Which Lake Garda Wine Tour? Bardolino, Lugana or Lazise Compared
Updated October 18, 2026 · 5 min read
Lake Garda is one of the easier places in Italy to book a wine tasting: dozens are on offer, most last one and a half to two hours, and the usual price is between €35 and €50. The hard part is choosing, because the listings sound alike. A vineyard, a cellar, some wines, cheese and cold cuts.
They are not alike, and the difference starts with where on the lake you are. Wine at Garda follows the shore.
Three areas, three kinds of wine
Bardolino and Lazise on the eastern shore are the red and rosé side. The operators here pour Bardolino, its pale rosé Chiaretto, and in at least one case Custoza, a white from the hills inland.
Lugana near Sirmione on the southern shore is white-wine country. The Lugana DOC is the name to look for, and it is the one the Sirmione tours are built around.
Valtenesi on the western shore is the Chiaretto side from Salò and Moniga. It has fewer tastings on offer.
If you stay on the east shore, the eastern tastings are the simple choice. If you come to Sirmione anyway for the castle, a Lugana tasting is a short step away.
What the money buys
All of these come with local food (cheese, cold cuts, bread, usually the estate’s own olive oil), so the real difference is time and number of wines.
| Tour | Price | Time | Wines | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazise: winery tour with Garda wines and food | €42 | 2 hours | 6 to 8 per the operator | 312, 4.9 stars |
| Bardolino: vineyard tour with wine, olive oil and food | €36 | 1.5 hours | 5 | 320, 4.7 stars |
| Sirmione: Lugana vineyard tour with local tastings | €35 | 1.5 hours | 3 | 307, 4.8 stars |
| Sirmione: four Lugana wines with cellar tour | €50 | 2 hours | 4 | 275, 4.8 stars |
| Bardolino: vineyard tour with wine and food | €45 | 2 hours | 4 | 207, 4.7 stars |
| Garda hills wine tour | €45 | 2 hours | 4 | 162, 4.8 stars |
Read down the “wines” column. The cheapest Lugana tour pours three wines, the Lazise tour pours six to eight for €7 more. Two reviewers of the Lazise tour counted seven, with a third of a glass each: two white, two rosé and three red. If you want to taste your way round the lake’s wines, that is the best proportion on the list.
Which one to book
For most visitors: the Lazise winery tour. It has the best rating in the table (4.9 from 312 reviews), the most wines, and a clear structure: a guided walk through the vineyard and the cellar, then the tasting at the table. One reviewer says the guide was the owner, speaking English and German to the whole group. The listing names Bardolino, Chiaretto and Custoza.
If you want white wine: Sirmione. The €50 tour is a family estate. The operator lists a Lugana DOC, a traditional-method sparkling Brut, a Valtenesi Chiaretto and a Merlot-based red, and it includes the sparkling cellar and the barrel room. Choose it if you like white wine and want to see a smaller estate. The €35 version is the lighter option and the better one for a short visit.
If you want the classic Bardolino story: Bardolino. The €36 tour covers a DOC vineyard and tastes extra virgin olive oil alongside the wine and cheese, so it is the choice for people who care about oil as much as wine. The €45 one has four wines and, the operator says, 11 grape varieties grown on the estate.
When a tasting is the wrong format
A tasting is a couple of hours. If you want a day devoted to wine, a different kind of tour fits better. The Valpolicella wine and lunch trip runs seven to nine hours for €89, visits a cellar with a red-wine tasting, and includes lunch at a farm restaurant, but it has only 51 reviews and 4.4 stars. For wine and exercise together, there is a bike tour with a wine tasting in Lazise at €115 for three and a half hours (61 reviews, 4.8 stars).
Practical points
- Sort out the way home before you taste. The meeting points are on each booking page; work out transport that does not involve you driving.
- Check the language. The Lazise tour lists English, Italian and German guides, the Sirmione one Italian, English and German. Others may differ.
- Cancellation: the Lazise and Sirmione tours show free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
All of these tastings are listed on the page for Lake Garda wine tours. If you want to pair a tasting with the water, Sirmione from a boat shows the options.
Prices and conditions are the operators’ own and can change; the booking page shows what applies on your date.
