Boat trips on Lake Garda: the public ferry or a guided cruise?

By Riccardo · LikeGarda, Garda

Lake Garda is wonderful from the water: many of its villages and villas were built to face the lake. There are two ways to get out on it, and they offer different things.

The public ferry

Navigazione Laghi runs the public boats between the lake towns. It is the way to go from one village to another at your own pace; timetables and fares are on the official website, and outside the summer season the service is reduced. If you buy the ticket on board there is a small surcharge.

A guided afternoon cruise

Our two cruises leave in the afternoon, with a guide on board and reserved seats on a medium-sized boat.

To Sirmione (about 4 hours, from Garda or Bardolino): the boat passes Punta San Vigilio and Villa Canossa, stops in front of the Boiola spring, where sulphurous water bubbles up from the lake bed, and shows you the Sirmione peninsula from the water. Then about two hours of free time in Sirmione, for the old town, the castle or a swim.
Isola del Garda and Salò (about 3 and a half hours): a crossing towards Isola del Garda, then 90 minutes in the elegant gulf of Salò, and the way back past Gardone Riviera, Punta San Vigilio and Villa Canossa, arriving in Garda in the early evening.

A few tips

A hat and a light layer: on the water it can be cooler than on the promenade.
The Sirmione cruise is not recommended for people with back problems or for pregnant travellers.