Visiting Lake Como, Italy’s Most Famous Lake

Lake Como, Lago di Como in Italian (locals also call it the Lario), was Italy’s most celebrated lake long before George Clooney bought his villa on the shore. Rich Romans built villas here. So did Milanese nobles in the 1700s and 1800s, and their gardens are still the main sights. The crowds aren’t new either: summer traffic jams on the lake roads go back decades.

There’s a reason for all of it. The lake is deep and narrow, walled in by mountains that drop straight into the water, with pastel villages stacked up the slopes. It’s Lombardy’s great escape: the Milanese come on weekends all year, and from spring to autumn they’re joined by visitors from everywhere else. Winter is quieter, but there isn’t a month when the lake is empty.

Plenty of savvy travelers read about the crowds and skip Lake Como altogether. I understand the reaction, but it’s a shame. With the right base, the right season and the ferries, you can enjoy the lake without getting swallowed by tour buses or needing a trust fund. My budget tips are below.

Lake Como Basics

You’ll find the lake in the north of Italy, in the Lombardy region, part of Italy’s lake district. It’s shaped like an upside-down “Y”: Como sits at the bottom of the left (southwest) branch, Lecco at the bottom of the right, and the two branches meet at Bellagio. It’s the third-largest lake in Italy, after Garda and Maggiore, and at over 400 meters deep, one of the deepest in Europe. It was carved by a glacier, and it’s narrow enough that you can see clearly across it almost everywhere.

The heart of the lake for visitors is the central lake, where Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and Tremezzo face each other across the water, a short ferry hop apart. If you only have a day or two, base yourself there.

Getting to Lake Como

• To Como town: Trains from Milano Centrale reach Como San Giovanni in under an hour; the station is a 15-minute walk from the center and the lake. Trenord trains from Milano Cadorna run to Como Nord Lago, which is right on the waterfront by the ferry piers and takes a little longer.
• To Varenna: Trenord regional trains from Milano Centrale run up the east shore on the line to Tirano, reaching Varenna-Esino in about an hour. Walk down to the ferry pier and you’re a 15-minute boat ride from Bellagio or Menaggio. This is the fastest way from Milan to the central lake, and the one I’d take. See getting from Malpensa airport to Varenna.
• To Bellagio and Menaggio: Neither has a train station. Take the train to Varenna and the ferry across, or take the boat up from Como. Buses run up the west shore from Como to Menaggio, but in summer the shore road is slow.

Check train times on trenord.it or trenitalia.com. Regional fares are fixed and cheap, so there’s no need to book ahead.

Getting Around: Take the Boat

Driving around Lake Como in summer is miserable. The shore roads are narrow, with tunnels, blind bends, tour buses and almost no parking in the villages. Leave the car behind.

The public ferries are run by Navigazione Laghi, a government agency, and they’re the best way to see the lake. There are three kinds: slow boats (battelli) that stop everywhere, faster hydrofoils and catamarans that cost more, and car ferries (traghetti) that shuttle across the central lake between Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and Cadenabbia. Fares go by distance. If you’re planning more than two or three hops in a day, buy a day pass for the central lake. Full timetables run from spring to early October, with a thinner service in autumn and winter. Current fares and timetables are on navigazionelaghi.it, and you can buy at the pier or online.

My tip: the slow boat from Como up to Bellagio takes a couple of hours, but it passes more villas and gardens than any tour. Go one way by boat and come back by fast boat or train.

The Best Towns on Lake Como

• Bellagio: The “pearl of the lake” sits on the point where the three branches meet, so it has water views in almost every direction. It’s beautiful, with stepped lanes climbing from the waterfront, and it’s the most crowded town on the lake from late morning to late afternoon, when the day boats come in. It’s pleasant year-round thanks to the mild lake climate. Lakefront hotels are expensive; you’ll find better deals a few streets uphill. (George Clooney’s villa, by the way, isn’t here. It’s in Laglio, on the west shore closer to Como, and you’ll see it only from a boat.) See hotels with a view on Lake Como.



• Como: The town that gives the lake its name sits at the bottom of the southwest branch. With about 80,000 people it’s the biggest town on the lake and a real city, with a fine cathedral, a walled old center, silk shops (Como has made silk for centuries) and a lakefront promenade out to Villa Olmo. Ride the funicular up to Brunate for the view down the lake. Como is the easiest day trip from Milan and has the widest range of places to stay, but it’s not on the central lake, so it’s not the best base for exploring.



• Menaggio: A small resort town on the west shore of the central lake, with a lively lakefront piazza, bits of old town wall and easy ferry links to Bellagio and Varenna. It’s also the gateway to Lake Lugano and Switzerland by bus. It’s the budget traveler’s favorite, because it’s home to the Lake Como Hostel La Primula, with dorms and private rooms a short walk from the water. (Como has a hostel too, Ostello Bello Lake Como.)



• Tremezzo: Just south of Menaggio and across from Bellagio, Tremezzo is known for its villas and above all their gardens. The star is Villa Carlotta, finished in 1745, now a museum with sculpture by Canova and paintings by Hayez, and a huge botanical garden that’s at its best in April and May when the azaleas and rhododendrons bloom. It opens seasonally, roughly spring to autumn, so check the dates. Tremezzo is now part of the merged comune of Tremezzina, which also includes Lenno, the jumping-off point for Villa del Balbianello, the FAI-run villa on a wooded point that you’ll recognize from film sets. Book it ahead on the FAI site.



• Varenna: On the east shore, across from Bellagio. Varenna is smaller and a bit less polished than its neighbors, which is exactly its charm: a tight cluster of pastel houses, a lakeside walkway, villa gardens, and a castle, the Castello di Vezio, above town with views up and down the lake. It has the train station, which makes it the most practical base on the lake. It’s no secret any more, and the waterfront gets packed in summer, but in the evening, once the day-trippers leave, it’s magic. Most places to stay are up the hill from the water, so expect a climb; you’ll be rewarded with the view.

Other names worth knowing: Cernobbio, the smart town just north of Como; the Isola Comacina, Lake Como’s only island, off Ossuccio; and, for walkers, the Greenway del Lago di Como, an easy, signposted path between the villages of the west shore, and the Sentiero del Viandante, an old mule track along the hills of the east shore through Varenna.

Lake Como on a Budget

Now, for those of you who (like me) won’t hand over all your hard-earned money for one night in a luxury lakeside villa, but still want to see the lake, here’s what to think about.

1. Do it as a day trip. You give up the early-morning and late-evening calm, but you never have to look at a lakefront hotel bill. From Milan, take the early train to Varenna, hop across to Bellagio and Menaggio by ferry, and be back in Milan for dinner. If you’re staying in Milan for a while, go twice and see different shores.
2. Go in the shoulder or low season. The lake is busy all year, but Bellagio in March costs far less than Bellagio in August. April, May, late September and October are my favorite times: gardens in bloom or autumn light, full-ish ferry timetables and saner prices. In deep winter it’s cheapest of all, and the weather is mild compared with the rest of the north, but many hotels and restaurants close from November to March and the boats run less often.
3. Stay in a less famous town. Instead of Bellagio or Como, look at the smaller villages: Lenno, Ossuccio or Argegno on the west shore, or Bellano and Dervio north of Varenna on the east shore, which has the train line. The famous towns are a short boat or train ride away, and you won’t pay a premium just to say you slept in Bellagio.
4. Skip the lake view. The view out the window is what lakefront hotels charge for. Most lake towns have a center just a short walk from the water, so a room one street back gets you all the scenery for less. Unless you plan to spend your vacation on the balcony, it’s not worth what they charge.
5. Picnic and use the boats as your tour. Buy lunch at a salumeria or bakery, eat on a lakeside bench, and let a day pass on the ferries be your sightseeing cruise. It’s the best-value day on the lake.

Whatever you book, budget for the tourist tax, which most Lake Como towns charge per person per night on top of the room rate.

original photos, from top to bottom, by: paolo màrgari, ezioman, paolo màrgari, crazbabe21, xrrr, Tania Ho, Aconcagua, Luca Zappa