Monte Baldo Cable Car: Ticket Prices, Timetable and Which Ticket to Buy

Adult and Junior Fares

The operator, Funivie del Baldo, publishes two prices for every ticket: the price at the Malcesine desk and a price €2 lower online. The difference is fixed per ticket, but an online ticket comes with conditions a desk ticket does not, set out under which ticket to buy. Every ticket is valid for one day, with the outward and return ride on the same day.

A ticket for the ride down only is sold exclusively at the top station, which matters if you walk up or arrive by the Prada-Costabella lifts.

The table gathers the operator's published fares for the full route from Malcesine to the top at Tratto Spino and for the shorter ride to the San Michele intermediate station, desk and online price side by side.

Who Counts as Adult and Junior

The split is by birth year: the adult fare is for anyone born up to 2011, the junior fare for anyone born in 2012 or later. Height decides only the free ticket. Children up to 1.20 m ride free, but the free ticket is compulsory because it serves as insurance on the ride, and it is issued only at the station ticket offices.

So even if the adults buy online, stop at the desk for the child's ticket. The San Michele to Monte Baldo section costs the same as the full ride from Malcesine, so an adult return from the intermediate station is also $33.52 (€30).

Funivie del Baldo sells direct. No tour company or booking platform offers this ticket, so the choice is between the Malcesine valley-station desk and the operator's own website. The desk is also the only place where the €3 discounts are honoured.

The table compares an adult return to the top across every published option, from the fares and promotions on the operator's page.

The adult return to the top under each option, from the operator's fares and promotions page. The three discount lines show the price after the €3 reduction, which applies only at the Malcesine desk.

The Weather Rule

This is the detail that should decide how you buy. Every ticket is valid for one day only and is not refundable, and the operator gives no refund for bad weather or for a partial shutdown caused by wind, a technical fault or a power cut. An online booking slot does not guarantee a departure at the time you chose either.

The desk discounts sharpen the contrast: with an ATV bus pass or a Garda promotion card, the desk fare of $30.16 (€27) beats the online $31.28 (€28), and you buy on the morning, when you can see the ridge. Buy online on a settled, clear day. On anything else, go to the desk.

A Family of Four

Our sum for two adults and two juniors born in 2012 or later, all riding return to the top: $107.25 (€96) at the desk or $98.31 (€88) online. Add parking if you drive, since four hours in the valley car park costs $13.41 (€12). Remember that children up to 1.20 m ride free with a compulsory ticket collected at the desk, and that a family travelling with an ATV bus pass can shave the desk total further with the €3 adult reduction.

The lift keeps a long summer season and a short winter one, with a maintenance gap between them. In that gap there is no way up from Malcesine at all.

The season dates for the Malcesine-Monte Baldo cable car, from the operator's homepage and its fares page, for the current summer and the coming winter.

Departures Through the Day

The first ascent leaves Malcesine at 8:15. From 8:30 onward, departures are guaranteed at least every 30 minutes, and they run more frequently in heavy traffic, weather permitting. Mountain bikers have their own departure slots at 8:25, 8:55, 14:15 and 15:15, plus 16:15 and 17:15 until 4 October.

There are 24 bike spots per hour, and the operator recommends booking ahead for bikes. Weather can close the lift at any time, so a morning departure is safer than a late one if you have a hike planned.

The Last Ride

The two official operator pages give different last-ascent and last-descent times, so no single figure is printed here. Before you start any walk from the top, check the day's timetable at the station and photograph it. The terms of sale are blunt: the evening closing time shown at the departure station is binding, there are no extensions, and the operator is not responsible if a closure within the timetable, or an early one for force majeure, leaves you making your own way down.

Plan your walk so you are back at the top station with a good margin, and turn back early if wind picks up.

The Valley Station

You board at Via Navene Vecchia 12 in Malcesine, about 5 minutes on foot from the castle. The station has an underground car park, and disabled visitors reach the ticket office on the ground floor by lift from floor -1, with a second lift into the boarding area. The first section's cabins carry up to 42 people and climb from the lakeside, through the olive groves above the town, to the San Michele intermediate station.

Departures are guaranteed at least every 30 minutes from 8:30, with more when it is busy, and staff are on hand at every boarding point and in the cabins to help with loading.

San Michele and the Rotating Cabin

San Michele sits at about 562 m, and there is parking here too if you drive up and ride only the top section. Above it the second section uses cabins that rotate 360 degrees and hold up to 75 passengers, so everyone gets the view in every direction on the way up. The whole ride from Malcesine to the top station at Tratto Spino, 1,760 m, takes about 20 minutes.

At the top the SkyWalk Monte Baldo Lounge Bar is inside the station, and trail 651 starts outside the door. Near the intermediate station the Locanda Monte Baldo restaurant is closed on Tuesdays.

Engineering and History in Brief

A lift stood here before this one. The operating company was founded in 1955 by the Province and Chamber of Commerce of Verona with the Municipality of Malcesine. The first cable car opened on 30 September 1962 and carried over 6 million passengers up to 2001.

The new cable car, designed after a long study with the engineering faculty of the University of Trento, was inaugurated on 24 July 2002 with the rotating upper section. The lengths and climbs of the two sections below are the published figures.

Section lengths and height gains of the two stages, as documented on the Italian Wikipedia page for the Funivia Malcesine-Monte Baldo, which names Hölzl of Lana as the builder.

Dogs

Dogs ride for $11.17 (€10) return, or $8.94 (€8) online. A muzzle and a leash are compulsory, and the ticket office hands out the muzzle. More than one dog can travel at a time, and the cabin driver places dogs from different owners as far apart as possible.

On the mountain the operator asks you to keep dogs on a leash so they do not frighten people or scatter the grazing herds. The terms of sale also mention one dog per cabin, so on a busy departure be ready to wait for the next one.

Strollers and Small Children

A stroller rides on its own return ticket, $11.17 (€10) or $8.94 (€8) online, and you do not have to fold it in the cabin. Children up to 1.20 m travel free, but their free ticket is compulsory and issued only at the station ticket offices, so families who bought adult tickets online still stop at the desk. For a family day out at the top, the operator suggests easy walks with a stroller from the top station.

The Lake Garda with kids guide has more family days.

Mountain Bikes

A bike and rider pay $33.52 (€30), or $31.28 (€28) online, on fixed departures at 8:25, 8:55, 14:15 and 15:15, plus 16:15 and 17:15 until 4 October. The fares page lists the bike fare as a single rate up or return, but online bike tickets are valid only for the ride up. There are 24 bike places an hour and the operator recommends booking ahead.

Mountain bikes are not allowed in meadows, pastures, forests, ski slopes or on footpaths, so plan a route on the marked bike itineraries. More riding is on Lake Garda cycling.

Paragliders and Accessibility

A paraglider flying with a pilot pays $23.46 (€21) for the single ride up, or $21.23 (€19) online. Reduced slots cost $14.52 (€13), or $12.29 (€11) online, and apply to departures between 8:15 and 9:30 and between 15:30 and 18:00, with the evening slot moving to 16:00 from 5 October. For visitors with disabilities, European Disability Card holders with 67 to 99 percent disability pay $16.76 (€15), and holders with 100 percent disability ride free.

With a right to accompaniment, the carer is free too and boards with priority via the lift. Parking in the underground car park is free with a disabled parking card.

The Underground Car Park at the Station

The operator's underground car park at the valley station has 170 spaces, 4 of them for disabled badge holders, who park free with their card. It opens 8:00 to 19:30, with the last entry at 18:00, or 16:00 from 5 October. The trap: a car left inside after closing cannot be collected until the next morning, so plan your walk at the top around the car park as well as the last ride.

Payment is at the machines on floor -1, and a lost ticket costs $55.86 (€50), twice the daily rate. The hourly rates from the operator's parking page:

If the Garage Is Full

There are 16 paid outdoor spaces in front of the station. Beyond them, the Colonie car park on Via Navene Vecchia is 150 m away and the Basinel car park, also called Funivia 2, is about 700 m away, both paid. Campers and buses are sent to the Retelino car park, about 1 km away.

If you drive up to the San Michele intermediate station instead, the car park there is uncovered, with a few free spaces past the station and a large pay car park before it, belonging to the Locanda Monte Baldo, closed on Tuesdays.

Arriving Without a Car

Two buses serve the cable car: line 483 runs Peschiera to Garda to Malcesine, and line 484 runs Garda to Malcesine to Riva del Garda. The nearest railway stations are Rovereto from the north and Verona or Peschiera from the south, all connected onward by bus or ferry around the lake. Drivers on the A22 exit at Affi coming from Verona or Rovereto Sud coming from Trento.

Once you park, Malcesine Castle is about 5 minutes on foot from the station, an easy pairing with the ride.

When It Is Worth It

On a clear day, the ride to the top station at Tratto Spino, 1,760 m, takes about 20 minutes and puts you on a ridge with a view over a large part of the lake. It is worth the adult return of $33.52 (€30) if you plan an actual walk at the top, even a short one, rather than a look around and a ride down. The lake-side hikes from the top station range from an easy 3.6 km loop to long ridge walks, so build the day around one of the Monte Baldo hikes.

Families with children born 2012 or later pay less, and children up to 1.20 m ride free. If you are pairing the ride with the castle, the harbour and lunch in Malcesine, the ticket fits naturally into a full day on the east shore.

When to Skip It or Wait

The lift closes for maintenance from 2 November to 25 December, so a late autumn trip needs a different plan. Wind or a technical fault stops the cabins with no refund, and every ticket, online or at the desk, is valid one day only and not refundable. An online slot does not guarantee a departure at that time.

On a doubtful day, do not buy the cheaper online fare. Pay at the desk, use a discount card if you have one, and decide once you see the sky. If the mountain is in cloud for days, spend the money on a boat or a castle instead.

The Walks From the Top Station

The top station at Tratto Spino, 1,760 m, is a trailhead, not a viewpoint you photograph and leave. The operator lists an easy Malcesine Peak loop of 3.6 km taking 2 hours with 260 m of height gain, and the Ventrar trail, 5 km in 2 hours, which is challenging, has exposed cable-secured sections and is not for anyone with vertigo. Longer options run toward Cima Pozzette and along the ridge.

Pick one route before you ride up, check the return timetable, and carry water, because the detailed route descriptions live on our Monte Baldo hikes guide.

The Castle and the Harbour Below

Back at lake level, Malcesine Castle is about 5 minutes on foot from the valley station, rebuilt by the Scaliger family around 1300 on a rock above the water. The harbour is close by, and from it the historic sailboat Siora Veronica leaves on a 2-hour panoramic cruise at $45 per person, passing the castle walls from the water on the return. A ride up the mountain, the castle and a sail is a full day in one small town, and if you are still choosing a base, compare the options on where to stay.

For the whole lake, start with what to see in Lake Garda.