On Fri, 6 Jan 2012, Surreyman wrote:

Any views, please, on the best centre on Lake Garda in which to stay
for 2 weeks, regarding:

Not much direct experience but ...

Good centre for Lake Garda ferries/transportation
Good centre for public transport re other lakes, Verona etc.

Lake Garda is shared by three regions (Lombardy on the west, Veneto on
the east, and Trentino for the northern tip). So you should consult the
appropriate regional or provincial timetable. I presume the best
connections to Verona are from the east coast.

There are railways stations only on the south shore, in Peschiera and
Desenzano. I have the impression the latter is not within walking
distance from the pier.

I do not really understand your reference to "other lakes", as the two
major ones (Como and Maggiore) are on the opposite side of Lombardy. I
do not think you mean lake Iseo or Idro (which are closer).

This is the site for the Governmental Navigation on the 3 major lakes
(including Garda). You should find everything about ferry timetables
http://www.navlaghi.it/

For historical reason the shipping service on the 3 major lakes is run
by this Governmental Management. Lake Iseo is run by the Region. I heard
rumours that some ferry services (on lake Maggiore and Como) were
recently reduced because of budget cuts (Region Lombardy commented that
if they were running the service, they won't have cut it). Anyhow the
winter service is usually much reduced vs the spring/summer one.

These are the regional/provincial timetable site

Lombardy
http://62.101.84.174/trl_index.htm

despite the odd URL and the fact it does not have an english section,
this is the best site, since it covers all bus companies as well as
railways and ships, and has also an efficient route search engine (click
on Collegamento tra le principali località della Lombardia). To start
with click on Visualizza tutti gli orari, then TUTTE LE LINEE CHE
PASSANO DAL COMUNE DI ... and then enter the name of the place you want.
You will then get a list of lines, can print full timetable or access
the individual company site.

Province of Verona
http://www.atv.verona.it/flex/cm/pag.../IT/IDPagina/7
I usually prefer to look by "place" in "alphabetic order" (e.g. this
link goes to places whose name starts with B)
http://tech.atv.verona.it/atv_www/or...ocalita_B.html

Trentino
http://www.ttesercizio.it
(look for Alto Garda or Riva del Garda)