Italian lakes with kids.
Lake Como and Lake Garda are two of Italy’s most beautiful and most famous lakes. In this guide I will explain how we visited both with a young child and the best points of interest along the way.
These two lakes are actually about a 2 hour drive from each other. That isn’t taking in to account driving in and out of each city/town which can easily add on an extra hour in rush traffic. Especially getting in and out of Como with the narrow, winding roads. Saying that having a car to get around was a must do for us when transporting a little one and his many belongings.
We started our trip by visiting Lake Como. For this we flew from Manchester in to Milan. From Milan Malpensa airport we picked up the hire car. Note, remember to add on a child seat at the time of booking if travelling with kids that require a car seat.
From here it was just over an hours drive to Lake Como. The roads were fine and the majority of them were highways so not too complex to navigate. As we approached the lake we did slow down massively and the roads got progressively more twisty, yet also more scenic. For accommodation we chose to stay in Bellagio.
This had been voted the most beautiful place around Lake Como so we spent two nights here. As many of the hotels were quite small, which is very normal in these towns, but not practical to accommodate a child and all of his many items, we stayed in an Airbnb. This was great as we had a separate bedroom for Teddy and a nice living area for us in the evenings when he was asleep.
Bellagio wasn’t the busiest of towns, but there were plenty of restaurants, bars and ice cream shops that were open past 9. There was still plenty for us to do and the town itself was absolutely beautiful. There are many narrow cobbled streets that are not pram accessible but there is always another way to get around without going much out of your way. So we actually found it very easy travelling with a pram.
One tip is to make sure that if you hire a car, which we did, is to get a hotel or apartment that has parking included because if not in can be a nightmare to find a parking space. For our first full day in Lake Como we drove from Bellagio to Como town to hire a boat on Lake Como.
The drive along the lake was spectacular but the traffic approaching Como was horrendous, to the point that we almost missed out boat hire slot. So be warned if you are staying in Como town give yourself extra time to park if needed. Como is far more touristy than Bellagio. There are many shops, restaurant chains and even a large play area for kids on the lakeside. It felt incredibly busy and nowhere near as beautiful as Bellagio. So whilst I’m glad we visited, we definitely made the right choice of where to base ourselves and to be quite honest I was glad to get out and back to Bellagio.
For the boat hire itself we had it for two hours. This was a perfect amount of time as it gives you long enough to explore the lake but also that little ones don’t start getting bored. Teddy was pretty terrified of the waves so we just chilled on the water as he didn’t like going fast but it was a brilliant, relaxing experience.
The views as you got further away from Como town were incredible and it was probably the best thing we did as a family on this holiday. The boat came with life jackets which made life a lot easier with a little one, so be sure to check before hand if you are thinking of hiring a boat. Also there was storage space under the seats for prams/pottys/bags so these can all be brought on board. There was only three of us on the boat but you could easily have gotten more people on board with plenty of space left.
After arriving back in Bellagio we headed to the centre for food, drinks and incredible views over lake Como.
For out last day in Bellagio we got the ferry which connects you to the slightly smaller towns of Varenna and Menaggio. The ferry between Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio was really quick and easy to get between the three towns. More importantly it was so much fun especially with kids. We actually just stayed on the boat and did a round trip as the views were so amazing and Teddy had such a good time.
The boats allow cars and it’s very easy to take any prams onboard that you may need. The best bit is the views are fantastic from any side of the boat you happen to be on so for the small fee it is well worth a trip when visiting the Italian lakes with kids.
The reason we didn’t get off was both towns looked quite busy already and with really narrow streets we felt trying to navigate a pram round wasn’t the best idea.
Following three fantastic days on Lake Como we took the 2.5 hour trip to Lake Garda.
Again once out of Bellagio this drive was pretty much all straight, fast roads with a few tolls along the way.
We hit very little traffic and it was luckily a pretty uneventful trip.
We stayed in Desenzano Del Garda. Which was just a few minutes drive from the beautiful and very busy Sirmione. This gave us a bit more space to explore and we were seconds from the incredible Lake Garda.
This was the most amazing place to spend the evenings with a little one at the Italian lakes. The pebble beaches are fantastic for playing with stones and throwing them in to the lake. We did this whilst one of us ordered food from the lakeside restaurants which were stunning to sit and eat at. This also meant we could let Teddy play by the water until his food was ready which made for a much more peaceful evening!
The next day it was a short drive to Sirmione. Sirmione can be quite busy as the old town is small and gets crowded but it was a really nice day with plenty of restaurants to eat at.
You actually enter Sirmione by crossing over a drawbridge of a castle which is visually stunning but can create a bottle neck. However, once over, the town itself was really beautiful, with your typical small Italian restaurants and cafes serving the most amazing pizzas. We ended up having to park a bit away so we had to take the pram but most of the town was very pram accessible so this wasn’t a problem.
Jamaica Beach is the beach area around the tip of Sirmione that juts out in to Lake Garda. Not particularly accessible with a pram and a travel potty……but we folded the pram down and managed ok. It was great to get away from the crowded Sirmione and Teddy had the best time clambering over the rocks. The beach was full of people sunbathing and kids paddling in the lake and I would definitely recommend a few hours exploring here when you visit the Italian lakes with kids.
Sirmione as a town is gorgeous and worth a visit. If visiting with kids thought I would probably avoid staying here purely as it’s so busy and a bit claustrophobic and not that easy to drive in and out of.
The next day we visited Gardaland near Lake Garda. A family friendly theme park which is a great idea when visiting the Italian lakes with kids. It also featuring some very good rides for adults. This was a decent day out, the Peppa Pig land was really good, not massive, but some fun rides with small queues for the little ones. We booked with https://getyourguide.tp.st/QzigNPGz
What they also did well, was have little games attached to the queues to keep kids amused whilst waiting for the rides.
The major downside was the €5 plus for each individual single rider queue which seemed a bit over the top, as at most parks you don’t pay for this, as it doesn’t always guarantee a shorter queue time. This was unfortunate, as when visiting with a child, inevitably you do single rider for almost all the large rides with height restrictions. The B&M wing coaster Raptor was exceptional though.
After another fantastic night eating, drinking and throwing pebbles in to Lake Garda we returned to our hotel over looking Lake Garda, ready to head off to San Marino the next morning via the home of Ferrari, Maranello. Another great stop off for you when visiting the Italian lakes with kids.
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