My husband and I are coming off the Alta Via for 6 days and spending about 5 days on Lake Garda. We are driving in a rental car and staying at Villa Arcadio in Salo for 3 nights, Then Villa Cordevigo on the eastern side for 2 nights. We arrive the 15th of September and I'm thinking the 16th we could do a day trip up the western side of the lake- probably Gargagno, Limone, Riva del Garda? Dinner at La Mighla in Gargagno looks great.
The 18-20th we will be on the eastern side. Thinking about a day in Sirmione, a relaxing day at Villa Cordevigo, dinner at Oseleta.

I'm compiling a list of places to see, restaurants to try. I'm sort of thinking of this portion of the trip in two chunks- the east side and the west side.

I'd love recommendations on favorite places to visit, restaurants we need to make reservations at that shouldn't be missed, etc.

I've read through all the threads here I can find. Just want to make sure I'm planning well. Thanks!

We spent three days in Bardolino and just knocked around, rode bikes up and down the promanade, ate great food, tons of bars and music and late night stuff. Boat rentals, access to ferries.

We love to wander about before dinner to choose a restaurant from what we can see on the menu, the look of the place and just the general feel of the ambience. We very rarely book specific restaurants except in cities where you can't necessarily see inside the dining room because of the location. I can honestly say that we've never had a bad meal using this method and have had some really good meals as a result.

One of the problems in a holiday spot is that places change hands, staff change and the review from last year is no longer to be relied upon. In any case other people may have differing tastes and preferences to our own, so we tend to choose a place based on our own criteria.

That sounds lovely and totally our speed. I wasn't sure if it would be so busy that we'd have to book everything in advance or else miss out on a lot of options. Thanks!

Good point! Did you have any favorite towns to visit around the lake?

We like Bardolino, Riva and Desenzano for restaurants. Bardolino is small and welcoming, Riva is bigger but with a bigger choice and Desenzano is lovely. We also like Sirmione and have stayed there a couple of times, but it gets very busy during the day. In the evening once the daytrippers have left, it reverts to being a lovely place. We tend to stick to the eastern side of the lake because it's much easier to travel between villages