Lake Garda & Venice

We have visited Lake Garda many times but this year we have added a short stay in Venice too! 

Repeated once again after huge success in recent years! The sheer splendour of Italy’s largest lake is legendary. Charming waterside resorts and villages lie sheltered by a stunning backdrop of mountain scenery. Enjoying a mild climate, Lake Garda has a unique charm that has captivated visitors for centuries, offering something for everyone.

The hotel is located in the town of Garda which is set on the eastern side of the lake in an ideal location enabling easy exploration of the surrounding countryside.

We have received excellent feedback from previous Spice members who have enjoyed our Lake Garda offers in previous years and with the hope of warm Autumn sunshine October is a great time to visit.

During your time around Lake Garda there is so much to see and do – it is easy to get around with ferries passing between towns on a regular basis (almost like taxis!) so take a cruise and visit one of the many towns around the Lake or perhaps venture further afield and take a trip to Verona, or Milan or into the Dolomites to name but a few!

Bardolino Wine Festival

This is a first for Spice but the Bardolino Wine Festival itself has been going for almost 90 years! Dates are not yet confirmed for 2020 but it likely to be 01-05 October based on previous years so something to build into your itinerary! The festival marks the maturation and distribution of the new Bardolino wine - a red wine which is compounds of four grape genre; Rondinella, Molinara, Corvina Veronese and Negrara.

A great variety of events are held in the festival that lasts for five days; wine tasting, colorful food fair, entertainments, music and marvelous fireworks shows. Food is almost as important as the wine it appears and you kind try all sorts of freshly prepared local delicacies too.

Bardolini is just a short 10 minute taxi from Garda or a pleasant 45 minute walk along the lake – although it may take considerably longer to walk back! So fingers crossed we can get to the festival on Sunday or Monday.

After discovering the delights of Lake Garda it’s off to Venice for two nights. We’ll head off just after breakfast and it’s approximately a 2 hour drive back to Venice which should give us the afternoon and all next day to venture onto Venice Island.

Really Venice needs no introduction and no matter if this is your first time or you have visited before there is so much to enjoy whether that be a gondola ride, guided tour, people watching or general wander around the streets and waterways simply getting lost! 

We have opted to stay on the mainland in Mestre rather than Venice Island itself but our hotel is very well located just 15 minutes transfer from the island. The bus service shuttles back and forth every 10 minutes on a 24/7 basis (every 30 minutes at night). Bus tickets are on sale at our hotels’ reception and the bus stop is located just 150 metres from the hotel.

Your Spice coordinator will of course be on hand to arrange meet ups over breakfast so you can talk about what you plan to do during the day and in the evening you can all meet in the hotels’ bar to chat about the day’s adventures before enjoying your evening meal and whatever else takes your fancy for the rest of the night.

The tour operator for this flight inclusive holiday is Spice UK Ltd (ATOL 9046) for whom we act as agent. This holiday is protected by the Civil Aviation Authority under the ATOL scheme in the event of failure of the tour operator. Spice UK Ltd holiday terms and conditions apply, as supplied with the full holiday information pack. Your money is protected via our trust account in compliance with EC travel regulations.