Whilst I don't know Lake Garda very well, I just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that 15 August is a really important bank holiday in Italy (Fer'agosto - Festival of the Assumption) and all Italy is on the move, with many restaurants having set meals all reserved in advance. You might want to remember this when making your decisions!

Why not two-centre Lake Garda with say Verona or Venice to make a contrast? Just an idea.

Having visited many of the towns on Lake Garda last year I can honestly say that our choice of Limone to stay was spot on, its one of the prettiest towns on the Lake.
We stayed at the Leonardo da Vinci which although slightly out of town offers a free bus during the day and the views over the lake were breathtaking. Although the hotel was slightly dated the AI food was very good and the staff couldn't do enough for you.

I can also recommend the trip into the Dolomites and a day in Venice is possible too.

We also had great fun getting around the lake on the ferries.

One thing I would say is that with Lake Garda being a popular tourist destination the prices do reflect this, its certainly not a cheap option.

Was it worth the money? Absolutely!

As Bardolino is at the south of the lake (you can get to Verona easily and is a must!), why not stay at Riva del Garda at the north of the lake. As Silverpixie says, you can easily go to the Dolomites. We stayed in Desenzano del Garda last October and drove to the Dolomites one day, stayed in Cortina overnight and drove back the next day. The scenery is spectacular to say the least!

Hope you don't mind me asking a question on your thread.
We just booked a last minute 3 night break to Limone. We are doing our research but would value Silverpixie's advice about how best to spend our 2 full days there. We like the idea of using ferries to see the area on one day, but wonder if they will still run in mid September?
We would also quite like to get up the mountains if the weather is good and plan to take our walking boots etc. I heard there was a cable car near Limone. If so we might use that and save our legs a bit.
Any suggestions welcome.

You can see my review of our twin centre holiday in Venice and Bardolino last September here:

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=86878

Hope that helps!

Thanks Corrine - I'd already read your report. It was very helpful.

Bridd,
We've never stayed at Limone, but the ferries still run in September and the cable car is in Malcesine to take you up Monte Baldo.
If you have a car, and can squeeze it in, you should drive up to the Dolomites - now that's what I call breathtaking scenery!

Thanks Tishtosh. We don't plan to have a car. We find it more relaxing.
I have just been over to Trip Advisor and read a report from someone who was at Lake Garda the last 2 weeks in August and they had terrible weather so am getting a bit worried as we go in 10 days. I was hoping for dry and bright if not terribly warm.

Bridd,
If you like walking you can go to Garda town and walk along the lakeside into Bardolino, and/or vice versa. I think it took us about an hour strolling, and both towns are nice to visit.
When we were there in July it was very hot and humid, and in October it was sunny, dry and a bit Autumnal. You'll need a jacket or jumper for the evenings.

Hi - we stayed in Bardolino for the first 2 weeks in August in the Color Hotel and had great weather and loved the resort and the hotel. Bardolino was closer to the airports and Verona and Venice for excursions, and it was easy to get to the northern end of the lake on the ferries. I'm not sure I would want the hassle of packing up and moving on half way through the holiday when everywhere is within such easy reach.

Gill

ps - the weather was great - apart from the last day, so wonder if that was the start of the 2 weeks bad weather!

Some useful information here: http://www.limonehotels.com/info/index_en.php

As someone said previously there is a great cable car in Malcesine, its in two stages and the top one rotates. great views from the top as long as the clouds don't descend. There is a restaurant at the top with mid to high prices. Malcesine is on the other side of the lake virtually opposite Limone so doesn't take that long to get to but the lake is very big and on the slow ferries takes some hours to get round, there are fast ones but they are more expensive I believe and they don't stop everywhere on the lake.

We were there last year in mid Sept and the weather was glorious most days, we did have some mist and the little rain we had was mostly in the evenings. The area was still very busy with tourists although they were mostly elderly and the ferries ran a full service.

Limone end of the lake is surrounded by mountains, just put on your boots, choose a path and walk. We noticed that some walkers took the cable car from Malcesine and then walked back down the mountain using the tracks through the trees.

Bridd, there is so much to see in the area that you will be spoilt for choice, being disabled we were a bit limited and did most of our sightseeing from the comfort of the ferries or a coach but there are some fabulous looking castles I would have loved to look round.
Venice is a long day out but well worth it and the trip into the Dolomites was awesome, one tip though, don't spend too much time on the low level at the restaurant the coach stops at or going up in the cable car will be very rushed as it gets very busy.
Its difficult to advise you how to spend your 2 days as I don't know what interests you so I would advise researching all the towns on the lake and making shortlist of the places you would like to visit, please bare in mind that the travelling can take time and to make sure there is a return ferry as taxi's are expensive with having to travel around the lake.

Spending time at both ends of the lake is a good idea as its so different, although its easy to get around on the ferries it is expensive and very time consuming if you want to actually stop off and see things along the way.

I will say that despite extensive travel in the Caribbean, I found Italy and Lake Garda to be the most magical place and by far my favourite.

Hi

We did a twin centre with Crystal 2 years ago. It was a great contrast. We did a week at the bottom end at the Hotel Gritti in Bardolino (you can walk to Garda or get on a boat to the southern towns like Sirmione) and the second week at the Hotel Europa in Riva - the Northern end where you can reach Limone, Malcesine and Torbole by walking (Torbole) or boat.

It was a great contrast to go from the flatter southern end to the dramatic mountains at the very top.

Our transport to Riva for the second week was via private taxi (we didn't expect that!) and we were allowed to go straight to our room in the Europa. I think the transfer took about an hour max.

If you want any tips just ask

Thankyou Silverpixie and also Presto. I think we will wait and see what the weather does and if it's clear we will go up in the cable car. No point really if it's cloudy. Is it very scary going up? I'm not that great with heights but would like to try it just to see the views.
We will arrive in Limone at around 2pm on our first day and then have the next 2 full days and leave the following morning. I don't think we will visit Venice or do any other tours away from the lake on this trip. I fully intend to return to Italy and Venice is on my to-do list.
We like to walk but my other half has dodgy knees so we are better if its not so steep. I like the idea of exploring some of the towns so will have a look at the distances to see if we can walk between any of them.

Bridd the cable car at Malcesine is in two stages, you change to a different one half way up, when we went only the top one rotated and that was the one people seemed to find slightly scary because you couldn't just look at the trees on the way up as it rotated round to the lake. I'm not a great one for heights but the view of the sun on the lake was so fabulous I didn't think about being scared.
Its quite a steep walk up to the cable car station, we brought some sticks as I had left my crutch in the car when we were dropped at the airport, they were more expensive than I've seen them over here and as they collapse in length it might be a good idea to take some with you if you intend to do some walking.

The lakeside part of Limone is very flat from one end to the other but the little side streets are quite steep as they go up the mountain, its an incredibly beautiful little town. There are some amazing shoe shops if they float your boat.

There are two ferry stations in Limone, at one end is the car ferry(its near the big car park) but that doesn't go right into Malcesine so you need the passenger one up near the shops, you buy the tickets in the little office.

Don't forget the camera, it will get well used.