One day in Lake Como - where to go and what to see
 

My family will visit Italy in late July. We will have one day left at the end of our 10 days in Italy before we fly home from Milan. After reading some posts here, Lake Como sounds like a good place to fill our day because of its proximity to Milan.

Is it possible to do a quick tour of Lake Como in one day? What places or towns are a must? We will have a car, but is taking a boat a better way to enjoy the scenery?

Thanks for advices.

I would take a ferry or fast boat to Bellagio from the city of Como, on Lake Como. The city of Como is just a busy town on the lake, but the boat ride and Bellagio are great, especially if the weather is good. PS Give yourself plenty of time to get to the Milan airport. For some reason, we always get lost.

I second Bellagio and the ferry. Bellagio is charming and has some nice restaurants and plenty of cute shops to leisurely wander through. And if you want to check out another town you can pop back on the ferry and go over to nearby Varenna on the way back to Como. Taking the ferry will give you the added dimension of the beauty of place. (we took a high speed, enclosed ferry btwn Como and Bellagio, but to other small towns nearby we took an open ferry where you could walk around outside and better enjoy the view. So, the high speed ferry may help to optimize your time as needed)

I did Como Town and Bellagio last year in one day.

As others have said, Como Town is just nice. The cathedral is worth the stop.

Bellagio is beautiful. It's crowded with tourists, but that doesn't take away the charm.

My husband and I will be in the lakes region the last week of September. Will Bellagio be likely to be crowded then? I'd rather avoid the crowds - should we stay in Varenna, or is there a better plac eon another lake? I'm really looking forward to ending our trip in a relaxed/outdoor fashion!

Thanks all for your fast and informative responses. I have a follow-up question. Do I need to make reservations for the ferry, esp the fast one? Anyone has a link?

Thanks again.

Probably another question: I assume I should park my car in Town Como. Is it easy to find a parking space? Thanks.

Relaxing? Stay in Lenno. We were there in October, stayed in an absolutely lovely, well-run hotel called Albergo Lenno. Our room's windows framed a view of the lake, which was no more than a few hundred yards from the hotel (which has its own ferry landing.) Google the name and get their website. I have nothing but raves for the place. Quiet, uncrowded, but not dead-feeling...more like the feeling of a low-key village on a spectacularly beautiful lake -- which it is!

LucieV - Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's exactly the recommendation I have been looking for!

-Beth

http://www.albergolenno.com/inglese/
I can't say enough good things about it. Suffice it to say: we initially had only two nights booked, at the beginning of our 3-week trip. Once there, we hastily rearranged our itinerary so that we could return for 2 more nights at the end of our trip. ((L))

Do keep in mind: this is a very tiny village. One cafe, 3 or 4 restaurants, a couple of hotels. VERY low-key, at least when we were there in October. In the mornings, we'd wander down to the cafe and have cappuccino while watching jeans-and-t-shirted young mothers (albeit relatively well-to-do young mothers!) hanging out with their little ones, gossiping, relaxing, playing. Very homey.

Lucie,

Any chance you know of hiking trails in the area? Were other towns on the lake accessible by public transportation from Lenno? I already sent the hotel an email and they replied with openings! It sounds wonderful.

-Beth

Found the ferry website:

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/com/nlc_ora.html

Bethie, I'm sorry, I can't answer that. We did a ton of walking while we were there, but not trail-walking.

However, if you do end up staying at Albergo Lenno, the receptionists all speak perfect English, and they are very knowledgeable and helpful (more so than many other places we've stayed.)

Even if you decide not to stay there, I'm sure that they'd be willing to answer questions by email. It's that kind of place. :)

http://www.albergodulac.com/index.html

Bethie, We stayed at the above hotel in Varenna in 2005. It had a gorgeous view of the lake. We also did some hiking up to a castle ruin - very cool! We also hiked to the shortest river in Italy - Fumelatte. The hotel was quiet - we had one of our best meals in all of Italy there - a VERY small restaurant called Cavatappi - the hotel refered us there. http://www.ilcavatappiwine-food.it/dove.htm I think there were only 4 tables.

We took the ferry over to Bellagio, walked around there and also took a tour of the lake and visited Villa Balbainello.

This is the prettiest region I have seen - including Lake Orta.

Mikki, I will check out Varenna. Thank you so much for your response. The restaurant looks delicious!!!

-B