Forra starting at Pieve.

https://www.garda-outdoors.com/en/strada-della-forra/

We enjoyed taking the cable car from Malcesine to the top of Monte Baldo. Georgeous views and nice hiking.

https://www.funiviedelbaldo.it/en/mo...ldo-escursions

I'm not a big fan of Sirmione, especially in the tourist-crowded months (which September often is). Verona would likely be crowded too but IMO feels less claustrophobic than Sirmione. Rather than day trips, I would stop in either Sirmione or Verona on the way to Bologna. Watch out for the ZTLs, and have a parking plan.

There is a car ferry connecting the east and west shores of Garda (I forget the opposing towns), so look into that as you're choosing your base location.

We find the east side of the lake much more interesting than the west and have been to Lake Garda a dozen or so times. We've stayed at Desenzano, Sirmione, Peschiera, Bardolino, Garda and Riva.. Although Sirmione and other places are busy during the day, evenings were much more civilised when the day trippers had departed and as we were out round the lake during said day, it really didn't matter once we went out for dinner. I'd recommend any of those places for a shortish stay and there are lots of hotels to choose from.
The west coast villages are typically smaller and we felt hat wasn't enough choice of places to eat or stay. You can drive round the lake in a day with an early start without it feeling too rushed and Bardolino or Garda are both lovely places to stay.

Why not leave the Bolzano/Bozen - Verona - Bologna motorway at Rovereto, drive to Torbole or Riva and all along the Lake up to Peschiera?
From there, you may reach Bologna via the scenic town of Mantova.

Thank you Rubicund. This is really helpful!