Lake Garda Travel Guide and Sirmione Travel Guide
The Guide to Things to Do Around Lake Garda and Places to Visit in Sirmione
After moving to Munich, we had a little enlightenment and the Germans North We realized how much you love Italy! In fact, Munich people love it so much that most of them go to Italy at least once a year.
We learned about Garda in such a conversation, it turns out that Lake Garda and its surroundings is the favorite holiday of the Germans. it was a place. German retirees go to Majorca, and their children go to Lake Garda.. In fact, most of them go camping by caravan instead of staying in hotels.. After learning this, we opened up, looked at Garda’s photos and said, why not!? We were in Garda 1 year after saying this.
Lake Garda is a huge lake in the north of Italy, between Venice and Milan. There are about 20 tiny towns around it.. Although it turns into a German promenade in the summer due to its proximity to Germany (3.5 hours by car from Munich), it is much more beautiful than Lake Como, another very popular northern lake in Italy, and definitely deserves a visit!
Lake Garda can either be planned as a private trip, you can spare 2-3 days and visit the famous town of Sirmione and other towns that you catch your eye.. You can also combine it with a trip to Verona, Milan or Venice.. As you can see, all roads lead to Garda!
Before we move on to the Garda Travel Guide
So let’s talk a little bit about getting to Garda!
How to get to Lake Garda and how to get around Lake Garda?
Since we could spare 4 days in total for the Northern Italy region, our time was a bit limited, so we rented a car as we do most of the short-term trips.
Hire a Car in Northern Italy
Hire a Car in Italy is quite affordable. We rented one of the cheapest options by searching for the dates we will go on rentalcars.com as usual.. We paid 30 Euros per day including insurance for the car.. In fact, if you rent it in advance, it is possible to rent a car even for 10 Euros per day, Italy is one of the cheapest European countries in this regard.. That was good news!
Unfortunately, we also have bad news.. Unlike the free highways in most European countries, the highways in Italy are paid and the tolls are high (high, very expensive)! We paid a highway fee of 50 Euros in total in 4 days.
It is generally possible to reach another town by public transport in Lake Garda, but there may be vineyards or beaches where public transport does not pass and you want to go.. That’s why renting a car may be a bit more convenient than traveling by public transport.
Still, if renting a car is not on your mind, it is also possible to visit by public transport.
To Lake Garda in Bologna, Milan, Venice and Verona You can reach it by bus or train, which regularly departs from Northern Italian cities such as. To talk a little more in detail;
How to get from Verona to Lake Garda?
You can reach Garda by buses departing from Porto Nuova, Verona’s main train station.. Official site is here. You can get from Verona to Sirmione by bus, so it’s easier to get there than by train because the train doesn’t go all the way to Sirmione.
If you want to go from Verona to Garda by train, you can get there by train in 40 minutes ‘Desenzano. You can reach the towns ‘ or ‘Peschiera del Garda‘. Unfortunately, there is no direct train from Verona to Sirmione.. You can reach either of these two towns by bus or ferry.. The ferry takes about 15 minutes and costs 6 Euros one way.
How to get from Milan or Venice to Garda?
Both Milan and Venice to Garda approximately every thirty minutes a train is leaving. Only Sirmione cannot be reached by direct train. You have to go by train to Peschiere del Garda or Desenzano and then take a bus or ferry to Sirmione.. You can find the train times on this site.
We first visited the Dolomites region of Italy by car, from there we went to Verona, and from Verona we drove approximately to Sirmione, our first stop in Garda. we arrived in half an hour. Sirmione has a huge car park at the entrance.. You have to leave the car here and the parking is about 2 Euros per hour.. This part made us a little sad.
When to go to Garda? How many days to stay in Garda?
We’ve been to Garda in August and let’s admit it, it was overcrowded! Yes, the weather was beautiful, it was very hot and the place was chirpy, but the crowd made us very tired.
We thought that June and September would be the most beautiful months.. Because the weather is hot, and the crowd of summer months is a little dispersed.. In fact, October can be a very good time to visit Garda.
March – June can be a more complete resting time.. If you don’t like crowds and you say that mild weather or sudden rains are not a problem for me, between March and June must be quite nice! 3-4 days will be very ideal to go to the wine houses you have cut and have fun by the lake.. If you want to have fun, you can extend the time, if you think you have less time, you can shorten it.. If you are coming for a day trip, you can visit Sirmione and its surrounding wine houses and scenic spots in a single day.. Everyone has their own Garda.
Where to Stay in Garda?
Garda Lake Accommodation Guide
There are more small hostels, guesthouses and vineyards in Garda than big hotels. But if you are planning to go in the summer time, it seems like you have to take care of the accommodation as soon as the trip is finalized.. Germans seem to flow here in summer! They fill the hotels facilities. It’s almost like there is a first-come, first-served approach to hotels.
Our recommendation for accommodation in the village center of Sirmione will be Hotel Sperensa.. It was highly recommended to us because it is right in the village center and it is very good in terms of price and performance.. We couldn’t stay because we couldn’t find a place. We left the link of the hotel here. If you don’t have room here, you can also check out San Lorenzo Apartments.. He is also in the village in the same way.. These two hotels usually fill up months in advance, so if there’s room, run! San Lorenzo link is here.
When we couldn’t find a place in Sirmione this time, we chose to stay in a vineyard and stayed in a tiny resort near the tiny Borghetto village south of Lake Garda.. We paid 50 Euros per room per night to the resort, which is a 15-minute drive from Sirmione, which is quite a lot for the Garda area because the Germans have overpriced this area.. Facility name ‘Agriturismo Cascina Roveri‘. If you’re interested, we’ve just left the link here.. On the way back, we bought homemade olive oil and wine.. That was the best part!
If you want the place to stay a little more lively and walk back to the hotel in the evening, you can choose Sirmione.. Sirmione’s nightlife is quite lively and restaurants are open until late.
Finally, if you want to stay at Airbnb, let’s leave a link like this.. If you become a member of Airbnb with this link, you will earn a credit of 130 TL valid on your first stay, and as you continue to use Airbnb, Airbnb may start to like you more and add surprise credits to your account all of a sudden.
The Most Beautiful Towns of Lake Garda
There are about 20 towns built around Lake Garda! The northernmost is Riva del Garda, and the southernmost is Sirmione.. Some are more local, on their own. Some are more touristic and naturally more crowded.
Because we want to experience both of these experiences, starting from the most touristic Sirmione, Peschiera which is less touristic in turn. We visited >, the less touristy Lemone and the very quiet Salo. We can say that Salo has been the most real Garda experience.
If you like tiny medieval towns, you can add Malcesine to your travel list.
Garda’s main surprise for us is the tiny
strong>Italian village became Borghetto. We learned about the existence of this tiny village at the last minute before we even left, and this was the place we liked the most in our entire Northern Italy trip.
You can spend an afternoon in Borghetto, sit by the canal that runs through the middle of the tiny village and visit the whole village at 1- You can fit it in 2 hours. For us, the most beautiful part of Italy is these small villages.. Glad there are small Italian villages!
Lake Garda Travel Guide and Lake Garda Attractions
What to do in Garda?
Garda is both a nature holiday and a gourmet holiday Perfect for a vacation! For those who love water sports, there are facilities where you can surf and sail, and for those who want a gourmet holiday, olives, vineyards and vineyards abound! has water. Even if swimming in the lake is not for you, you can take nature walks around the lake and join trekking tours.
Garda’s indispensable activity for families with children Gardaland. In this popular amusement park of Garda, there are many different themed water parks.. If you’re curious, here’s the website.. We skipped because we had limited time.
There is a very famous ‘view terrace‘ in Garda where you can watch the lake from a bird’s eye view.. The name of this terrace on the west side of the lake is ‘Terrazza del Brivado‘.
The best memories of Garda for us are the vineyards and the wines we tasted in the vineyards.. There are even those who come to Garda just for these ‘wine tours’, and they are not wrong! Garda’s most famous wine region is ‘Bardolino’, but this region is a bit far from Sirmione as it is located in the northeast of the lake. Instead, we left Sirmione and took the road to Salo by car and tried the ones that caught our eye from the left and right wine vineyard signs.
Where to Eat in Garda? Lake Garda Food & Drink Tips
If you’re going to a country that specializes in eating and drinking like Italy, you need to study a little beforehand.. There are really so many options to eat and drink, and it’s crazy!
Before we went, we had prepared a ‘we’d better eat here’ list.. Let’s share now;
We ate our dinner at Peschiera in a small bistro, ‘Marco e Daniela’. Both the prices were quite affordable and we were very satisfied with everything we ate.
Near the town of Salo, we had our lunch at ‘La Cascina S.. We ate at Ambrogio. It had beautiful scenery, good food and good wines.
In Riva del Garda, we took our chances with ‘Restel de Fer’ and we were happy again. ‘Panem‘ was a place we took note of but did not go to.
When we think about it now, we loved everything and every place we ate in Italy.. I guess we are just like everyone else…We are the heart of Italian cuisine!
Sirmione Travel Guide and Places to Visit in Sirmione
The most visited town in Garda Sirmione we loved the. We especially loved the way it curves into the lake, the castle that welcomes you as you enter the town, and its quiet streets.
The ‘Scaliger Castle‘ surrounded by walls welcomes you at the entrance of Sirmione.. As you can imagine, the castle has been used to defend Sirmione over the years.. If you want to go to the top of the castle and watch Sirmione and how it curls in the water, it costs 6 Euros (we didn’t know if this part was very necessary).
When you pass the castle and enter the town, you come across streets full of all kinds of ice cream shops and pizzerias.. Then you feel yourself in Italy! When you go a little further, you will see Sirmione’s famous house surrounded by bougainvillea.. All right, it’s a cliché to have a photo taken in front of this house, but the house is so beautiful!
Sirmione is famous for its healing thermal waters coming out from underground and in the town ‘Terme di There is a very large thermal center called Sirmione. You can use it as a hotel and stay overnight, or you can benefit from thermal services by paying a daily entrance fee.. We talked amongst ourselves that maybe not now, but maybe at the age of 60.
At the end of Sirmione, there is Sirmione’s famous beach ‘Jamaica Beach‘. If you intend to enter the lake, this place may be a good choice to try, the water is really beautiful!
We did some food and beverage research before going to Sirmione because one gets confused among so many options.. For lunch, we went to the highly recommended ‘Enoteca delle Antiche Mura‘ and we said we made the right choice, everything was delicious.
If we don’t eat ice cream, it will stay inside us. We tried Ai Cigni. What can we say, the guys know this business!
The olive oil of the Garda region is very famous. It may not be that impressive for those coming from Turkey, but for those living abroad like us, it felt like an oasis in the desert..
This is how our trip to Italy passed. We will always continue to wonder about places in Italy we haven’t seen and make new Italy plans!
Love everyone!
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