Looking to Eurocamp somewhere this summer and the wife likes the look of Lake Garda. Anyone been? Not necessarily on a Eurocamp type holiday. What’s to do there? Won’t be taking bikes so just as a family holiday with 6 & 10 yr old girls.

Biking if you want it; http://bikemagic.com/mountain-bike-trails/mtb-travel-guide-lake-garda-italy.html#whbVfhVrOtIrBkvo.97

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/lake-garda-with-family

Nice place. North end better than the South IMO. Busy at weekends on the roads. I went there windsurfing/climbing a few times. Nice place for family holiday I would say.

Spent a few nights at the south end, Desenzano I think – lovely town but quite tourism-based, we hired a maxi-scooter and rode round the lake (VERY cool to ride through the tunnels at the start of Quantum Of Solace) and scooted over to Verona to watch opera in the Roman ampitheatre (quite cool but goes on real, real late – we left after one with a quarter still to go). Scooters are absolutely the way forward in high season, roads were gridlocked.

Just reread OP and realised scooters may not be an option. 🙁

We stayed at Riva for our honeymoon. Plenty of walking/biking around but the best thing about going there is that you can just jump on a water taxi and go exploring. There are loads of other little villages you can stop at, so just cruise around and discover.
Take a walk into any town in the evening and its just buzzing.
Great fun if you like people watching.

There was a post a couple of days ago regarding lake Garda.

here

The north is nicer but if you stay in the south you are close to the station, easy train to verona, Milan &……. Venice. We’ve been 3 times, it’s lovely. The eurocamps are all in the south near the waterpark, which is also ace.

The riding in Malcesine is amazing! Just a lovely place all round too.

Not a Eurocamp but there’s an hotel in Malcesine we have gone to with the kids for the last 4 years.It would be hard to beat for facilities for kids, entertainment, food and value. Email in profile if you’re interested.

Seems most have nailed it above!

North is better (really beautiful) than the flat south.

Malcesine is a really good place to stay, approx. half way up on the rhs of the river – boat across to Limone or up – riva / down to the south of the Lake.

Well worth getting a day on the bike if you can – there is a hire shop at the bottom of the cable car up Mr Baldo in Malcesine where you can hire something to take up in the cable car – ride the 601 towards the north of the lake and then head back home! – beware switched brake levers!

I’ve stayed at a great almost all inclusive place in Malcesine – Majestic Palace – great family rooms at the back of the property – lots of swimming pools and really great food etc – could be the one Shooterman has used?

Full of Germans last time I was there. So much so, everyone (in shops etc) just spoke German to you….

Stayed in Malcesine a couple of year ago which was lovely, with some great walking and riding on Monte Baldo from the cable car, but as footflaps says LOTS of Germans and the town pretty much revolves round them.

The holiday rep’s all bang on about Aperol spritz. Don’t bother with that, have a Hugo instead.

I loved Riva and would love to go back. There’s loads to do, you should be able to wing it without much planning once you’re there.

For an “educational” day out with the kids you could go on a tour of Verona. You could get a day trip to Venice but most people suggest it’s not worth it, that Venice deserves more than just a day.

If you can get time for biking, there’s lots of hire places in Torbole and Riva.
http://www.gardabikeshop.com/en.html

Sirmione is nice for a wander around amongst the thousands of other tourists.

If you are Eurocamping then you will probably be in Lazise on the south east of the lake. As I mentioned before in that previous post there is lots to do in that part of the lake which is more family orientated than the north which is more for sport. The campsites will be full in summer with a full program for the kids (ie games/sports/arts and crafts) run by multi-lingual entertainers usually culminating in a show every evening. In the summer a lot of the campers are Dutch which makes for a real party atmopshere. The towns around the lakes are lovely and spending the evenings mooching around the shops is a pleasant way to pass the time.You can walk/cycle along the water front from Lazise to Garda if you want, too. Usually it’s so hot in the summer you never want to be too far away from the water to cool off in the day but as has been said Verona is 30 minutes away in the car where you can just walk around and inside the ampitheatre rather than watch an opera, or see the balcony from Romeo and Juliet or walk around the numerous tourist markets. Venice is also aprox 90 minutes away.

Also worth a visit on the lake is the town of Sirmione which has a nice old fortified old town. If you want to escape the heat then head up the mountians to Prada and there is a cable lift station which takes you to the top of Monte Baldo (take a jacket as it can be pretty cold on the top) or on the way up in San Zeno di Montagna there is a high ropes centre called jungle adventure park in the forest which is fun.

HTH.

I would avoid going in early September the Motocross de Nations is at Maggiora and will swamp the area. Went to the MxGP last year at Maggiora and it is a beautiful part of the world.

Sorry ignore, Garda is miles away, carry on.

This place is good http://www.campingsanbiagio.net/en/ Try to get a pitch out on the peninsular. Hardly any Brits, so not necessarily ‘Eurocamp’ style

Sirmione is worth a visit; you can get a water bus across from near the campsite.

I know its going against the grain here but i wouldnt go to Lake Garda again, especially not with kids. We went to my brothers wedding last year (Without the kids) and we were bored out of our brains after 3days.

There is only so much walking about quaint italian streets you can enjoy. My parents and a few others were midway through fortnight breaks there and you could see they were bored.

It seemed the be a huge (I mean about 10x the size i imagined) lake with one road going around it with little settlements dotted around at intervals.

My sister in law stayed at the campsite/eurocamp or whatever it was for another wedding a few years earlier and her kids didnt enjoy it.

I would say if you have kids that are into walking about with mum and dad around streets or happy to go off the beaten track and find a bit of enjoyment then great. If you have kids who need big grass areas to run about with a ball, swimming pools, kids clubs, activities, friends…..well i wouldnt put lake garda high on the list.

A shame because it was on our list to visit but not anymore

I wouldn’t go to Garda to walk about quaint streets; that’s what Bologna, Modena, Bergamo, Milan, Turin Venice are for.
At Garda: Fantastic walking up the peaks above Riva; via ferratas; swimming in the lake; wind surfing; castles in the main Adige valley; Vitoriale; Gargagno to avoid most of the tourists; wine tasting (Sarche good); Brenta nearby for hut to hut mountain adventure.

Been to Garda several times now. If you are going with the family then I think there is probably more to do at the South end. Garda Land is great, better deals if you buy your tickets online before you go. Definitely get the 2 day pass or longer as 1 day is not enough! The water parks are great fun too. The south end is more ‘beachy’ too. Plenty of pedal is to hire. We like to stay at the Eurocamp in Pescheria. Camping Del Garda, Great pools and lake side access also easy walk into the town. A great way to travel around is on the passenger ferries, Malcesnie is a lovely town to visit also Limone.

The Nortn end is beautiful too but definitely more geared up for water sports and mountain biking and in my opinion less family friendly. To my knowledge there are no Eurocamp type sites in the North. It is very scenic though we’ve stayed in Torbole and also visited Riva. The children enjoyed the tree top adventure park in Torbole, even our 4 yr old had fun. The best ice cream can be found in Riva.

Only just seen this thread. Been to Camping weekend with Eurocamp in Salo going back for year 3 this year. You can access the mountains from Salo, loads of tracks double and single track up towards Mt Pizzocolo. Lots of riding if you get a map and have a look. More Gnarl in the top end of the lake but Salo is still good. there are some good loose techy dh routes back down from the mountains out the back of Salo.