purplefish

has anyone taken a boat tour around lake como. we'd like to be able to go around the lake and stopover and view some of the villas on the lake. would appreciate any feedback and how much it would cost. is it worth hiring a private boat or is the public boat sufficient. would a tour guide be worth it.

Patrick

I'm not sure why you would take a private tour. The many ferries run constantly and there are various passes available that let you take them at will for the day. We spent four days doing just that and had a ball visiting other towns and villas on no particular schedule.

purplefish

We'd prefer to use transportation that can be tailored to our schedule. We only have half a day to visit one or two villas and want to avoid waiting too long for the next ferry to come by. We'd also like to be able to freely go around the lake without having to consider if there is a ferry that stops directly in tne villa we want to visit. Unless the cost of the boat tour is quite prohibitive then we would prefer a vehicle that is at our disposal and convenience.

rex

Since this question will &quot;float&quot; through the forum here, independent of your related question - - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34404917 - - I thought I would add this link to connect this question to that one.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

HowardR

If you only have a half a day, you really don't have time for a boat tour around the lake and stops at several sites.<BR>Where are you staying nd what time of the year are you going? For example, if your base is Bellagio and you'll be there in-season, there are frequent ferries that will take you to Varenna and other towns. In Varenna, you can just walk around this charming little town and visit the gardens at Villa Monastero. Another option is a ferry to tour Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo. <BR>I have no idea about the costs or availability of boats for private tours. Since you say you only have half a day, that seems to be the choice you should make to make the most of your brief stay.

Alice_Twain

On the other hand, the ferries run very frequently (at least once every hour), thus you might be able too see something this way. Yet, if I had such a short time, I would rather take the funicolare up to Brunate, a tiny village overlooking Como and the Lake in less than ten minutes (http://www.geocities.com/funicolarecomobrunate/).

purplefish

Thank Rex for linking this to question to my other post. I guess I should have mentioned from the start that I am interested in seeing 2 villas in particular...Villa Balbianello and Villa Carlotta. We are staying in Bellagio area for 1 night 3rd week of march. We will arrive before lunch and will most likely leave before lunch the next stay. We would like to see the 2 villas in the afternoon and that is what I meant when I said that we only have half a day to allocate for seeing the vila/boat tour. The other consideration is that I've read Villa Balbianello is only accessible by boat so I'm not sure if there are ferries that will drop me right there.

HowardR

Villa Carlotta is an easy trip from Bellagio. Take the ferry from there to Cadenabbia and it's a short walk to Villa Carlotta in the next town.<BR>I believe you have to take a private boat to get to Villa Barbianello.<BR>If you have time, I would again recommend taking the ferry to Varenna and visiting Villa Monastero and walking around the town.