Before I dive into all of the posts from our time in Lake Garda, I wanted to share a quick post on the logistics of traveling from Florence to Lake Garda. When we were planning our trip to Italy, I knew I wanted to visit Lake Garda. It is Italy’s largest lake with so many amazing places to visit. While you can take a boat from town to town, or a ferry, we still needed to get from Florence to Lake Garda and then around the lake.

Our original idea was to rent a car in Florence and drive through Tuscany, up to Lake Garda. After a little research we decided to skip this and take the train instead. Brian felt comfortable with being able to drive in Italy in the smaller towns around Lake Garda, but driving out of the city center in Florence was more than we were willing to take on. This was our first experience with renting a car oversees so we wanted to take it slow.

Getting the international drivers license was easy enough. Brian filled out a form we found online and he took it into one of the close-by locations that were listed. That was it! The license is also good in several countries for one year, so it’s worth it if you plan to travel.

We are no strangers to taking trains whenever we travel to Europe. In fact, we enjoy it! It’s not glamorous but it is comfortable and convenient.

A few things to keep in mind when using trains oversees:

• Wear comfortable shoes and clothing
• Pack light! You will be carrying your bag up and over platforms, jumping on and off the train quickly, and space is limited.
• Understand that trains will get delayed (especially in Italy). If you are worried about your connection, chances are that train is delayed, too.
• Keep an eye on your baggage at all times
• Try to avoid placing smaller items in the overhead storage bins. You don’t want to forget something! We have, and it’s not fun trying to track down a train to get your belongings back!
• Pay attention to the train routes. If you are in a non-english speaking country, know a few stops before yours so you can keep up with where you are.
• When you are looking at the departure/arrivals board for your train, keep in mind the trains are listed as the final destination. Just look at your ticket for the train number instead of looking for the city you are traveling too.
• As someone who is not familiar with the train schedule, I recommend talking to the ticket agents, rather than using the kiosks. They know what trains are delayed, the fastest routes and the easiest way to get you to your destination.

I can’t remember our train route from Florence to Lake Garda, because we ended up changing several times. I believe it was Florence to Bologna, Bologna to Verona and then Verona to Peschiera del Garda. Peschiera del Garda is one of two train stations around Lake Garda. There just happens to be a Hertz location about a 5 minute cab ride from the Peschiera del Garda station, so that was were we wanted to start our trip.

With so many train transfers and picking up a rental car, I was amazed at how smoothly everything went. I did most of my research before we left for our trip so I was prepared. Google Maps can be your best resource for planning out the logistics of how you are going to get from one city to the next.

Traveling from Florence to Lake Garda ended up being relatively easy. Although, admittedly it does make for a long travel day. But it was all worth it when we pulled out of the Hertz parking lot to the beautiful views of Lake Garda. Next stop… Gardone Riviera! xo Bryn