Sirmione Boat Trip: Every Tour, Fare and Departure Point

The shortest Sirmione boat trip is 25 minutes and the longest is a full day from Verona. Prices run from $13 a head to $496.04 for a private boat. If you only want to see the peninsula from the water, the short loop does it.

If you want to reach another town, the public ferry is the do-it-yourself option and you buy those tickets at the pier. The table below lines up the time you have against what each trip shows you and what it costs.

If You Only Have an Hour

Book the 25-minute peninsula cruise for $13 per person. Boats hold up to 20 people and narrate in Italian and English. It leaves from the small harbor at P.le Porto, right in front of Sirmione Castle, and a reviewer reports boats about every 30 minutes, with in-between times sold at the stand on the harbor.

The loop passes Villa Callas, the Aquaria spa, the Grottoes of Catullus, the offshore sulphur spring and back past the castle. Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. If weather cancels it you get an SMS and can take a refund or a new slot.

Afterward, walk the castle.

For a Sunset or a Celebration

The 45-minute sunset tour costs $34.21 per person and includes a flute of Prosecco drunk on the water,. It holds a maximum of 20 and runs only with at least 10 passengers, so book a few days into your stay and you have a second evening if it is cancelled. It departs on time from the blue umbrella at the corner of the harbor in front of the castle, and late arrivals get no refund.

Sirmione traffic and parking are the usual reason people miss the boat, so arrive early. For a private celebration, the 1.5-hour Isola del Garda boat tour is a whole boat for your group with a bottle of Prosecco, at $496.04 per boat.

To See More of the Lake

Two trips stretch beyond the peninsula. The 4-hour guided cruise costs $61 and gives you about two hours on the water with photo stops at Jamaica Beach, the Grottoes of Catullus, Villa Callas and Punta San Vigilio, plus 2 free hours in Sirmione. The 2-hour small-group trip costs $88.95 and combines 40 minutes on a shared 25-seat boat with a guided walk through quieter streets and a drink with snacks, capped at 12 guests. If you want to reach a town under your own steam, the public ferry from Piazza Carducci does it for a zone fare instead.

The Castle and Its Dock

The Scaligero Castle was built by the Della Scala lords of Verona as a defensive post for their territory, in the 13th century by Italian Wikipedia's dating and after the middle of the 14th by the town's. Sirmione passed to Venice in 1405, and the fortified dock you cruise past is Venetian work from after that date. From the boat you see the dock's walls rising straight from the water, which the castle ticket shows only from above.

The castle opens Tuesday to Sunday 8:30-19:15 and closes Mondays. Do the loop first, then climb the keep for the view back over the harbor, using the Sirmione castle guide.

Villa Callas

The yellow villa was bought in the 1950s as a holiday home by Giovanni Battista Meneghini, the Verona businessman married to Maria Callas, and the garden still has the swimming pool shaped like Lake Garda that Callas commissioned (VisitSirmione). The villa was sold after their divorce and is privately owned. It cannot normally be visited, though it opens for occasional events and concerts.

From land you see it only through the gate on Via Catullo, where a plaque remembers the couple, so the lake side from the 25-minute cruise is the better view. After the cruise, the Sirmione town page has the rest of the lakeside walk.

The Sulphur Spring Offshore

The thermal water that made Sirmione a spa town rises from the Boiola spring, 19 m below the lake surface, and it reaches 69 C at the source. It was known in the 16th century but could not be used until it was piped at the end of the 19th century, which allowed the first spa building to open. The listing for the peninsula loop names the sulphur spring among its sights, and the 4-hour guided cruise mentions views of the Fonte Boiola as well.

If the story interests you, the Terme di Sirmione has pools fed by that same spring, booked in advance.

The Grottoes of Catullus From the Water

At the tip of the peninsula stand the ruins of a Roman villa built between the end of the 1st century BC and the start of the 1st century AD. It measured 167 by 105 m, and about 1,500 olive trees grow among the ruins today. Below the ruins the shore is a shelf of flat limestone slabs known as Jamaica Beach, a photo stop on the 4-hour cruise.

The site itself opens Tuesday to Saturday 8:30-17:00, Sunday to 14:00, and closes on Mondays. Pair the 25-minute cruise with a visit, or read the Grottoes page first.

The Open Lake Toward Isola del Garda

South and west of Sirmione the lake opens up, and the boat rides get longer. The private 1.5-hour tour circles out past the Rocca di Manerba and San Biagio island to Isola del Garda, the largest island on the lake at about 1.1 km long. To land on the island you need the family's own guided visit instead, which leaves Sirmione by boat on Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 for $51.39 (€46) with the transfer included. The island cannot be visited independently.

Read the Isola del Garda page before you commit either way.

Most bookable trips start at the small harbor at P.le Porto, directly in front of Sirmione Castle. The 25-minute loop departs there, and the sunset tour uses the blue umbrella at the corner of the same harbor, where you ask for Mr. Claudio. The public Navigazione Laghi ferries leave from a different pier in Piazza Carducci, a short walk away, and that is where you buy zone tickets and day passes. The Fiat 500 boat rental operates from Largo Goethe. The 2-hour walk-and-cruise trip meets at the blue umbrella at the car-park entrance, where the guide holds a green sign. Two things go wrong here.

The sunset boat leaves on schedule and gives no refund for late arrivals, and car access near the castle is restricted during the ZTL season from 23 March to 13 October, so park at Piazzale Monte Baldo and allow extra minutes on foot.

Navigazione Laghi boats leave from the pier in Piazza Carducci and reach the whole lake. Fares go by zone: Desenzano is 20 minutes and zone 1 at $3.91 (€3.50), Peschiera is zone 2 at $6.70 (€6), and Bardolino, Lazise and Garda are all zone 4 at $12.85 (€11.50). Sirmione to Riva is zone 6 at $17.88 (€16).

Return tickets cost double. Buying on board while the ticket office is open adds $1.12 (€1) per passenger, and tickets are valid only on the day of issue. The table below has the common runs from Sirmione.

Is There a Hop-On Hop-Off Boat?

Not as such. The state company sells no pass marketed that way, but a day pass works like one, because you can break your journey at any stop on the covered routes. The zone Est pass (Torri to Sirmione east) and zone Ovest pass (Maderno to Sirmione west) cost $26.25 (€23.50) for an adult and last one day only.

The whole-lake pass costs $44.13 (€39.50) and is the only pass that includes the fast services, which matters if you want to cross the lake quickly. Compare the options on the ferry page before you buy, and note the passes stop when the season does.

Sirmione to Malcesine or Limone

It is possible in one hop on a fast service. Summer run 110 leaves Peschiera at 8:50, Sirmione at 9:10, and calls at Garda 9:31, Torri 9:45, Salò 10:09, Gardone 10:19, Gargnano 10:36, Malcesine 10:55 and Limone 11:05. That is Sirmione to Malcesine in about 1 hour 45 and Sirmione to Limone in just under 2 hours.

Fast services cost the ordinary fare plus a zone supplement, so buy at the Piazza Carducci office rather than on board. Check the ferry timetables and pick your run before you plan the day.

The Fiat 500 boat is a 40 HP open boat shaped like the classic car, hired from Largo Goethe for $143 per boat for one hour, up to 4 people, no boating licence required. It comes with fuel levy, insurance, a sun awning and a GPS map, and you cruise past the Grottoes of Catullus and the castle with stops for photos and swimming in a marked area. Bring $335.16 (€300) in cash as a security deposit, refunded after the boat comes back checked.

You cannot choose the color. Parking is tight, so the operator says to arrive at least 1 to 1.5 hours early by car: the closest lot, Monte Baldo, is about 300 m away on foot. For other bases and boat types, see the boat rental page.

When the Boats Run

The summer passenger timetable runs 16 May to 4 October, with a sample morning run leaving Desenzano at 8:20, Sirmione at 8:40, Bardolino at 9:20 and Garda at 9:35. The autumn timetable covers 5 October to 1 November, when a sample run leaves Desenzano at 8:50 and Sirmione at 9:10, reaching Garda at 9:55. From 2 November to 12 March there are no passenger boats at all, and the only service on the lake is the Maderno-Torri car ferry.

Plan lake crossings in that window by road instead, and check the ferry page for exact runs.

Wind, Rain and Refunds

Itineraries can change with the weather. Every boat in the table cancels free up to 24 hours ahead. On the 25-minute cruise a weather cancellation comes by SMS to your booking number and you choose a refund or a new slot, and the Isola del Garda boat tour offers another date.

The sunset departure needs at least 10 passengers and gives no refund if you arrive late. Keep a spare evening, and fill a grey day with the indoor things to do around Lake Garda.

• The thermal water under Sirmione rises from a spring 19 m below the lake surface, so it could not be used until engineers piped it at the end of the 19th century (Italian Wikipedia)
• The water reaches 69 C at the Boiola source, which is why the spa pools stay warm even in winter (Terme di Sirmione)
• The dock the boats pass is Venetian work built after 1405, when Sirmione passed to the Republic (Italian Wikipedia)
• Villa Callas was bought in the 1950s by Meneghini, husband of the soprano Maria Callas, and is seen only from outside (VisitSirmione)
• From 2 November to 12 March no passenger boat runs anywhere on the lake, and the only boat is the Maderno-Torri car ferry (Navigazione Laghi).