Hi -

We're staying in Alba (Piemonte) for a few days and then are thinking of going to Lake Como for a couple days. We'll have a car in Alba - should we keep it and drive from there to Lake Como and then just return the car at the end of our trip in Milan? It'll be my, my husband and my 2 year old son so I was thinking it might be good to keep the car for the whole trip instead of doing train/bus changes. Thoughts?

Yes keep the car but boats on Lake Como are much nicer than driving and a 2-yr-old may be thrilled by them - a day's boat pass takes you everywhere of interest - places like Bellagio that are hard to drive to (actually park in).

But I think traveling to Lake Como by car with a two-year-old is better than taking trains with perhaps multiple changes of train.

I agree. As long as you sort out parking with your hotel, the car can be an asset, as it will allow you to take drives into the mountains on the west side of the lake. Where is your hotel located?
We had a car with us when we stayed in Menaggio; it also allowed us to reach restaurants a bit off the beaten path. But that might be a non-issue for you, traveling with a young child.

We don't have a hotel booked yet - reaching out to places today. Any recommendations?

Hotel Bellevue in Bellagio has parking and large grounds for your child to run around. It would be difficult with a small child to get to Lake Como from Alba without a car. Once you arrive, park the car and use the ferry system to travel around the lake to various towns.

HappyTrvlr - I'm having trouble finding the website for that hotel because google keeps changing it to Belvedere and when i change the search back to Bellevue it shows that its not in Bellagio but in Cadenabbia. Do you have a link handy?

Car on Lake Como makes sense, but I would avoid Bellagio that is accessed by long and curvy drives. Stick to the west or east side of the lake. Bellagio can always be visited by ferry.

What's on the west or east side? I keep reading about both Varenna and Bellagio. What are other good areas to stay?

With a car, stay on the west shore---Menaggio or Lenno.
The Albergo Lenno is hard to beat.

Frankly, coming from Piemonte ,and with a kid, I would pick Stresa on Lago Maggiore. Easier to get to and easier logistics.

The hotel in Bellagio is the Belvedere.

If you'd like an apartment, look at Residence La Limonera in the middle of Bellagio which has parking and open play space.

http://www.residencelalimonera.com/r...ce-la-limonera

The Albergo du Lac in Varenna has parking, but there is a charge.

http://www.albergodulac.com/

The drive to Stresa would be about 45 minutes shorter. Stresa is also closer to Malpensa.