We were at Lake Como for one day (two years ago). We are now planning to go back to Italy and hope to spend about five days in Varenna. ?Does anyone have opinions on which of the smaller lakeside towns are worth a visit? (we plan to do Varenna, Menagio, Bellagio, Colico, Lecco and Como - of course and Bergamo by car).

Thanks

Also spend some time at Villa Carlotta, in Tremezzo. Also some of the views in Ossuccio look beautiful. That's a two-minute drive from Lecco, or a short walk from there, but not a good stretch of road to walk on. I was there only about two minutes.

We just returned from 2 weeks at a villa in Bellagio and loved Lake Como. Bellagio is worth spending lots of time in. Como is nice, but very busy. There is an excellent Sat. morning local market there. We had a car and found the driving experience to be excellent, but the ferry service on Lake Como is also a great way to get around. Very reliable, on time and not expensive. We took a rapid hydro foil boat to the Como market. Varenna is a lovely town. We drove to Bergamo and got in a horrendous traffic jam both ways! If you have any specific questions, let me know.

The Orrido di Bellano is weirdly interesting, and there's a ferry boat stop in Bellano. http://www.larioonline.it/territorio...no/orrido.html


best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

http://www.straughan.com

Very interesting, Deirdre... but second in priority to Villa Balbianiello, no?

A true "must-visit"...

FWIW, we enjoyed Menaggio - - but is your question about which destinations are worth taking your car to? I wouldn't bother with the (potentially double) ferry ride needed to get your car from Varenna to Menaggio. You can walk around Menaggio adequately.

Best wishes,

Rex

I don't have my map (the list of towns on Lake Como) with me here at the office, but most of the answers were on point (thanks guys).

While there seem to be about about a dozen and a half towns where the ferry (and boats) stop. Gravedona (?Spelling?) and on. Other than the big six towns, I was looking for someone else's experience as to what towns to try and stop at and what towns don't have a lot for the tourist to see.

Thaks