You’ve found it: the perfect pitch on Lake Garda, shaded by olive trees, a short stroll from the water, with a pool the children will love. Then you check your dates. July? Full. August? Full. If you’re planning a summer in Italy, that sinking feeling is all too familiar. Garda is one of Europe’s favourite lakes, and its best campsites go early. But forty minutes east lies another Alpine lake, with vineyards on its shores and a car-free island in the middle, where finding space is usually far easier.<\/p>\n
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Lake Garda’s most popular campsites fill up early because demand from across Europe is enormous, and many families book their summer holiday in the first weeks of the year.<\/b> By the time most people start planning, the best pitches and mobile homes for July and August have often gone.<\/p>\n
Garda is the largest lake in Italy and, for many British, Dutch and German families, the default choice for an Italian camping holiday. It’s easy to drive to from northern Europe, it has plenty of beaches, and it offers more family attractions than any other Italian lake.<\/p>\n
The booking pattern is striking. In the UK, searches for camping on Lake Garda peak in January, when families sit down after Christmas to plan the summer. Holiday operators reserve large blocks of accommodation on the big resort sites well in advance, and many regular guests rebook for the following year before they’ve even left.<\/p>\n
The result is simple: if you start looking in spring for a peak-season stay, you may find the choice limited, or the remaining options expensive.<\/p>\n
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On Lake Garda, you pay a premium for location, famous names and the most extensive resort facilities of any Italian lake.<\/b> That premium is worth it for some families, and less so for others.<\/p>\n
Here’s what drives the price:<\/p>\n
None of this makes Garda poor value. It simply means you should know what you’re paying for, and ask yourself whether you’ll actually use it.<\/p>\n
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Lake Iseo is a smaller lake between Bergamo and Brescia, around 40 minutes’ drive from Garda’s southern shore, and it generally offers a quieter holiday at more accessible prices.<\/b> Many visitors drive straight past it on the motorway without realising it’s there.<\/p>\n
What you’ll find:<\/p>\n
Our complete guide to Lake Iseo covers the lake in more detail.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Garda offers more choice and more attractions; Iseo offers more space, easier availability and shorter transfers from Bergamo airport.<\/b> Here’s how they compare on the points that matter most when booking a camping holiday.<\/p>\n Before booking on either lake, it’s worth checking the latest bathing water classification for the specific beach you’ll use. Both lakes publish monitoring results each season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Garda has more of almost everything: more attractions, more water sports, more resort facilities and easier access to Verona.<\/b> It would be misleading to pretend otherwise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your holiday depends on theme parks, windsurfing or an evening at the Verona opera, Garda is the right lake for you.<\/b> Iseo is a great alternative, but it isn’t a like-for-like replacement.<\/p>\n Choose Garda if:<\/p>\n If that’s you, book as early as you can. If not, read on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lake Iseo and Lake Garda are close enough to visit one from the other in a day, about 40 minutes apart by car.<\/b> Staying on one doesn’t mean missing the other.<\/p>\n Many families staying on Iseo spend a day at Sirmione or Gardaland, then return to a calmer lake in the evening. It’s a good way to enjoy the best of both.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lake Iseo has campsites around much of its shoreline, from small family-run sites to larger holiday parks with pools and entertainment.<\/b> If you’re used to Garda’s resort parks, you’ll find the atmosphere more relaxed and the scale more human.<\/p>\n If you’re not sure how Italian campsites work, from check-in times to the tourist tax, our guide to what camping in Italy is really like explains the differences from British and Dutch sites.<\/p>\n One option on the southern shore is Camping del Sole<\/b>, on the edge of Iseo town. It covers around 90,000 square metres along the lake and has:<\/p>\n Iseo’s historic centre is a flat 800-metre (half-mile) walk along the lakeside path, about ten minutes on foot, so you can go out for dinner or an ice cream without taking the car.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You’ve found it: the perfect pitch on Lake Garda, shaded by olive trees, a short stroll from the water, with a pool the children will love. Then you check your dates. July? Full. August? Full. If you’re planning a summer in Italy, that sinking feeling is all too familiar. Garda is one of Europe’s favourite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3419"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3428,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions\/3428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campingdelsole.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n \nLake Garda<\/th>\n Lake Iseo<\/th>\n <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Size<\/td>\n 370 km\u00b2 (143 sq mi), the largest lake in Italy<\/td>\n 65 km\u00b2 (25 sq mi)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Choice of campsites<\/td>\n Very wide, including large resort parks<\/td>\n Smaller selection, often more relaxed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Peak-season availability<\/td>\n Best sites book up early in the year<\/td>\n Generally easier to find space, though popular sites still fill up<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Crowds in July and August<\/td>\n Busy, especially on the southern shore<\/td>\n Noticeably quieter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Bathing water<\/td>\n Monitored by regional environmental agencies<\/td>\n Monitored by ARPA Lombardia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n From Bergamo airport by car<\/td>\n About 1 hour to the southern shore<\/td>\n About 40 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n From Verona airport by car<\/td>\n About 20 to 30 minutes to the southern shore<\/td>\n About 1 hour 15 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n From Milan by car<\/td>\n About 1 hour 30 minutes<\/td>\n About 1 hour 15 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n What Garda has that Iseo does not<\/h2>\n
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Who should still choose Garda<\/h2>\n
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Getting between the two lakes for a day trip<\/h2>\n
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Campsites on Lake Iseo<\/h2>\n
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People also ask<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"