lake como on budget
 

Hi all,

I'm looking to spend just under a week in lake como and was wondering if anyone could suggest a buget/mid-range hotel.
I'm looking to spend less than 100 eur per nite and am looking for somewhere close to a train station as I will need to get there from Bergamo and also plan on a couple of day trips to swiss regions.

thanks in advance.
m
p.s. any resturant tips would be g8 too!

I'm sure others here will give you specifics. Unless you are staying in the town/city of Como itself I would think you'd want to consider staying in Varenna (which has the train station) or across the lake in Menaggio or Bellagio (each of these are about 10-15 minute ferry rides from Varenna). Varenna might be your best bet for more budget accommodations..although you do not say when you want to visit...that might be helpful. If you can, cehck out Rick Steves' guidebook..he gives some recommendations which may be helpful...or you might do a search here..I think you have to type Varenna and hotel. Hope this helps some.

I would suggest staying in either Varenna on the east shore or Menagio on the west shore to be in the mid-lake area. In Varenna look at Albergo Olivedo, and in Menagio look at Hotel Bellavista--both are very close to the boat docks.

I've eaten at the Bellavista's restaurant twice...very nice and great lake view from the outer portion. The rooms seemed nicely decorated (we asked to see one). Across the street from the hotel is another restaurant, I think it is called the Lario, where we also had a good meal. There are several other restaurants in Menaggio where we ate but I cannot remember the names.
Thanks, Bob, your post reminded me of these details.

Thanks for the reponse.

In terms of the size of Menaggio would you say Menaggio is bigger or smaller than Bellagio.

I'd also recommend Varenna. The train station is there and it's a short boat ride over to explore Bellagio. Hotel Olivedo looked nice but I'm sure you can find others within your price range by searching this board and others. Good luck!

Although I would agree with the above posts re staying elsewhere on the lake, if you decide to stay in the town of Como, the following is within your budget and, having stayed there twice, I would recommend it:
http://www.albergofirenze.it/en-af.htm

Varenna has less than a thousand inhabitants and Menaggio and Bellagio are about the same size--around 3000. If Bellavista rates are around 100 euros per night, that would be a very good place. has pool and is right in the middle of things in menaggio. great food. Try the pesto pasta followed by their osso buco. my favorite Italian meal.

In terms of number of people, the commune of Menaggio is actually the largest of the three "towns"...not sure really what the "commune" thing means but in terms of geographic spread Menaggio is much MUCH larger than Varenna or Bellagio...the part of Menaggio people usually see is the area along the lakefront, but there is much more to it. I think the restaurant possibilities in menaggio are probably somewhat more varied than in Varenna...and it is a bit easier to navigate in Menaggio in terms of walking in relatively flat areas...Varenna is somewhat more up and down.
I have not stayed in Como so cannot comment on it. One nice thing about the so-called "mid-lake" area is that you can easily get to several other close-by places within a few minutes by ferry; the railroad connection in Varenna, the scenery at this part of the lake is, from what others have said, about as good as it gets. Enjoy your trip..was just there in May and wish I were going back already.

I'll chime in on Varenna being a good bet, location-wise, for Lake Como. I couldn't say what type of accomodations one could find for less than 100 Euro/night.
While we did not stay at Hotel Olivedo (we were at the very nice Hotel du Lac, around 200 Euro/night), we had dinner at the Olivedo's restaurant one evening, probably the worst experience of a great 17-day Italy vacation in May. For some stupid reason, we didn't just get up and leave when the "hostess", a severe-looking, unfriendly woman who whose face would have splintered into a thousand pieces had she cracked a smile, began by rattling off the few items that were "available". Three or four appetizers, three or four entrees, three or four sides. Never even offered us a menu, even though one was posted outside. We were very hungry, and the place had been recommended by the bartender at our hotel, so we hung in there...big mistake. The waitress who served us was every bit as stone-faced and harsh as her boss had been.
The food was barely mediocre, portions were puny, and to add insult to injury, the prices were at least 50% higher than the excellent Il Cavatappi where we had dined the previous night.
If the service at the hotel is anything like the restaurant, you'd be better off going elsewhere.

I too want to chime in on Varenna and the Olivedo. The owner Laura can seem well..abrupt, and normally I'm overly sensitive to that sort of thing, but after watching, I realize she's got a certain way she does things and that's it. Personally, she is one of my warmest and strongest memories of my several trips to Europe.She does smile and during my stay never failed to say hello to me by name as I came and went. Personally I really liked the food, but some dishes are much better then others. The hotel is old and the floors creaky. I had a great (and large) single that overlooked the lake w/half board for 75 bucks a day. Most rooms share a bathroom in the hall, but all rooms have sinks. Anyway, though small, Varenna is one of my favorite places to just relax. For day trips the ferry is literally steps away from the hotel and the train station less then a quarter mile. The Olivedo has a website.

Hi. I've been following this discussion, because I have to watch my budget when I travel, too. I consistently hear good things about Varenna, so I think that's where I'll go when I finally drag myself away from Lago Maggiore.

But I notice that matte1 lists daytrips into Switzerland as part of the to-do list. I wonder if anyone might mention a couple of possibilities from Varenna? I know it is an easy thing to venture into Switzerland from Menaggio; does the boatride from Varenna make it impractical? J.

JMW - Not impractical at all.
Varenna is only a 10-min. boat ride from Menaggio, from where there is a regular bus to Lugano (1 hour). With an early start you could go onward to Bellinzona & Locarno.

From Varenna you can also get up to S. Moritz and the Engadin Valley in Switz, either by the famous Bernina Express train ride from Tirano or by bus via Chiavenna. It makes a very scenic round trip ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Thanks, Steve!

Thank you all for your response.

Now I'm kinda stuck as my sister who is travelling with me in Aug would prefer to stay in Stresa so that we can go to mont. Mottarone. I on the other hand didn't want to spend too much time unpack and re-pack :-(

So we're going to split our time between the two.