kc3305

We will be staying on Lake Como 5 days, June 6 - 11. Obviously, Como is much larger and would have more restaurant, bar, entertainment options. As far as exploring the lake and its towns is there any real advantage in staying in Varenna for ferries, trips between towns, light hiking? I am having trouble finding affordable (110-110E) hotel options in Varenna and am not interested in an apartment. Would Como be a good replacement? Thanks.

Holly_uncasdewar

Most people here will tell you to not even consider Como as a base. I've stayed there a couple of times, and much prefer it to Bellagio or the other 100% tourist spots. It is a lovely, small Italian town, beautifully situated, and you can get to anywhere on the lake by boat.

traveller1959

Como is one of the most fascinating towns in Italy because its city plan is still 100 per cent Roman. It is a lively city with a life of its own, shops, restaurants, everything you want. And, as said, ferry connections to every other spot on Lake Como. Sailing from Como might take a bit longer than from Varenna which has a more central location on the lake, but being on the boat is part of the fun.

I agree that Bellagio is very, very touristy and overpriced. But you may also try other small towns on the lake with good ferry connections, like Tremezzo.

bvlenci

If you want any kind of night life at all, stay in Como.

bvlenci

There's more opportunity for hiking near Varenna, and that's the more scenic part of the lake, but you can get there by boat.

Touristy doesn't begin to describe Bellagio and Varenna.

NYCFoodSnob

<i><font color=#555555>"If you want any kind of night life at all, stay in Como."</font></i>

This sounds like advice from someone who hasn't been to any of the popular towns on Lake Como, especially at night. Of course, who knows what anyone means by "night life." However, I can assure you, in the month of June, there is plenty of late evening activity going on along the shore's hotspots in every popular town on Lake Como.

<i><font color=#555555>"Touristy doesn't begin to describe Bellagio and Varenna."</font></i>

Again, compared to what? June is high season in Italy. Good luck finding a popular location that doesn't have many tourists, in other words "touristy." No matter what month in high season, there is no town on Lake Como that ever feels like Florence or Rome.

Como is worth a visit, for sure. It's the biggest, most populated city on the lake, therefore its charms are limited. It will be a busy place in June with locals, and there will be plenty of tourists packing the streets. Of all the cities on the lake, Como offers the most commercial retail operations.

If you care about maximum beauty impact and peace and quiet, Como is not in the prettiest, most dramatic area of the lake, and it's a good travel distance to get to the middle of the lake, which is where the visual drama is.

Bellagio and Varenna offer differing versions of charm. Both should be experienced. Once you have experience in both places, it's easy to figure out which one is your favorite and why. I prefer staying in Varenna, but I always visit Bellagio. I love visiting Villa Melzi. But I actually think better food can be found in Varenna, if you know where to go. Varenna does not offer much in the way of retail shops. The last thing I think about when visiting Lake Como is shopping.

HappyTrvlr

The scenery mid-lake is much prettier with excellent ferry connections to a variety of towns. We also have enjoyed Como but I prefer to stay mid-lake.

tuscanlifeedit

I would prefer mid-lake (for scenery and faster ferry connections) to Como, but what about Menaggio? It is bigger than Varenna and may offer more variety in hotels?

Just a suggestion, but one I might pursue before settling on Como and the distance from the most scenic parts of the lake.

rbciao47

We've stayed in both Como and Varenna and we preferred Varenna. In Varenna we stayed at the Hotel Oliveda and the Hotel Tre Re in Como. The Varenna property was much nicer and the staff at both were terrific.

Como did have a fantastic gelatoria called the Gelatoria Larian on Via Cantu, 19 overlooking the lake.They present huge servings of awesome product. really first rate.

Buon viaggio,

vincenzo32951

I prefer Varenna -- nice little town with good train and ferry connections -- but if you're nighttime people who like to party late, Como might work better for you.

greg

Menaggio and Bellagio are also options for the mid-lake. Como is rather far from the areas that offer the reasons most people come to Lake Como in the first place. I looked at Varenna accommodations at booking.com, and I see that lower price options are no longer offered at this point in time. They needed to have been secured long ago. Meannagio and even Bellagio seem to have a few places left in your budget range and still very convenient to other mid-lake locations. The issue with Como as a base is that the public transports don't run much after 6pm to/from the mid-lake. Menaggio-Bellagio-Varenna are connected by frequent car ferries running past 9pm.

bvlenci

I've stayed in many Italian towns in tourist season, but nothing came close to Bellagio, where English speakers (mostly Americans) outnumbered everyone else by a ratio of about ten to one. I asked the owner of our hotel about it, and she said that "some Italians" come to Bellagio in August, but until then it's mostly Americans and English. There were also a few French, German, and Spanish tourists when we were there, as well as a fair number of Asian tourists. The only Italians I saw in the three days we were in Bellagio were in the service industry. We did see a few Italian tourists in Varenna, but they were rare birds there, too.

It's the only place in Italy where a waitress has ever asked us if we could speak English!! Her lack of Italian was obviously no bar to her employment.

As for the night scene, the first night we were in Bellagio, we ate at a restaurant downtown. After our meal, we wanted to get a taxi back to our hotel, which was a bit out of town, all uphill. The regular taxi service ends at around 8 or 9 PM, and all public transportation shuts down much earlier. We had to call a night taxi and wait about half an hour for it, because there was exactly one taxi covering the night duty. A British family was also trying to get a taxi, so we all piled into the single taxi and the driver took us to our respective hotels. On the subsequent nights we ate near the hotel so that we could walk back after the sidewalks were rolled up.

One sort of night activity we did notice, though. I don't know if there was a rally of some sort, but every night we were awakened several times by extremely high-decibel motorcycles revving it up on the hills and curves above the town.

I suppose that if you want to have an evening meal at a restaurant in a mid-lake towns, you'd better stay in the mid-lake area. However, you could also find good restaurants in Como, I'm sure, and have lunch in one of the mid-lake towns.

Holly_uncasdewar

If you're looking for views, Como also has a funicular. Not sure if any other towns on the lake have that.

kc3305

Thanks everyone for your replies. I finally found a budget hotel room in Varenna in my price range. It gets good reviews so I am satisfied. We will definitely take a day trip to Como and explore.