Lake Garda Ferry: Fares, Day Passes and Timetable Seasons

The price table has four columns. Full fare is the standard adult price. The reduced fare covers over-65s, residents and groups.

Children aged 4 to 11 pay a third, lower column. The remaining columns are the fast-service supplement and the bicycle fee, both covered below. Children under 4 travel free if they take no seat, with a limit of one adult per 3 children.

A return ticket costs exactly double the one-way fare, and tickets are valid only on the day of issue unless stated otherwise. The reduced fare for over-65s has a catch most guides miss: it applies Monday to Friday only, not on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays, and it applies to single tickets. On 3-day passes the reduction is valid on any day.

The reduction is open to over-65s of any nationality, so an American visitor qualifies on a weekday. Carry ID to prove your age. The full zone price list follows in the table below.

Fast Boats and the Supplement

Fast services are flagged SR in the timetable. They cost the ordinary zone fare plus a supplement that rises from $2.79 (€2.50) in zone 1 to $6.70 (€6) in zone 7. No reductions apply to the supplement, bicycles are not carried on fast boats at all, and no bag over 60 cm on its longest side is taken, which matters if you travel with a suitcase.

The time saving is real. On the past summer timetable a fast boat left Desenzano at 9:20 and reached Riva at 12:15, under 3 hours for the length of the lake. The ordinary boat from Peschiera at 9:10 arrived at Riva at 14:00, close to 5 hours.

The whole-lake day pass costs $44.13 (€39.50) for an adult, $35.30 (€31.60) reduced and $22.34 (€20) for a child aged 4 to 11. A 3-day whole-lake pass costs $88.26 (€79). It is the only pass that includes the fast SR boats, and it is the only one valid from Desenzano and Peschiera all the way to Riva.

The two half-lake passes, Alto lago for the Maderno-Torri stretch and its north, and Basso lago for Gargnano-Torri and the south, cost $30.16 (€27) a day or $60.33 (€54) for 3 days. The four zone passes, Nord, Centro, Ovest and Est, cost $26.25 (€23.50) for adults and run for one day only. Fast services need a supplement on every pass except the whole-lake one.

Happy Family: two full-price day passes bring up to two free day passes for children aged 4 to 11. Two worked sums, both our sum. Desenzano to Sirmione and back costs $7.82 (€7), far under any pass, so buy singles.

Desenzano to Riva and back by ordinary boat costs $39.10 (€35), close to the whole-lake pass, which also covers every stop on the way.

The summer timetable in the past season ran from 16 May to 4 October, and new timetables are announced on the operator site in spring. The autumn timetable then runs from 5 October to 1 November, with a caveat: several Desenzano-Peschiera-Riva runs are daily only until 11 October, after which some sail fewer days. From 2 November to 12 March no passenger boats run anywhere on the lake.

The only service is the Maderno-Torri car ferry. In spring a short timetable covers 13 to 25 March, then daily runs return on some lines from 20 March. A sample from the autumn timetable: one run leaves Desenzano at 8:50, Sirmione at 9:10 and Garda at 9:55.

Another leaves Malcesine at 9:20, Limone at 9:40 and reaches Riva at 10:25. The season table below puts the switches in one line each.

Sample Summer Runs

Four samples from the past summer timetable give the shape of the day. Run 8: Desenzano 8:20, Sirmione 8:40, Bardolino 9:20, Garda 9:35. Run 14 along the east shore: Peschiera 8:00, Lazise 8:28, Bardolino 8:45, Garda 9:00.

Run 62 north from Malcesine: Malcesine 8:55, Limone 9:15, Torbole 9:45, Riva 10:00. Run 110, a fast SR service: Peschiera 8:50, Sirmione 9:10, Garda 9:31, Torri 9:45, Salò 10:09. These are samples from one season's PDF, so check the current timetable for your own date before you commit to a connection.

Bags and Luggage

One bag travels free per passenger if it weighs under 20 kg, measures under 60 cm on its longest side and holds under 40 litres. Extra or larger bags pay a fee. On fast SR boats the rule is harder: bags over 60 cm are not carried at all.

A traveller coming straight from the Milan line with a suitcase should therefore take the ordinary boat rather than the fast one, or handle luggage on the train, which is how most arrivals work, see Milan to Lake Garda.

Bikes, E-Bikes and Scooters

Bicycles pay a fee by zone, $3.91 (€3.50) in zone 1 rising to $7.71 (€6.90) in zone 7. E-bikes count as bicycles, so the same fee applies. Folding e-scooters up to 1.10 m travel free.

Fast boats take no bikes, and the captain can limit the number of bikes on any run when the deck is full. Check in advance at the shore ticket office or on 800-551801 from Italy before you plan a ride-and-sail day, see Lake Garda cycling.

Dogs

Dogs up to 50 cm at the shoulder travel free. Larger dogs pay the reduced fare, must stay on a lead and a muzzle must be carried even if not worn. The captain can refuse dogs on a crowded boat, so a peak-season afternoon sailing is not a guarantee.

Guide dogs and trained rescue dogs in service travel free with no limits, and the ticket offices answer for other animals and for season tickets.

Motoring Club Cards

Members of the Automobile Club Italiano, on cards carrying the Show your Card! logo, and of Touring Club Italiano get the reduced fare on single, return and day tickets by showing a valid card, current until 31 December. The discount does not apply on night cruises or on vehicles. The fast-service supplement is still paid in full, with one exception: the whole-lake pass already includes fast boats.

Show the card when you buy the ticket. In practice a zone 4 single drops from $12.85 (€11.50) to $10.28 (€9.20), our reading of the fare table.

One-way fares, driver included, from 1 April in the current price list: a car up to 3.50 m costs $13.74 (€12.30), a car up to 4.50 m $16.65 (€14.90), a car over 4.50 m $20.56 (€18.40), a camper $27.93 (€25), a motorbike up to 250cc $10.95 (€9.80) and a bicycle $10.28 (€9.20). Foot passengers pay $8.38 (€7.50) as an adult and $4.25 (€3.80) for a child aged 4 to 11. The winter timetable runs from 5 October to 25 March with no service on 25 December.

From Maderno the first departure is 8:10 and the last 18:00, from Torri the first is 8:45 and the last 18:40. The past summer season ran from 8:00 to 19:50. From 1 October runs 201 to 214 carry no buses or lorries.

One warning: an old tourism page still mentions a car ferry between Malcesine and Limone. It does not exist. The operator's own documents list only Maderno-Torri, so if you pick up car rental you drive around or use this crossing, and Garda town lies on the same east shore as Torri.

Buy at the shore ticket office or online before you board. Buying on board costs $1.12 (€1) more per passenger, bag or vehicle, but only when the shore office is open, so if the office is shut the surcharge is dropped. If a departure runs at least 60 minutes late or is cancelled you are due a full refund.

Lost tickets are not refunded, so treat a paper pass like cash. During a strike two guaranteed runs operate, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and the ticket office or phone line can tell you which. The customer line is +39 030 914 9511, freephone 800-551801 from Italy, and the Garda office sits in Desenzano.

One question this page gets often: is there a hop-on hop-off ferry? There is no such branded service, but the day pass works exactly that way on ordinary boats, ride any boat in its area all day and step off where you like. For a fixed itinerary with a guide instead, see Lake Garda tours.