Italy: With public transport around Lake Garda – much better than in the car

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With public transport around Lake Garda – much better than in the car

Our author has been traveling around Lake Garda for decades. She used to like to drive, but now the crowded streets are just annoying. That’s why she’s now exploring the area using public transport. While this requires patience, it has several advantages.

Stand: 03.06.2022 | Reading time: 3 minutes

If you are at the wheel yourself, you cannot concentrate on the beauties on the shores of Lake Garda

Quelle: Getty Images/Gina Pricope

IWaiting for the bus in Italy is exciting. Did you read the fine print correctly? The digits and numbers for school holidays, Sundays, working days? Will the bus go to Gardone or only to Salò? The tension is rising – for vacationers, traveling by bus is often a planning challenge. But the bus to Gardone is already around the corner.

I have been traveling around Lake Garda for decades. I used to like driving; I knew every bend and every unlit tunnel on the Gardesana embankment. Driving here was a pleasure back then, but lately it’s just been annoying. It’s too crowded, the streets can’t handle the traffic anymore. That’s why I’m using public transport for the first time today.

From Germany, for example, you can easily travel by train from Munich, just 308 kilometers to Desenzano del Garda, the largest city on the lake. Then we continue to the lake shore. Bus tickets can be bought at the nearest tobacco shop. The ticket should be validated on the bus. I dutifully hold it out to the driver and ask where I can stamp it. He takes it from my hand, laughs and tears the paper ticket. He hands it back to me, says, “We’ll do it the old-fashioned way.” Another driver tells me to just write the date on it.

Traveling by bus on Lake Garda is extremely cheap

Source: Barbara Schaefer

An elderly lady gets on at the next bus stop and holds out her mobile phone to the bus driver. He holds it in front of his sun visor, on which a QR code is printed and which is used to validate the digital ticket.

Unobstructed view of Lake Garda from the bus

I drive clockwise around the lake, have a clear view of the water – and all the time to admire it in a relaxed manner. Because I don’t have to pay attention to the traffic. There aren’t just cars, driven briskly by locals, but by tourists looking for hotels and parking spaces. There are also motorbikes whizzing by, scooters weaving through the traffic, and bicycles. A cycle path around the lake has been the subject of debate for years, but little progress has been made. And so cyclists also pedal on the streets by the lake.

I don’t have to worry about any of that. Instead, I look out the window and enjoy the landscape. Or I watch the other passengers. The bus is lively. Regulars joke with the driver, despite signs here prohibiting speaking to the chauffeur while driving. Everyone talks to everyone here. Anyone who understands Italian gets an insight into everyday life. If you don’t understand anything, you can let yourself be wrapped up and carried away by this beautiful language.

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Admittedly, traveling around by bus requires patience. Long-distance buses do not run often, but they do run every half hour between individual locations. Sometimes you have to wait for a connection – but whoever argues like that doesn’t count the time wasted in traffic jams.

Speaking of calculating: public transport is incredibly cheap. The three quarters of an hour from Desenzano to Gardone costs just three euros. From Salò to Gargnano 1.90 euros. For comparison: A parking space in Gargnano would cost 1.50 euros per hour if you can find one. And a rental car around 100 euros a day.

The best for last: the ships! Instead of sailing 60 kilometers around the lake from Gardone to Bardolino, I go on board. The wonderful panorama of Italy passes by, Monte Baldo with snow in the distance, flowers on the shore, palaces and cypresses. Who would want to drive there?

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Vacation trips are getting more and more expensive

If you are planning a holiday now, you should not hesitate too long. After two years of the corona pandemic with sometimes severe travel restrictions, demand is high. In Spain and Greece in particular, the prices for an overnight stay have risen sharply.

Source: WORLD / Lea Freist

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