Lake Como
Lake Como is an upside-down Y with the towns worth the trip at the junction, an hour from Milan and reached by ferry, not by car. Two nights for most, and the villas close for the winter.
Lake Como in a nutshell
Lake Como: what to expect
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Two nights on Lake Como go to the middle of the lake, and that is the right call. The lake is shaped like an upside-down Y with about 160 km of shoreline, and the towns worth the trip cluster where the three arms meet: Bellagio on the point, Varenna opposite on the eastern shore, Menaggio, Tremezzo and Lenno along the western one. The villas are the sights, Balbianello on its promontory and Carlotta with its gardens, and the public ferry between them is the road. Most travellers give Lake Como 2 nights on Stippl.
Three in five Lake Como trips also carry Milan, the largest partner share for any non-Rome place in Italy. An hour of train from Milano Centrale to Varenna and an airport at the other end explain both that number and the short stay: 41.3% of Lake Como stops planned on Stippl are a single night, and only 9.1% run to four or more, against guides that ask for three to five.
Base in Bellagio, Varenna or the western shore strip, take the train to Varenna and leave the car at home. The shore road is single-lane in places, parking is ticketed and gone by mid-morning, and a car earns nothing once you have arrived. Skip Lake Como between November and February, when the villas shut and the ferries thin, and skip it altogether if you want a beach holiday, because the shores are pebble and the water at 410 m deep holds its cold.
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Couples and honeymooners
The villas, the gardens, the boat crossings and the sunsets on the water are the reason the lake has the reputation it has.
First-timers doing the north
Lake Como pairs with Milan by train in about an hour and needs no car, so it slots into a Milan, Venice or Verona route.
Garden and villa travellers
Balbianello, Carlotta, Melzi and Monastero all sit within a short ferry of one another, each with a botanical garden and its own landing stage.
Walkers
The Greenway del Lago di Como runs 10 km between Colonno and Griante, and the hills behind every town carry trails that see almost nobody.
Milan pairers
Three in five Lake Como trips on Stippl also carry Milan, the largest partner share in Italy outside Rome, so the lake extends a Milan stay.
Two-night stayers
Most travellers give Lake Como 2 nights on Stippl and only 9.1% give it four or more, so the short stay is the normal one.
Maybe not for you: anyone in a hurry, since ferry delays of 30 to 45 minutes are normal in season and a day is mostly spent moving; anyone on a tight budget, because the beds are dear; and anyone who wants sand, because the beaches are pebble.
The best time to visit Lake Como
Shut
November to February
The villas close, the ferries drop to a winter timetable and the villages empty. Como and Lecco still work as cities, and Como's December light show is one of the few reasons to be on the water.
The gardens
mid-March to May
Everything reopens, the rhododendrons at Villa Carlotta peak in late April, and it rains: Como is one of the rainiest cities in Italy, so pack for it and keep a villa interior in reserve.
Peak
June to early September
Hot, full and the only time the lake is warm enough to swim. Ferry queues at Bellagio and Varenna, rooms booked months out, and Ferragosto in the middle of it.
The second window
mid-September to October
Crowds thin, the water is still warm and the light is at its best; by late October the villas start closing and the summer timetable ends in the first week of the month.
- July is the month most travellers plan Lake Como for on Stippl, and June to September takes 68.93% of the plans. That is markedly more seasonal than Italy as a whole, so the spring and autumn windows the advice names are the quiet ones.
- The villa calendars matter more than any festival. Villa Carlotta opens March to early November and Villa del Balbianello mid-March to early January on limited days, so a winter trip is a trip without the two main sights.
- The summer ferry timetable runs from late March to early October. Outside it the service is reduced, the slow boat from Como to Bellagio becomes a poor way to commute, and the train to Varenna is the reliable arrival.
- Ferragosto on 15 August is the single busiest day on the water. The Palio del Lario rowing contest between the lake's towns also lands in summer, and the traditional Lucia boats race in front of full harbours.
- Most travellers plan Lake Como about 95 days ahead on Stippl, and only 10.86% inside a fortnight. That is the smallest last-minute share of any Italian place we measure, so a summer room in Bellagio is a winter booking.
- Como Città dei Balocchi runs through December. Light projections onto the city's facades and a Christmas programme in the streets, and the one lake event worth a winter detour from Milan.
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Things to do in Lake Como
The ferry triangle
Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio, 10 to 30 minutes apart on the most frequent boats on the lake, and the cheapest and best view of the water there is. Buy the day pass if you will cross three times.
Villa del Balbianello
An eighteenth-century house on a wooded promontory at Lenno with a loggia over the water, a location in Star Wars and James Bond, and reached on foot in 20 minutes or by shuttle boat. Book the interior weeks ahead in summer.
Villa Carlotta
At Tremezzo, with its own ferry landing and the most extensive planting on the lake; late April is the rhododendron peak, and the villa and garden come on one ticket.
Castello di Vezio
About 25 minutes uphill from Varenna to a castle that sees a fraction of the town's day-trippers, for the best view of the junction where the three arms meet.
Punta Spartivento
The point at the tip of Bellagio where the two southern arms divide, at the end of the peninsula and past where most people turn back.
The Greenway del Lago di Como
10 km of waymarked path from Colonno to Griante, three to four hours, threading the villages and villas of the western shore and ending at a ferry stop.
The towns of Lake Como
Bellagio
The point everyone knows
The town on the promontory where the three arms meet, with boutiques, stepped alleys, Villa Melzi and the best ferry connections on the lake. For first visits and a central base.
Villa Melzi and every crossing from one harbour, at the dearest prices and the fullest afternoons.
Varenna
The rail arrival, prettiest town
Eastern shore, coloured houses perched between hills and water, Villa Monastero, the castle above, and the direct train from Milan. For anyone arriving without a car.
The Milan train, Villa Monastero and a 15-minute crossing to Bellagio.
Menaggio, Tremezzo and Lenno
The western shore strip
Villa Carlotta, Villa del Balbianello, the Greenway and noticeably fewer day-trip groups, strung along the western shore opposite Bellagio. For a quieter base with the villas on foot.
The two big villas and the Greenway walk, and a short ferry to Bellagio and Varenna.
Como
The city at the southern end
Roman origins, a cathedral, the silk workshops, the Brunate funicular and the only part of the lake that stays open in winter. For budget, rail access and the low season.
Open all year, cheaper beds, and the funicular to Brunate, but two hours by slow boat from Bellagio.
Lecco
The other southern end
The bottom of the eastern arm, overlooked and cheaper, with a lakefront promenade under the mountains and trails behind. For value, hiking and avoiding the crowds.
Cheaper rooms and the mountains at the door, at the cost of distance from the villas.
Cernobbio
A short stop north of Como
A small resort town on the western shore with Villa d'Este, Villa Erba and Villa Bernasconi, reached from Como by bus or boat. For a villa afternoon without going up the lake.
Three villas minutes from Como, and the wrong end of the lake for everything else.
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Where to stay on Lake Como
Base in the middle of the lake for a first visit: Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio, Griante, Cadenabbia, Tremezzo and Lenno all put every main stop within a short ferry, and from Como or Lecco the same crossings take two hours. Most travellers give Lake Como 2 nights on Stippl, and a pool matters more than a lake view, because a lake-view room is often also a road-view room.
Bellagio
Lake-front hotels and rooms in the stepped alleys, €180 to €400 a double in season, the dearest beds on the lake.
Varenna
Small hotels above the harbour and B&Bs up the hill, €150 to €320 a double.
Menaggio, Tremezzo and Lenno
Three-star hotels, villa apartments and the hostel scene's northern end, €110 to €250 a double.
Como
City hotels and the lake's only real hostel choice, €90 to €200 a double, open all year.
Lecco
Hotels and apartments along the promenade, €80 to €170 a double, for value and hiking.
Cernobbio
Grand villa hotels and a few B&Bs on the shore north of Como, €130 to €600 a double.
What to eat on Lake Como
sun-dried, salted shad; the dish that belongs to Lake Como alone
lake perch fillets folded through risotto
polenta with butter, garlic and mountain cheese
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Lake Como customs and what not to do
The towns are lived in
The lake belongs to the villages rather than to visitors, and the difference between 11:00 and 19:00 in Bellagio is the difference between a set and a place.
Queue properly at the dock
Several boats share a berth and it gets chaotic, so ask staff where a boat is going rather than following the crowd onto it.
Cover up in the churches
Including the small ones at Lenno and Menaggio, where a shawl or a shirt over the shoulders is expected.
Dress a little for dinner
Bellagio is a moneyed town and behaves like one, and the terraces expect something other than the day's swimwear.
Aperitivo is the evening
Lakeside terraces price the sunset accordingly, and the same spritz is half the price one street back from the harbour.
Do
- Base in the middle of the lake and let the ferries do the work
- Buy ferry tickets the evening before, or first thing in the morning for the whole day
- Book Villa del Balbianello's interior tour weeks ahead in summer; it sells out
- Visit Bellagio and Varenna before 10:00 or after 16:00
Don't
- Try to see Como, Bellagio and Varenna independently in one day; take the tour or pick two
- Drive the western shore road in July, or rely on finding a parking space anywhere
- Come in November expecting the lake in the photographs; much of it is closed
- Book a lake-view room without checking whether the lake side is also the road side
What a Lake Como trip costs
Budget
€80–140
A hostel bed in Como or a simple room in Lecco or Menaggio, pizza and a pasta a block back from the harbour, the regional train and single ferry tickets.
Mid-range
€180–380
A three-star in Varenna or on the western shore, trattoria dinners, a ferry day pass, a villa a day.
High-end
€400+
A lake-front hotel in Bellagio, private boat transfers, the villa interiors on guided tickets, dinner on the terrace.
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Fun facts about Lake Como
At about 410 m, Lake Como is deeper than most of the Adriatic. Italy's deepest lake holds its cold into July, which is why the swimming season is short.
More than 200 historic villas line the Como shore. Balbianello, Carlotta, Melzi and Monastero are the four with their own ferry landings, and a good number of the rest can be visited.
Villa del Balbianello has played a planet and a hospital. Its loggia stood in for Naboo in Star Wars and for a clinic in James Bond, which is why the view is more recognisable than the name.
The fashion houses still buy their silk from Como. The National Silk Institute keeps workshops and laboratories in the city, and the silk shops are priced for locals rather than for the runway.
Locals plan the day by two named winds, the Breva and the Tivano. The Breva blows up the lake by day and the Tivano comes down from the mountains at night, which is why the sailing clubs sit at the northern end.
Three in five Lake Como trips on Stippl also carry Milan. An hour of train and an airport are the whole explanation, and the gateway is why the lake gets two nights where the guides ask for four.
Local tips for Lake Como
Arrive by train at Varenna
Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino takes about an hour on a regional train, and the ferry to Bellagio leaves from the harbour a short walk below the station.
Buy the boat tickets early
Navigazione Laghi sells at every harbour and online; in season the ticket windows at Bellagio, Varenna and Como are the bottleneck, so buy the evening before.
Be at the dock early
Arrive 10 to 15 minutes before the sailing in Bellagio and Varenna, where several boats dock at once and extra unscheduled sailings are added when it gets busy.
Passenger boats run late
Delays of 30 to 45 minutes are normal at the busy docks because passenger boats share one berth; the car ferries have their own and keep better time.
Leave the car
The western shore road is single-lane in places, parking is scarce, time-limited and ticketed, and Varenna's public garage is full by mid-morning in season.
Two nights is the norm
Most travellers give Lake Como 2 nights on Stippl and only 9.1% give it four, so book the villa interiors before the room and let them set the days.
Lake Como questions, answered
Two or three for the villas and the ferry triangle without rushing, four to see the western shore properly. Most travellers give Lake Como 2 nights on Stippl, and 41.3% of stops are a single night, which is mostly spent on ferries. A day trip from Milan is possible, but an organised tour is the honest way to do three towns in one.
In the middle: Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio, Tremezzo or Lenno. From there every main stop is a 10 to 30 minute ferry, while from Como or Lecco the same crossing is a slow boat of one and a half to two hours. Varenna has the train, Bellagio the connections, and the western shore strip the villas and the quieter evenings.
Milan, then the lake: three in five Lake Como trips carry Milan, and the lake is planned about 95 days ahead in the Italy trips people build on Stippl. Put Milan, Varenna and Bellagio into Stippl with the ferry legs as days, then ask people who have done it, in subreddits like r/ItalyTravel, which shore they would base on.
Yes, and it is the better way. The train from Milan reaches Varenna in about an hour and Como in 40 minutes, the public ferries connect every town on the lake, and the shore roads are narrow, walled and short of parking. A car earns nothing once you have arrived and costs a garage space each night.
For beds, yes, and that is where it shows: Bellagio and Varenna are the dearest rooms on the lake, while Como, Lecco and Menaggio are not. The same pasta is twice the price on a harbour front as it is two streets back, and rooms are booked months rather than weeks ahead, because the season is short and the supply is thin.
The villas reopen in mid-March and the summer ferry timetable starts in late March, so mid-April to May is the first real window, with the rhododendrons at Villa Carlotta in late April. July is the month most travellers plan it for of everyone who plans Lake Como on Stippl, and by late October the villas start closing again.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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