I will be traveling to St. Gallen (Switzerland) in June for 10 days to visit my son. We are thinking of visiting the Lake Como region in northern Italy. We will be traveling by bus and train. Any suggestions of which towns to stay in that are easily accessible by public transportation? We really prefer small towns/cities and love to hike. Thanks for any suggestions.

Welcome, stephaniehaskins3318! My only experience was to the train station in Varenna (station name is 'varenna-esina') coming from Milan. It would be a huge surprise if there isn't a train from Switzerland. Others can help with firsthand info.

My hub and I took the ferry from Varenna to our base in Bellagio. Others can weigh in about hiking from Varenna.

A few years back I took the train from Zurich to Como, and then the ferry up the lake to Varenna. Highly recommended, although you could stay on the train to Milan and then take a train on to Varenna. You won't save anything by booking St. Gallen to Zurich early, but I paid only 10 CHF by booking Zurich to Como early.

All towns around Lake Comol are small, except Como and Lecco.
All can be reached from St. Gallen by train and bus, for example:

St. Gallen dp 8.07 - Zurich ar 9.21, dp 9.33 - Lugano ar 11.30, dp 11.50 - Menaggio (Lake Como) ar 12.54
More scenic itineraries:
via Splugen Pass: St. Gallen dp 7.25 - Chur 8.48/8.58 - Spluegen 9.52/10.20 - Chiavenna 12.20//12.43 - Colico (Lake Como) 13.15/13.37 - Varenna (Lake Como) ar 14.05
via Bernina Express: St. Gallen dp 6.39 - Chur 8.23/8.32 - Bernina Express - Tirano 12.49//13.08 - Varenna ar 14.35
via Bernina Pass (Standard train): St. Gallen dp 7.25 - Chur 8.48/8.58 - Samedan 10.45/10.48 - Tirano 13.00//13.08 - Varenna ar 14.35
There are much more eysy and perfectly signposted panoramic hiking trails around Lake Lugano than around Lake Como.

Thanks so much. This is very helpful information.

Hi Guys .. along the same lines, do we need a car to travel around lake como? Or it can be covered on foot and ferry?

You do not need a car. The lake towns can be visited via ferries.