My friend and I are planning to visit the Lake Como area next June, specifically June 11 through 17. I am requesting your help in finding the best place to stay. Many places are already fully booked! We are looking for a place with a nice outdoor area with a view of course. Hotel or B&B is OK. We will not have a car so we need to be able to walk to restaurants, ferries, etc. We are in good health and able to climb stairs without issue. We just want a nice comfortable place to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery. This part of our trip is going to be a slower pace.

If you have recommendations I would love to hear them. Up to 150E per night is our goal but would consider more if the place was just right. Please help if you have a favorite place in this area. Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio are all Ok.

Thanks

I really like Varenna on Lake Como. The first time we were at the Villa Cipressi. Even though I had not booked a room with a view, we still had one. The grounds are very beautiful and it is a five minute easy walk to the shore. The next few times in Varenna, I booked an airbnb but even though we had more space, I still preferred Villa Cipressi.

The period between Whitsuntide and early July is low season. It's almost impossible to find hotels which are really fully booked.

It's possible that you're getting 'no availability' replies because many/most of the hotels in the popular tourist towns are closed for the season. If you search on booking.com, you'll find lots of options for your dates. You could make a reservation on this website that is cancellable, and then continue your search after the holidays.

We also like Varenna. It has fewer restaurant choices but more things to do/see besides shopping. We've stayed at the Albergo du Lac which has wonderful views from its terrace and some rooms, is a short walk to the ferry dock and a slightly longer walk to the train station.

In Bellagio, there are many hotels with lake and mountain views, more restaurants and lots of shopping. We've stayed at the Hotel Florence and the Hotel Belvedere which have lake views from some rooms. The Florence is located on the lakefront road a short walk from the ferry dock. The Belvedere is in the hills above the town, has great views but is a longer walk (uphill going 'home') from the dock.

Wait until the new year. Then read the latest scores and reviews on booking.com

Thanks for the advise. I'll keep looking.

Also wanted to ask those of you have been to the area if 5 nights is enough time to devote here. Could possibly add a day if needed.

5 nights would be more than enough for me but others may say no - on poor weather days you could day trip by train to Milan. Bellagio is an incredible mob scene all day - ferries come in an ejaculate tons of day trippers overrunning the small 'fishing' village where the angling now is more for the tourist dollar than the day's catch. Menaggio I thought was really neat and Varenna too.

It depends on what you plan to do, but 5 full days would be heaven to me. Mid-week days in Bellagio may not be quite what PalenQ describes. June is not quite as popular as July, August or September. If the weather is good, the weekend days will be more crowded. Last year, there was a heat wave during your dates (82-90F), but historical averages are in the low 70s.

After leaving Lake Como I have 3-4 days before returning home. We will have already been to Milan. Any suggestions for something easily accessible by train? We will be returning to Milan for departure home?

Bologna is a sweet old town and good base and not far by train from Milan. For lots on Italian trains and where to go check www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. Venice would easily be possible too by train or if like lakes, Stresa and Lake Maggiore are also neat and have direct buses to Malpensa Airport.

For me five nights would be three too many, but I know others love the place. For me, it wasn't so much the crowds. The scenery was very nice, but other than visiting villas and shopping, neither of which interests me much, there wasn't much to do there. It didn't help that there was a heat wave when we were there, which put a damper on ideas of hiking. A glut of mediocre and overpriced restaurants, and sidewalks that rolled up at 9 PM.

Switzerland is also only a short train ride from Como or bus ride from Menaggio - to Lucerne - nice area to spend 3-4 days or ditch a few days from Lake Como and spend a week in the Swiss Alps at Interlaken and have easy train access back to Milan.

Thanks for the suggestions. Here's what we have so far.

3 nights Milan
5 nights Lake Como
4 nights Bologna with a day trip somewhere
Last night in Milan to leave for home

Sound OK?

LAKE COMO - SWITZERLAND
If you stay along Lake Como, the most obvious places to visit in Switzerland are:
Lugano: 1 hr by bus from Menaggio
Swissminiatur: 30 min by boat from Lugano
Tamaro Park: 20 min by train from Lugano
Medieval castles of Bellinzona: 25 min by train from Lugano
Copy of the Last Supper at Capriasca: 15 min by bus from Lugano
Monte San Salvatore (viewpoint): 10 min by rope railway from Lugano
Monte Bre (viewpoint): 20 min by rope railway from Lugano
Monte Generoso (viewpoint): 1 hr by train and cog wheel railway from Lugano, 1 hr 20 min by train and cog wheel railway from Como
Sils-Maria: 3 hrs by train and bus from Varenna
Corvatsch Glacier: 4 hrs by train, bus and gondola from Varenna
Diavolezza Glacier: 3 1/2 hrs by train and gondola from Varenna
Pontresina: 3 1/2 hrs by train from Varenna
Lucerne: 3 1/2 hrs by bus and train from Menaggio
Brunnen/Lake Lucerne: 3 1/4 hrs by bus and train from Menaggio
Stoos (steepest rope railway of the world): 4 hrs by bus and train from Menaggio

Yes sounds OK though to me and some 5 days in Lake Como is a bit much. Great day trip from Bologna goes to Ravenna and its very famous mosaics. Parma and Mantua are really neat too and lots others - Florence is just an hour away by train.

Yes, your plans sounds very good. Once we spent two weeks on Lake Como and never ran out of things to see or do. We bought ferry passes and explored the whole lake. Bologna is another great choice, enjoy it all.

Stay away from Bellagio as a bse IMO and find some other town not totally overrun by tourists! Take a ferry to Bellagio for a look maybe but I did not see much there there to linger long - main port area elbow to elbow when I was there in October!

Yes, stay away from accommodation in Bellagio. We stayed in Varenna and loved it. We stayed at the Hotel du Lac, of course there are hotel du lacs in every village! Day tripping on the ferries and seeing the gardens and villas was great.

We never were bothered with crowds in four visits to Bellagio. But, we didn't stay down by the ferry boats that offload tourists. I need more restaurant choices than Varenna offers but it is a sweet little town.

I stayed in Lake Como for a fortnight and didn't run out of things to do although admittedly it included some day trips elsewhere.