Lake Como for 4 nights
 

Hi,
For the first part of our Italian leg of our Europe holiday we plan on spending 4 nights in Lake Como (this will be beginning of June). We will not have a car in this area and plan to arrive on train (via Milan). Can you please advise the best area to look for accommodation in this area if we are wanting to rely on walking and public transport, Would it be best to base ourselves in the actual town of Como, or are there other villages that people would recommend? It will be myself and boyfriend and we will look for a self catering rental or B&B.
Thanks for your help!

Would highly recommend Varenna, based on a four day stay last August. The town is small but well served with hotels and restaurants, plus great ferry connections to all the popular spots in the central lake area.
We stayed at the Hotel Olivedo, right on the lake shore at the ferry dock. The hotel is a little on the quaint side and the owner/proprietress is a law unto herself but we loved the place.
The train service from Milano Centrale via Lecco is quite regular and the station is about a half mile (downhill) walk to the hotel.
We found plenty to do in Varenna itself - Villa Monastero, walks on the Sentiero del Viandante - while the ferries deliver you to other places of interest like Bellagio and Villa Carlotta in no time.

I stayed in Bellagio which seemed to offer more restaurants and shops than other mid-lake towns. The ferries don't run late at night so you need to have access to restaurants for dinner. The ferry system is good and you can get to other towns for exploration very easily. I'd prefer a smaller town rather than Como City. If you stay in Bellagio be sure to have dinner at least one night at Bilacus.

To get to Bellagio, take the train from Milan to Varenna and walk down to the ferry dock for the ferry to Bellagio.

Agree with SeeDee completely. Varenna is a wonderful place to stay on Lake Como. The only place the train stops in the wonderful center of the lake (where ferries run frequently between Mennagio, Bellagio and Varenna) as well as making longer runs to places like Villa Carlotta, Lenno with the lovely Villa Balbianello, and, of course, goes all the way to Como--not my favorite place on the lake, just not as scenic as the rest. I think you can find lots of self-catering rentals in the Varenna area (though you'll want to be sure to be fairly close to the city itself) as well as in Menaggio and Bellaggio, both of which can be reached from Varenna easily by ferry.

If you do a search on this site for Lake Como you should find a wealth of information. To start you out here's a link to some pictures we took on a recent trip--heavy on food, as always for us, but with some good views of the views of Lake Como from Hotel du Lac in Varenna where we stayed there.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1066089...Lsi4v4g4yQgQE#

We think Lake Como and indeed the Northern Italian Lakes in general, one of the most scenic destinations we've ever been to.

Julie - Loved your photos, and post concerning your stay in Varenna at the Hotel du Lac. I'll be there in April - same hotel - can't wait!

I would say either Varenna or Bellagio, but where are you heading to after Lake Como? FYI, Bellagio will be more crowded than Varenna on weekends.

I've also enjoyed staying at the du Lac in Varenna. And the Hotel Florence in Bellagio.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions on this one, its been really helpful:-)
Found a nice little place near Varenna!