Lake Garda Tour from Verona: Sirmione, Cruise and Lazise

Included and Extra Costs

Lunch is an optional stop at an extra fee, and the Grotte di Catullo guided visit is optional at an extra fee. The Scaligero Castle stop is a photo stop, not an interior visit, so no castle ticket is in the price.

Weather, Season and the Boat

The boat leg can be cancelled in adverse weather. The guide then picks an alternative for the whole group, and refunds are not guaranteed for travelers who refuse that alternative. Public passenger boats do not run on most of the lake from 2 November to 12 March, so check with the operator how the crossing from Sirmione to Lazise works in winter.

Check the forecast for your date and read the cancellation terms before booking.

• Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before the tour.
• The tour needs a minimum of 2 guests to operate.

Money and Getting to the Start

Italy uses the euro. At the European Central Bank rate of 1 EUR = 1.1130 USD, the sight tickets on this page come to $11.13 (€10) each. Verona-Villafranca airport sits about 15 km from the lake area and an Aerobus runs every 20 minutes to Verona Porta Nuova station, from where the city centre is a short ride.

Piazza Sacco e Vanzetti is the stated meeting point, and hotel pickup and drop-off are listed without a stated window, so confirm the pickup on the booking page.

• If you drive to Sirmione another day, the historic centre is a ZTL from 23 March to 13 October with permit-only access and fines of $92.38 (€83) to $370.63 (€333).
• Desenzano del Garda to Sirmione by state ferry is zone 1, $3.90 (€3.50) one way and 20 minutes on the summer timetable.

What to Bring and Who Can Join

Bring comfortable shoes for the 1.5-hour walk on the peninsula, a card for the cashless Grottoes ticket office, and sun protection in summer. There is no stated minimum age, but unaccompanied minors are not allowed and underage travelers must be with an adult. The tour is not suitable for wheelchair users, and some parts may not be easily accessible for people with reduced mobility, so contact the provider beforehand if unsure.

Pets and oversize luggage are not allowed.

Step by Step

You meet the guide at Piazza Sacco e Vanzetti and board the private bus for the roughly one-hour ride to Sirmione. The guided walk covers the old town on the peninsula for 1.5 hours, with an optional photo stop at the Scaligero Castle. Free time of 1.5 hours follows, when you can shop, eat at your own cost or add the optional 1-hour guided visit to the Grottoes of Catullus.

The boat then follows the coastline to Lazise for about an hour. You get 1 hour in Lazise before the bus ride back to Verona.

Sirmione in Your Free Time

The guided walk covers the old town, so your 1.5 free hours are for the sights, a swim spot or lunch. The Scaligero Castle opens Tuesday to Sunday 8:30-19:15 with the ticket office closing 45 minutes earlier, and full entry is $11.13 (€10). The Grottoes of Catullus, the remains of a large Roman villa at the tip of the peninsula, open Tuesday to Saturday 8:30-17:00 and Sunday 8:30-14:00, also $11.13 (€10).

Both close on Mondays, 1 January and 25 December. Check the Ministry of Culture pages for the current hours before going.

• If you want more water time, the 25-minute Sirmione boat tour around the peninsula leaves from the harbour in front of the castle at $13 per person.
• The Sirmione sunset boat tour adds a Prosecco flute to a 45-minute ride at $34.21 per person.
• Wine drinkers can book the Lugana wine tasting near Sirmione at $39 per person for 1.5 hours in Santa Maria di Lugana.

Lazise in One Hour

Lazise is a town on the eastern shore, with small streets, local shops and the waterfront. One hour is tight, so decide beforehand between a lakeside stroll and a sit-down drink. If Lazise is the part you care about most, the Lazise wine and food tasting in the vineyards runs 2 hours at $47 per person.

• The 11:00 AM departure reaches Lazise first.
• Lazise sits on the Garda-Bardolino-Lazise bus corridor, so extending your stay after the tour is straightforward by public transport.

Tickets for the Two Sights

The Scaligero Castle and the Grottoes of Catullus each cost $11.13 (€10) full price, with a reduced $2.23 (€2) ticket for EU citizens aged 18-25 and free entry for under-18s at the castle. The castle ticket includes the keep. A combined ticket covering the castle, the Grottoes with the museum and the Roman Villa in Desenzano costs $22.26 (€20) and stays valid 7 days, which only makes sense if you return to the area.

Mondays and Cards

Both state-run sites close on Mondays, so on a Monday tour the castle remains a photo stop and the Grotte option disappears. The Grottoes also take card payment only at the site, so bring a card rather than counting on cash. The optional guided Grotte visit lasts 1 hour, which fits inside the 1.5 hours of free time but leaves little slack for a sit-down lunch at the same time.

The Bus Line

ATV Verona runs line 164 on the route Garda-Bardolino-Lazise-Gardaland-Peschiera-Castelnuovo-Verona, which links the city directly with Lazise and the east shore. Check the current timetable on atv.verona.it, since the printed PDF schedules change by season. The bus gets you to Lazise or Peschiera without a car, and state ferries from those towns reach Sirmione.

• Peschiera to Sirmione is ferry zone 2, $6.68 (€6) one way.
• Desenzano to Sirmione is zone 1, $3.90 (€3.50) one way and about 20 minutes.

The Boat Fare You Skip

The crossing this tour includes, Sirmione to Lazise, reads as zone 4 on the official ferry matrix at $12.80 (€11.50) full fare one way. From 2 November to 12 March there are no passenger boats on the lake, only the Maderno-Torri car ferry. This tour is a fixed 7.5-hour plan, and the crossing can be cancelled in bad weather.

• Travelers already based in Milan can look at the Lake Garda day trip from Milan, which includes Verona as well and runs 11 hours at $115 per person.

When Boats Run

The summer passenger timetable ran 16 May to 4 October, with the Desenzano-Peschiera-Riva line serving both Sirmione and Lazise. In autumn and spring the service shrinks, with several runs on that line daily only until 11 October and again daily from 20 March. The tour's own boat crossing is separate from the public timetable.

• A summer sample run: Sirmione 8:40, Bardolino 9:20, Garda 9:35.
• Another summer run stops at Lazise at 8:28 coming up from Peschiera.

Winter

From 2 November to 12 March the only service on the whole lake is the Torri-Maderno car ferry. There are no passenger boats on the rest of the lake in that window. If you travel in winter, treat the boat leg as weather and season dependent and confirm the arrangement with the operator when booking.