Last week of August we went from Rotterdam to the Garda Lake by car. It was a distance of approximately 1100 kilometers. Although we had to stop every now and then because we have young children, overall it was a pleasant drive.

We rented a house from Airbnb to stay with two families. The house had 2 floors, 1 for each family. So we were together but also separate, giving both families some privacy. We chose this house because of its magnificent view to the Garda Lake. And when we arrived there late in the evening, we were not able to see the beautiful view. But in the morning...

In the morning next day, we were shocked by the view you see as main image of this post. This is taken from the balcony on the second floor. Just unbelievably beautiful. So close to the lake, with this stunning view. We enjoyed this view every morning and evening during our stay.

In this post I will guide you through the towns around this beautiful lake of Italy. Fasten your seat belts :)

Portese

Our house was at this small town called, where there was very few things to see besides the beautiful view from the coast. So this place was the least touristic of all towns we visited. While it was not that attractive for tourists, because it was almost the end of the summer season, this place was peacefully quiet in the evening which I really loved.

We googled around looking for a nice restaurant in the neighborhood to have dinner. It was funny to see that some restaurants were asking for our native language to give us a detailed menu in our own language. It was pleasant to see the menu in dutch :)

From the Italian kitchen, ravioli is one of my favorites. So that was my pick.

The portion was a bit small, but combining this with a pizza quattro formagio was just enough :D

The next day we went to...

Gardone

This small town was one of the closest towns, so we started our journey here.

There was not a lot to see in this town. We went walking inwards the town, where the streets were quite clean, and very green. Besides a couple of buildings, which were closed to the visitors, and some green gardens, this town didn't have much to offer to us.

We loved the location of this villa by the way. Surrounded by various types of trees, plants, flowers. And a nice view to the lake. This place is like dream house I guess.

After some walking we decided to go back to take the boat again to visit our next stop. It was clear that this town also was not a very touristic one.

We decided to sit down a bit and have a drink until our boat arrived. Ladies were looking around, checking out some small shops on the coast.

Our next stop is...

Garda

As this town is called "Garda", same name as the lake, we thought this would be a nice place to stop by and check out.

It immediately looked very different than Portese and Gardone, as the full coast was crowded and filled with a lot of cafe's and restaurants.

Very nice to see the green nature in these towns, mixed with beautiful and colorful flowers. You can definitely say that local municipalities are taking good care of the towns.

Walking inwards, we saw a narrow street, pretty crowded. So decided to go to that direction... Starting from this street, all the streets and corners behind it was full with local little shops. The prices were not that high, and there was a very pleasant ambiance in these streets.

Very colorful buildings and shops filled with very warm and friendly people. If you ever go to the direction of Garda lake, I advice you to visit this town.

We see again streets decorated beautifully with flowers. Streets looking pretty clean and authentic.

This place was so beautiful that we had to rush to catch our boat to make it on time to our next stop :)

Our next stop is...

Lazise

We heard that this was one of "the" places to be if you like shopping, so we were forced to visit this town and didn't make a chance to skip it :P

But before we move into the town, let's catch some breath and just look at the view from the coast of Lazise...

Oh man, what a view! I couldn't stop looking at it. Very beautiful.

And yes, this place indeed had a lot of shops! :)

Walking inwards the town, we saw big walls belonging to a castle. These walls were built around 1380's in order to (obviously) protect and defend this place.

Finally we found some playground for the kids :) Of course it is not easy for them to walk the whole time with us.

Unfortunately there was no direct boat from Lazise to Portese, so we had to make a quick stop at the next town before we could take the last boat of the day to return to our starting point.

Salo

We were exhausted from walking the whole day, so our stay at Salo was not that long and we stayed close to the coast in order not to miss our boat :) But what a beautiful town this place was... Later on another day we came back to Salo to enjoy it a bit more, but for this day we simply didn't have any energy left :D

Salo was apparently one of the towns where they organized concerts, events etc. While we were waiting for our boat, we saw a group doing some tests.

This town has a longer coast for walking compared to other towns.

And while the sun is going down slowly... We enjoy the fantastic view of Salo and the mountains from the boat.

People who visited Garda lake know that there is a town I skipped above called, Sirmione. This town is worthy its own post with all it has to offer, that's why I separated the Sirmione story from this post.

So keep watching ;) I hope you enjoyed this trip as much as I did.