Essential travel guide to Lazise, a pretty and family friendly town on Lake Garda perfect for a relaxed and fun stay on the southern shore of Lake Garda, Italy.
The town of Lazise is a very popular destination for families on Lake Garda, and with good reason.
Located on the southern shore of the lake, with easy connections to Verona and the train network, Lazise has an atmospheric historic center, a lovely lakeside promenade, shops, restaurants, playgrounds and two characteristics that make it special for kids: a staggering amount of campsite resorts and very easy access to the theme parks of the area (Gardaland, Canova World etc!).
As you can see even just from this brief introduction, Lazise is ideal for a family campsite vacation. Indeed, as you arrive in the town, you will quickly see how the main driving road there is full of large camper vans heading here for Germany, the Netherlands and Northern Europe especially!
However, this is not all Lazise has to offer and if this is not your style of vacation don’t worry: you can also easily escape all this! Lazise has something for everyone!
We have been to Lake Garda many times and I have already shared my itinerary for lake Garda, where I mention Lazise as one of the best places on Lake Garda for families. Today, I want to go deeper and share additional info about Lazise town and why it is worth visiting.
I hope you enjoy it!
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Lazise Travel Guide TL;DR (Summary)
The town of Lazise is a pretty town on the southern shores of Lake Garda, with a historic center and quintessential Italian atmosphere.
You can easily use Lazise as a base to explore the South of the Lake and to take a day trip to Riva. The closets attractions to Lazise are Sirmione and Gardaland, plus of course the lake itself.
Lazise is very popular with families with kids thanks to the presence of many well equipped campsites, family hotels, and proximity to beaches and theme parks.
The town has a pretty center and a lively weekly market
You can explore the area by bike, ferry and bus.
I recommend to stay in Lazise 3/4 days, so you can enjoy the best of this area. You can find here >> my recommended Lake Garda itinerary with Lazise as a base.
The best things to do in Lazise
Explore the city center
Lazise is a pretty town with a pleasant center worth visiting.
The town center develops between the lake front and the ancient castle and still now is very much contained by the all city walls.
You do not need an itinerary to enjoy Lazise: as you stroll, you will easily find yourself in and around the main piazzas, the lakefront, the pretty tourist harbor and the cute alleys of this town, dotted with shops, restaurants and B&Bs.
The lakefront if flat and perfect for a walk, and the small tourist port is cute and pleasant for an aperitivo with water views.
Shop in Lazise market
Lazise hosts a weekly market on Wednesdays mornings which can be fun to experience.
The market very much takes over the city, with stalls literally all over the city center, and attracts many people, making the town positively burst at the seams with crowds, in the high season.
Depending on how you feel about markets, this can be a fantastic chance to explore the stalls and get some inexpensive items or an absolute nightmare if you do not like crowds.
I am very much in the no-crowds end of the spectrum and couldn’t wait to get away but this is not a reflection on the market itself but on how busy market day in Lazise can get in summer.
I feel this is important to know so yo can plan your days at best.
Take bikes to Garda
Lazise is connected to the towns of Bardolino and Garda by a wonderful cycling route which is easy and pleasant.
The cycling lane follows the shore of the lake and offers pretty views and several cute spots for a break: nice lidos for a dip into the lake, beach cafes for a drink or snack, playground for kids and of course the option to cycle into the towns on the way.
This area of the lake is town-after-town-after-town so you are never in a situation where you are isolated or away from services.
I recommend you cycle all the way to Garda town, which is lovely and scenic (more than Bardolino,which is cute but less interesting from a nature point of view)
Take a local cooking class
Lake Garda area has a strong food and wine vocation so a fun and local thing to do here is to take a cooking class!
The best cooking classes are, in my opinion, those that make pasta as they are hands on, fun and truly teach a replicable skill: in this area, I found a great one >> this one <<< that also comes with local wine, which means you also get to learn about them and have a taste without having to commit to an additional tour.
Go town hopping
My favorite thing to do on Lake Garda is to go town hopping and Lazise is the perfect base for it.
From here, you can easily take the ferry to Sirmione, Garda, Malcesine and even much farther afield all the way to Riva (about 4 hours), or you can hop on a bike or get a bus and easily reach pretty much anywhere you want.
In summer, I highly recommend you mix and match means of transport but especially embrace ferries, a fantastic way to catch views of the lake (no need to book ahead usually).
Go wine tasting
The area of Lazise is famous for the production of wine and there are many opportunities to learn, taste and buy all this area has to offer, not matter your travel style.
Depending on what you enjoy most, you can take a bike tour with winery visit, visit a vineyard for a wine and food tasting, or even simply take a walking tour of the city with wine tasting in the center, which solved all issues of transport!
Best day trips from Lazise
Lazise is in a perfect location to explore the rest of the Southern shore of the lake and, why not, part of the north. The best day trips from Lazise are:
Sirmione – delightful and very well known, Sirmione is easy to reach from Lazise either by ferry (self guided) or by boat tour like this one. You can find my travel guide to Sirmione here.
Desenzano – one of my favorite towns on Lake Garda, Desenzano is easy to reach from Lazise by ferry and is enjoyable for an afternoon, a day out or a meal. It is also easy to combine with Sirmione, also reachable by ferry. You can find my guide to Desenzano sul Garda here.
Malcesine and Monte Baldo – by bus and car you can easily reach malcsine and the cabe; car to Monte Baldo. Malcesine is a pretty town with a distinctive different armpsgerte for Lazise, quieter and more contemplative, both seeing. Monte Baldo is the impressive mountain towering above it: the cable car up is an easy and panoramic way to enjoy this area and find respite from the heart of summer – yo get pretty big pretty fast here!
Riva and Limone – by bus and ferry you can also easily explore the north part of the Lake from Lazise, if you make a day trip out of it. Riva and Limone have a high coastline, very different from that of Lazise, and are great places to explore if you want to experience how different the feel in different parts of the lake may be.
Borghetto sul Mincio – from Lazise, it is easy to cycle down to pretty Borghetto sul Mince, a delightful and picture perfect town on water. You can rent bikes and get maps and info here.
Verona – no need for an introduction to this one! Verona is easy to reach from Lazise and a wonderful ay trip for a sightseeing day . You can find here >> my guide to one day in Verona (with kids)
Where to eat in Lazise
Lazise has many nice restaurants with, in summer, indoor and outdoors options. In particular, we recommend 9we have friends in the area so these come from more than a fleeting good experience!)
Cozzeria alle Mura, specifically for mussels (cozze, in Italian) Find reviews and menu here
George Fish & Chips – yes, just what you imagine! Find reviews and menu here
Trattoria Pizzeria dal Baffo. Find reviews and menu here
Ristorante Pizzeria Bengio We had dinner here twice in a row. We found the staff to be wonderful and super accommodating as well as excellent food. Find reviews and menu here
Gem’s Brew Bar. Lovely outdoors pub style place, super kid friendly in feel and menu. Find reviews and menu here.
Where to stay in Lazise
This last time in Lazise we stayed in Hotel Bella Lazise which we loved.
The hotel is right outside the center of town (about 15 / 20 mins walk but there is also the bus that only takes few minutes) and has a wonderful pool and garden that made it simply blissful.
We loved it for a stay with kids as it had a kids pool, garden and playground, but I would also stay here without as it is not loud and you don’t feel like children take over: it’s nice place for everyone, with a family friendly atmosphere.
Other hotels you may enjoy are Hotel Palazzo alla Scala (stunning, look at the photos! The rooms, views and location are fantastic, for all types of travelers) and Hotel Corte Valier (couples).
Among the best campsites in Lazise you have the following, that tick all the boxes in terms of nice cabins, pools, services on site, locations and atmosphere.
Camping Lido, Camping Fossalta, Camping Village du Parc, Camping Parc delle Rose, Piani di Clodia Holiday Park
Lazise with kids
Lazise has a strong family vacation destination vocation and is easy to enjoy with kids. The top things to do with kids are:
Enjoy the pools / beach at your resort
Family resorts are one of the best attractions for families in Lazise so I recommend you make the most of what they have to offer as most of their facilities are for guests only. Camping Lido, Camping Fossalta, Camping Village du Parc, Camping Parc delle Rose, Piani di Clodia Holiday Park are all excellent choices.
Go to the playground
Lazise has a cute playground packed with kids from all over, just at the castle.
Take a cooking class
Lazise has a lovey cooking class that is kid-friendly!
This one, which teaches you to make pasta, makes for an amazing meal and also has plenty of local wine for wine loving parents. Kids are welcome and participate at a reduced rate (this is not always a case in other classes and a really nice touch!)
Cycle to Bardolino
Getting bikes to Bardolino the cycle lane between Lazise and Bardolino > Garda is lovely and easy to do with kids.
There are plenty of opportunities to stop and there is also a playground on the way. We got bikes from free from our hotel but should yours not offer it, you can also get them from the local shop in town.
Take the ferry to go town hopping
Our favourite acrivity, lovely way to sightsee and enjoy the summer breeze!
We like to keep things casual and didn’t book tickets in advance to have maximum flexibility. Even in high season, this was possible and easy and didn’t have difficulties getting on board when we wanted – the ferries have indoor and outdoors seating options.
Visit the theme parks
One of the reasons Lazise is so popular with families is the proximity to many theme parks and specifically:
Gardaland with also Sealife Aquarium and Lego Waterpark and Caneva Aqua Park, all easy to reach by bus from Lazise. Not far from Lazise is also Parco Natura Viva safari park which is lovely for kids.
How to get to Lazise and how to get around
You can reach Lazise in several ways. The easiest ones are:
By car, especially outside of the busy season, when traffic and parking can make it hard
By bus from Verona (or several of the other local towns)
By ferry from several towns on the lake (Sirmione, Garda…. )
Once you are in the town, you can walk and use bikes, buses and ferries for longer stretches. The websites to use for local schedule of transport are:
Lake Garda ferries >>> https://www.navigazionelaghi.it We got tickets there and then in high season no problem. Chatting to the locals, they told us the boats are so big, they do not sell out: while of course this may change, I can confirm that in high season we had no issues getting tickets and space on the ferry.
Lazise area buses >> https://www.atv.verona.it/App_Ticketbus_en
I hope you enjoyed this travel guide to Lazise and it helped you plan you trip at best. Safe travels!
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