Hi - I've been researching and reading on this board and others and haven't been able find any specific info.

I wanted to know how convenient it is to be able to have a hotel near the train station in Como and be able to catch the hydrofoil to Bellagio. It seems like most people that stay in Como - have cars and drive around to the lake towns. Whereas, we will only be there for 1 night. We are flying into Milan and wanted to stop at the Lake Como region and then proceed onwards to Lucerne.

And I looked into going from Milan to Varenna - but it seems that you would have to go bakcwards to Milan on local trains in order to get to Lucerne. There is no direct train from Varenna. This would waste a lot of time for us.

So it seems we will HAVE to stay in Como (since we can get a train from Como to Lucerne). Out concerns were how easy is it to get a Hydrofoil, do they run frequently, how far is the port from town (can't find ANY maps of Como).

Please advise!

We took the lake cruise boat to Bellagio. They leave every few hours o so and leave from the park from Como and the schedules are posted there. It is very fun because the boat stops at several towns before Bellagio.

Any trip from Varenna to Lucerne by train in either direction will be LONG--but if you want a memorable route, you would take the train from there to Tirano, then the Bernina Express to Chur (best to overnight in Pontresina, St. Moritz or Chur to break up the trip) and then by train from Chur to Luzern. The Bernina Express is as scenic as it gets. Como itself is nothing special to stay in--you'd be better off in Varenna or Bellagio.

HH - You can find timetables for all Lake Como hydroils/ ferries on this link:

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/itali...indicecomo.htm

The port is in the centre of Como.
The main station (Como San Giovanni) is on the edge of town.
The two are about a mile apart - there is a bus service.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Just be aware that there are two boats that can take you to Bellagio. One only makes two or three stops before Bellagio and takes about 45 minutes. The other makes many stops and takes about two hours.....At least, that was the situation a couple years ago.

Yes it does help greatly! Thank