Have you been?
We’re thinking about Riva di Garda as a base camp for a week and then using the ferry to see other parts.
We went in 2015 and are going back this summer. Really love it. We stayed in Assenza, which is about halfway up the east side. Lovely scenery, little markets, and we were lucky with the weather. The lake was very clean, and not cold. Bardolino is very charming, Verona close by, and you can drive to Venice.
One thing - if you are driving, it is a two-lane road around the lake. It can be maddening inching along in the traffic.
if you havent’ chosen a hotel in Riva, I like the Aktivhotels because, well, I’m active.
Villa Frontenelli.Great,Beautiful,Expensive.
Fifteen years ago…
Stayed in Sirmione, the little peninsula at the southern end, a 15-minute walk from the ruins known as Catullus’ Grotto and the Scaliger Castle. Almost the opposite of Riva and not just WRT location on the lake. It was quiet and isolated, but a romantic pensive setting. A simple picnic lunch of wine, bread and cheese sitting in the ruins looking out at the lake and with no one else in sight took us back 2000 years. It might be busier now. I no longer recall the name of the place we stayed. It wasn’t expensive.
We rented a car and felt more independent for it, but parking in Riva was a challenge. I enjoyed driving around the lake and environs. Traffic was only bad around Riva but it wasn’t peak season and again it was 15 years ago.