Visting Lake Garda

As the title says i am looking for recommendations for places to stay on the southern or western shores of Lake Garda. I will be going to a rugby match in Brescia on sunday so proximity is important.

Thanks for any help.

This is on the east side but since no one else has replied, I thought I would post it anyway. http://www.finottihotels.it/english/ We have been here twice and several of our friends have been, always a pleasure. Not crazy money either.

My wife and I are planning to head down to Garda this weekend. Anyone have any sage advice, links, favorite riding (mountain bike) places, etc.? Thanks!

What about this place http://www.gardalake.it/bellahotel/ if to expensive and you are just
looking for a simple room check out this one http://www.gardalake.it/hotel-sfilis/ I lived
around the corner for 4 year!

lake garda is quite large/long. for an excellent mountain biking guide, get the Moser's. it's in german, but me, the novice, picked out 2 rides & it was nearly perfect.
as far as places to stay, i used the tourism site of that region & always ended up in riva. places were reasonsable. we camped a lot at first, but camping is horribly crowded, dirty & loud. now that I'm wroking, i will pay for a roof over my head.
it's cold now though. won't warm up until late april.

@wunnspeed,
Other than the Moser guide, did you manage to get some routes around Gardasee? I am looking into a short trip there and was looking to do some riding (MTB)...
Anyone else have any other suggestions before I go out and buy the Moser guide?

cheers
8LGM

I love Gardasee! It's so beautiful and tranquil. A great getaway in a short drive. We spend numerous long weekends there. Just got back yesterday in fact. 'Twas lovely!

Just a quick tip, the further south you go, the less travelled and less tourist-y the places are. Much nicer people down south and a much more laid back atmosphere. Salo, San Felice and Barolino are my top three. The further north you stay, the bitchier and less welcoming people are. Riva del Garda is beautiful (of course), but the experience that we have was awful and I will never go back.

Will be around there myself this weekend - but for the MotoGp! C'mon Rossi.

The Moser guides are really worth getting. We were there over the long weekend and did two rides from book 11 (Gardasee 1). Watch out for book 11 tour 14 though. A real pita section of pushing/scrambling half way around and the decent at the end has some sections of really quite big rocks which are hard to float over...

Also, most of the tourist/bike shops seem to carry the Kompass map range which includes several with mountain bike routes on them (e.g. #691). Worth a look too.

The place really is MTB paradise. Great riding, great views and excellent food in the evening with a nice climate.

Best bet is to base your self at the North end as this where most of the tours kick off from (Torbole/Riva/Arco etc.)

@aj, @solo

thanks for the tips, I guess the Moser guide it is.. Actually the hotel I have is in Riva itself, so it sounds like I'll be in the middle of things. Hopefully the weather will be better than here!,
once again cheers guys!

8LGM

I've spent lots of time in and around Lake Garda, and my absolute favourite spot is Limone - it's really really beautiful, (located on the west side), not a Erdinger sign in site and the most breathtaking views and scenery.
limone
there are some great resturants in the town itself, and lovely shops too.

In Malcesine there is the Panorama Hotel that I highly recommend. Nice little town to and cable car up to Mt. Baldo is right there.

My family is coming to visit this summer and I'd like to take them to Gardasee for 2 or 3 days. They'd probably be most interested in exploring little towns and just enjoying the views. Any ideas where the best place to go would be? Any hotel recommendations in that area? Thanks!

can't help you with hotels, except to say stay clear of Torbole (windsurfers' paradise, and practically nothing else there) and probably also Riva, which is pricey for hotels (although nice to have a day-trip to, mondane and has musums, shops, cafes etc).
Limone (lovely little village), Malcesine (fortress and village, and can be reached by boat from Riva, as can Limone ) and Arco are all worth looking at, and just driving around the north of the lak is great, up into the hills around Tenno. You could also easily do a day-trip to Verona and the Bardlino wine area.

I don't know the southern end of the lake very well, excep Sirmione, which is nice...but I think the northern end has more altogether

I agree with Ruapehu. One thing to note: Many hotels in the Lake Garda area require minimum stays of three nights or more, especially during peak season. If you only want to spend a night or two, you might be forced to go for more expensive high-end accommodation. Alternatively, you could use Verona or Rovereto as a base and drive over.

In case you have planned a trip to Lake Garda at any point, I can recommend a very good hotel to stay at. This hotel is located about 2 km north of Torri del Benaco. The town of Torri del Benaco is a small but cozy town on the east side of the lake with many restaurants and shops. At the shops you can easily spend a lot of money on the Italian specialities, but the restaurants along the shore are well-priced.

The hotel is called Hotel della Rose and advertised as a 2-star hotel. You can easily add another star to that though. The owner of the place seems to be there for you all day round, and is extremely helpful. He wants to make sure you'll have a nice stay. Not only where you stay, but he is more than happy to sort out things to do around the place. When you book the place, make sure you get room number 12. This is by far the best room of the whole building. The (lakeside) balcony is even bigger than the room itself. We started out at another room, but asked if there was a room available with lakeside view. There wasn't at that moment, but he arranged that we could change rooms the next day, without any extra charge. If you can't handle traffic noise in the morning, it might not be the best room, but that counts for most of the lakeside rooms in the hotels in that area...

Next time at Lake Garda, I would go there again without any doubt!!