Lake Garda - plus Venice/Modena

[s-x-i]

We will be heading to Lake Garda at the end of the month for a week staying in the town of Portese.

We have hired a car for our stay as we would like to do a bit of exploring around the area and visit different towns/villages. Also on the itinerary are day trips to both Venice and Modena/Maranello.

Looking for any hints, tips or recommendations as we have not been to this area before and would like to make the most of our week.

[shirt]

It’s been a while since I was around Garda. Depending where you’re staying a ferry then a cable car up monte baldo is a pleasant way to waste a few hours.

For venice, la zucca is a must. Excellent food at reasonable prices also ensures that booking is a must:

https://www.lazucca.it/

For Modena, the enzo Ferrari museum is a distilled version of the Maranello experience and a better bet if your OH isn’t a pher.

Close by there’s the giusti balsamic vinegar ‘museum’ which might sound terrible but is notable for being the only place I know of where you can buy their vermouth aged in balsamic vinegar casks. It’s absolutely worth a stop for that alone

https://visit.giusti.com/it/64ee0404b5c0d7da8c1995...

Generally for f&b you’ll have to be very unlucky to eat poorly but I would recommend you to download the Michelin guide app. Hundreds of non starred recommendations in the region, it’s great when looking at route options between cities.

Edited by shirt on Friday 16th May 00:15

[Voldemort]

Try to get to Venice before the cruise ships disgorge their captives. You can park a car there! (at the end of the causeway, opposite the bus station) but take the train if you can.

[Jeanboi]

We were looking to return to Lake Garda this year.

Sirmione is just lovely.

[LordHaveMurci]

Malcesine was my fave place on Garda, you can get the cable car there (sadly we didn’t).

Verona is only a train ride away, well worth a visit.

[Somebody]

Verona is worth a visit.

[bennno]

s-x-i said:

We will be heading to Lake Garda at the end of the month for a week staying in the town of Portese.

We have hired a car for our stay as we would like to do a bit of exploring around the area and visit different towns/villages. Also on the itinerary are day trips to both Venice and Modena/Maranello.

Looking for any hints, tips or recommendations as we have not been to this area before and would like to make the most of our week.

Sirmione is magic. Alffa museum at Milan is better than Ferrari.

[Gnevans]

Modena
Two Ferrari museums dual ticket
Lamborghini two museums
Panini farm with Maserati museum
Stanguellini private museum needs booking
Pagani factory tour
Antica Moka restaurant

[Lifesbloodygood]

We were meant to be going to croatia via modena and venice (we live in france) and are deciding this weekend wether to pull out or not due to the ridiculously bad weather across that way at the end of the month.

Everything you’re seeing in spain at the moment is going that way and then hanging around, honestly, northern europe is looking lovely (currently) but apart from that (which doesnt really appeal to us again) you need to be flying off further afield.

You’re welcome

[Zio Di Roma]

s-x-i said:

We will be heading to Lake Garda at the end of the month for a week staying in the town of Portese.

We have hired a car for our stay as we would like to do a bit of exploring around the area and visit different towns/villages. Also on the itinerary are day trips to both Venice and Modena/Maranello.

Looking for any hints, tips or recommendations as we have not been to this area before and would like to make the most of our week.

I won't advise on where to go, but instead how to get there. For your day trip excursions, if you can, use the trains.

Driving a car into a major Italian city is a PITA. It's not Italian drivers, who I tend to find better than British ones, it's parking, ZTLs (low-traffic zones) and kerbs. In a hire car these are a magnet for multe (fines) and an administration fee fee from the hire firm for each transgression. The hire company will charge for wheel damage like they are recoating them with 24k gold, applied by Neapolitan virgins.

Italian trains are, by and large, excellent. Clean, fast, cheap, convenient. Imagine a British train and they are the opposite. You will arrive unstressed, in the middle of town and get to mingle with Italian people who are going about their everyday lives. Imagine the British and they are the opposite.

[Fluffsri]

We stayed near Portese last year. Driving around Garda was OK, be aware, when it gets dark no one stays on their side of the road and it turns into a race track . Limone Sul Garda is worth a look around, Malcesine was my favorite village and the cable car is definitely worth going up. Colombare was nice but it was very busy and parking was horrendous.

We also took the train to Verona for the day, its only 8 ish euros each way or if you accidently book the wrong train its 17 euros. Loved the whole area and the Ristorante Pizzeria Fornella is really good and has a cracking view at sunset.

[RicksAlfas]

The public transport is good and if you get stuck there is always someone friendly to advise and wave their arms about.
We did Verona - Riva - Gardone Riviera by train and bus.

[MarkJS]

Lake Garda and all that surrounds it is absolutely stunning. We're returning to Malcesine for the 3rd time in August.

I don't wish to be a stick in the mud but I'd recommend visiting Venice & Modena on a different trip at a different time. Simply because a week will not give you enough time to enjoy it all - and that's just the bits in close proximity to the lake itself.

[Lifesbloodygood]

They have a Mandarin oriental there to (como) We’re stopping there on the way back

Edited by Lifesbloodygood on Friday 16th May 11:17

[The Leaper]

Italian trains are excellent, and it's easy to book, pay & print or save tickets from the UK ahead of visiting Italy. I've always used Trenitalia website for this. Note that you need to use the Italian for place names eg Firenze not Florence.

And Verona has been mentioned...our favourite place in Italy, we have been at last 8 times in the past 20 years of visiting Italy!

R.

[shirt]

Trains are good but driving is better. I don’t agree that the ztl is the demon it’s made out to be, affects only a small part of the city (usually historic centre) and starts where you want to park up and walk anyway. Driving in Italy isn’t difficult and autostradas are well paved, mostly lightly trafficked and fast, the b roads are a joy. You’ll miss out so much going point to point by train.

[Zio Di Roma]

shirt said:

Trains are good but driving is better. I don’t agree that the ztl is the demon it’s made out to be, affects only a small part of the city (usually historic centre) and starts where you want to park up and walk anyway. Driving in Italy isn’t difficult and autostradas are well paved, mostly lightly trafficked and fast, the b roads are a joy. You’ll miss out so much going point to point by train.

Depends where you are.

It can be tricky to avoid ZTLs in some places and rules vary. Some places for example allow you to pre-register the car and then you’re allowed a limited time to unload.

But if your hotel is hard to find - often the case if it’s in the historic centre - you can be buggered.

Go out and in again and the hire company will furnish your details twice to the local authorities and charge you €50 or so each time for the privilege. The LA is then entitled to fine you for each transgression.

[shirt]

If your hotel is hard to find I don’t see how arriving by train will solve that. Google maps will, and your hotel can advise closing parking garage. It’s a very minor issue in the scheme of things and not one that warrants missing out on all the other benefits of having a car to hand.

[Batfoy]

Stayed there a few times near Gavardo. Museo Mille Miglia is in Brescia and great food and views at Ristorante Nablus https://www.nablusristorante.com/en.

[Zio Di Roma]

shirt said:

If your hotel is hard to find I don’t see how arriving by train will solve that. Google maps will, and your hotel can advise closing parking garage. It’s a very minor issue in the scheme of things and not one that warrants missing out on all the other benefits of having a car to hand.

Well for starters you don’t receive a multa for travelling by taxi into a ZTL.

But that wasn’t my point. My point was that there are situations where driving into a ZTL accidentally is quite easy, as is contravening multiple times.

I am not suggesting not taking a car. I am suggesting doing day trips by train.