Why this day exists
Lake Garda makes pleasant, easy wine. Valpolicella, inland towards Verona, makes the serious stuff — and it is close enough to the eastern shore that the day trip is a standard product rather than an adventure. Enough people ask for it that the trip has its own shape here, sold from the lake rather than from the city.
The company we know best on this run is based in Verona and sells private tours covering Sirmione, the lake and Lugana as one option and Lake Garda with Amarone as another, alongside a wider Valpolicella range, working in Italian and English. Its private tours run with a minimum of 2 people.
There is also a nice symmetry available. One of the Bardolino estates on the lake holds vineyards in Valpolicella at Pojega as well as in Soave, so it is possible to taste the same family’s wine on both sides of a week and understand what the change of ground does.
What it costs, and what we will not do
The estates in this region, like the ones on the lake, do not publish tasting prices — visits and tastings are quoted on request. We will not print a per-head number we cannot stand behind. What we send you is the estate’s own price and the tour company’s own day rate, itemised, before anything is held.
How the day is actually run
Two estates and lunch is the sensible maximum. Three is a route march that ends with nobody remembering the second one. The commentary comes from the estates themselves, hosting at their own cellars, or from the tour company’s driver accompanying you — we arrange and confirm the day, we do not pour the wine or drive the car.
Speaking of which, the driving is not optional to think about. Italian private transfers run under the NCC regime, meaning pre-booked journeys with a licensed local company rather than anything found on the street. Companies covering the lake also work Verona and the wine country, so the same car that collects you from the airport can take you inland later in the week.
Season and timing
The lake’s own season runs April to October, and the harvest falls in September — the month when the cellars are most alive and least available. Autumn after the picking is arguably the best time of all for this region, since the year’s work is safely in the cellar and the estates have their attention back.
If a day has to move, the norm around the lake is free cancellation 24 to 48 hours ahead, with weather or a change of plan answered by a reschedule rather than an argument. You get the actual terms with the quote.
The rest of the wine week
On the lake itself, the Lugana wine tour behind Sirmione and the Bardolino wine tour on the eastern shore. For a different kind of tasting, the olive-oil tour. Arriving through Verona? The Verona Airport transfer puts you on the lake in about 28 minutes. Everything sits together on the Lake Garda page, with wine days in every other destination on wine tours. Request availability with your date, your party size and whether you want the car included.