We will be spending 5 days in the Lake Como area in June and we were interested in ideas on whether we should stay at the Grand Hotel Menaggio or the Royal Victoria in Varenna. This is our first trip to the area and we will not have a car but we want to see the surrounding area including a trip into Switzerland. Thanks a lot for sharing you experiences.

I have heard the Grand Hotel Menaggio mentioned on this forum (favorably as I recall). The Royal Victoria in Varenna I do not remember as well. With a litttle time you research both of these on this forum.

I would advise booking quickly as Lake Como hotels do get full during the summer (We're goig in early June).

The Grand Hotel Menaggio (as opposed to the Grand Hotel <b> Victoria </b> Menaggio is well-located next to the ferry dock and a very short walk to the main &quot;square&quot; of Menaggio. I am not sure if it is air conditioned or not but at that time this may not be an issue. The place looks very nice on the outside and the public rooms are nice also. The pool overlooks the lake.

Will top this so others can comment.

I like the GH Menaggio--good choice. The location is perfect next to the ferry dock, and you can easily bus to Lugano from there.

I would not pick Royal Victoria in Varenna. We had a very bad experience with them, if you do a search here you will find my other posts about this hotel. To not rewrite the whole story, we made reservations 6 months in advance for my 50th birthday, reserving a nice room with balcony, we really wanted a swimming pool to relax by, blahblahblah, and 2or3 weeks before we were to arrive, they sent an email with a long draw out story and were cancelling our reservation, offering us a room at their other hotel, which actually I think was the Grand Hotel Menaggio but not sure, at double the price, $400. After many emails both in english and italian, they wouldn't budge BUT offered us a free lunch if we wanted to stop by...you must be kidding. Later, we found out that the Grand Prix was that weekend and they had a group coming in for it and they just flat out got rid of us. I can't say enough bad things about their tactics. One of their stories was that they had lost electriciy during a storm and had lost my reservation...well if that happened how did they still have my email address to contact me and know which days they wanted to cancel...please, stay somewhere else. I hear the Hotel du Lac in Varenna is very nice.

I've actually stayed in the DuLac and I agree it is very nice. Some people do not like Varenna as much as Bellagio because they feel the town gets dead at nightfall; there did seem to be more nighttime activity over in Bellagio when we were there.

I stayed at the DuLac in Varenna last summer and it is VERY nice. But Intrepid is right that Varenna is dead at night. Very dead. I also think Menaggio would be easier to get into Switzerland, but I'm not sure about that.

We stood at the Grand Hotel Mennagio in 06/03 for 3 nights. It was nice and close to the ferry dock.
But next time we're going to try the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. We passed it quite a few times going back and forth around Lake Como.
Convenience wise, the Grand Hotel Mennagio is probably better without a car.

Varenna vs. Menaggio and getting to Switzerland: there is frequent (I believe) bus service from menaggio into Switzerland. Were you to decide to stay over in Varenna this would mean taking the ferry over to Menaggio (that takes between 10-15 minutes for the actual ferry ride) first. You can walk from the DuLac in Varenna to the ferry dock there (certainly less than 1/2 hour to do that I would think) and then in Menaggio I believe the busses leave from what I call the &quot;main square&quot; area which is about a five-10 minute walk (max) from the ferry dock there.

The DuLac affords great views of the lake but so do all the hotels thus far mentioned provided you get a lake-view room.

Don't know what your budget or &quot;level of luxury&quot; requirements are but another hotel in Menaggio is the BellaVista..a few minutes walk from the GH Menaggio and probably not as expensive. I have eaten there several times but only viewed the rooms and they seem a bit more &quot;rustic&quot; (knotty pine panelling, etc.) than those over at the DuLac or in the GH Menaggio.

Have a great trip as the lake area is very relaxing.

The Varenna train line extends north to St Moritz. If that is too far, on the way are mountainous sections tourists get off at just past the Swiss border. IIRC it is something like the steepest rail line on earth without cogs, and has sections that spiral in on itself.

I hear the Swiss postal bus from Menagio to Lugano requires reservations. Smart folks will get off at pretty Gandria and take the stunning shorewalk to Lugano; it goes thru an olive grove that the Swiss are so proud of that interpretive signs abound.

Thank you very much for the help, we will share our experiences when we return. We will probably stay in Menaggio and I will start looking into side trips into Switzerland. Thanks again and please add more comments if you think of any other information we can use.

I guess taking the Swiss Postal bus in the opposite direction from Menagio can also hook you up to the train line to St Moritz (at Tirano?). I don't recall the travel time, but it is amazingly cheap overnight during warm months and offers a more classic Swiss mountain experience (I love it most at night, watching the town lights sparkle from across their little lake nestled in the peaks).

In the other direction, although Gandria is almost a clone of Varenna and Lugano has a pretty flowered waterfront, it is essentially like more of the same from your Italy lake base (but higher prices, less architectural charm, and worse food - don't even try the Swiss attempts at Italian gelato).

We stayed at the Bella Vista in Menaggio. It had spectacular views and a fairly convenient location...but if I had to do it over again, I would spend a little extra and stay at the Grand Hotel. Looked like it was worth it.

Great gelato stand at the &quot;town square&quot; in Menaggio; also an ATM right next to it. Several restaurants where you can eat outside with views of the lake. We also had a nice meal at a restaurant called &quot;Lario&quot; which is near the BellaVista hotel.

<b>Intrepid1:</b>
Would you believe...I have a shot from that gelato stand.

http://image09.webshots.com/9/1/52/7...4IiAwwI_fs.jpg

Uh, I hate to tell you this but I think that shot is from somewhere besides Menaggio..or is my memory too foggy. Great picture, though!

Yikes, I pasted the wrong image URL. Here you go...

http://image09.webshots.com/9/2/92/7...5LAphkS_fs.jpg

That other shot was Luzern (from a different thread, sorry).