A guide around Lake Como
Lake Como, Lago di Como in Italian, in Northern Italy’s Lombardy region, is an upscale area. The area is popular by Italians who have a summer home here. Also many tourists visit Lake Come each year since it is just an hour drive from Milan. Lake Como does have a reputation for being one of the more expensive destinations in Italy. This is partly due to popularity. The towns are quite small, with only a few hotels and restaurants, so the demand is high.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for wealthy people since Roman times, and many celebrities and A-listers own or have owned villas on its shores, such as George Clooney, Madonna, Richard Branson, Sylvester Stallone, Gianni Versace and Ronaldinho, just to mention a few. However, you don’t need to spend like a Hollywood celebrity to enjoy Lake Como. Here’s our Lake Como Travel Guide! Our tips on where to stay and get around the lake.
What is Lake Como?
Lake Como known is an Italian Lake known for its dramatic scenery set against the foothills of the Alps. The lake is shaped like an upside-down Y, with three slender branches that meet at the town of Bellagio. Lake Como is fed primarily by the Adda, which enters the lake near Colicc and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The most popular towns around Lake Como are Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio. These three towns lay in the middle of the lake and are easily reached with ferries. Nevertheless if you have the time, do not skip the other towns Lake Como has to offer like Como and Cernobbio. Lenno, Tremezzo and Bellano are some of the towns we visited.
Where to stay in Lake Como?
With many hotels and villas on the shoreline it can be a daunting task to find the best places to stay in Lake Como at first sight. If you’re wondering where to stay in Lake Como, here’s our tips! Keep in mind that all the accommodations in Lake Como can go from budget friendly to over the top expensive.
If you are visiting Lake Como for just a few days and are looking for the best ‘base’ for exploring the area. We recommend staying in the middle of the lake. This is the area that has the most charming towns and villas, and has a really good ferry connection. A benefit of staying in the middle area is that it will reduce your travel time. The travel time by ferry between all the main towns on the eastern and western shores is between 10 and 30 minutes.
Of course the Southern end of the lake is also worth considering, but it all depends on how long your stay is going to be. If you want to explore the middle part of the town take in to consideration a ferry ride of 1.5 hours – 2 hours from Lecco or Como Town.
When to visit Lake Como
Just like most of the European destinations, Lake Como is at its busiest during the summer months (July and August). Autumn and spring are the best times to visit this area, since the weather is pleasant, the days are long and the lake is way less crowded than in summer.
We visited in the beginning of September. Or arrival day was the last weekend of the Italian school summer holiday. We noticed this on Sunday while visiting one of the sights. This day was busier than the rest of the days we spend in Italy.
How to get around
Car
If you want to visit Lake Como, the nearest airport is Milan. You could opt to rent a car at the airport and drive to Lake Como. Our trip started in The Netherlands and we drove from home to Lake Como. This gave us the option to also drive through different cities and not be dependent on other transportation options.
Ferry
One of the convenient options to explore Lake Como is by ferry. The public boat service connects the major towns along the shores of Lake Como. Ferry tickets can be bought at the ticket office near the dock. In case there is no ticket office in the town, you can also purchase tickets for the ferry on Lake Como on board. The third option is to buy your ticket online through the official website of Navigazione Laghi.
Single tickets or day tickets
We enjoyed the ferry service immensely. It was fast and affordable. For example, a return ticket from Lenno to Bellagio was €9,20 per person. The trip took less than 30 minutes.
Day passes, referred to as “Free Circulation Tickets”, allow passengers to bypass ticket lines. The 15 euros Centro Lago pass covers the mid-lake area. A 20 euros pass expands the zone of coverage further north and mid-way down the western leg of the lake, while the 25 euros pass goes all the way down to Como Town. In general the boats are quite punctual, if you are staying in a smaller town you can just arrive a few minutes early at the harbour.
The larger towns such as Bellagio this is a different story. Save yourself stress and frustration and be at the harbour 10-15 minutes in advance. You will have the time to figure out on which pier to be and in which line to que. There are in general multiple boats arriving and departing at the same time. This means that there is a crowd all the time and the harbour can look a bit like a beehive.
Boat tours
If you want to take the time and see Lake Como from the water there is also an option to book a boat tour. There are many operators that happily sail you from town to town. You can find a wide range of tours for every type of traveler. When I travel I use Get Your Guide.
Private boat
Don’t want to look at ferry timetables or book a boat tour? Take a private boat tour with your better half or with your friends, and enjoy breathtaking views at your own pace. On average, a boat tour on a motorboat can cost around 100 to 150 euros per hour, while sailboats can cost around 200 to 300 euros per day. Speedboats and pontoons can cost anywhere from 200 to 600 euros per day.
Reserve in advance
Unfortunately reserving hotels, sights etc. is the reality of travelling (to popular destinations). Luckily most of the sights offer the option to book online. In this post I will explain the details about the villas around Lake Como and their reservation system, or not.
Also your accommodation is one of the things you better book in advance. Staying at Lake Como is not cheap. The earlier you book the more choice you have, thus options between more affordable or expensive accommodations. We booked our trip 2 months in advance. This is late for us and we saw it in the higher prices and the availability of accommodations.
We stayed in Albergo Lenno, a four star hotel with pool and the ferry right before the door. Our room had a side lake view and the restaurant in the hotel was really nice.
Other tips
Good shoes
Our average distance walked exploring every day was around 10 km or 15.000 steps. As much as I had the urge to wear really pretty shoes with a heel or those sandals that just fit that one outfit, don’t do it. Wear comfortable shoes, you’ll be walking more than you think. Sneakers or light walking shoes are ideal. Some fashionable Italian ladies also wore sandals with platform or high sole. Those are also nice for walking in the towns or exploring the villas with botanical gardens. The streets are made with cobbled stones and there are often many stairs…
Stay hydrated and protected against the sun
Many shops in the towns sell water bottles. This helps to stay hydrated under the scourging Italian sun. A better option is to take a reusable water bottle. There are free drinking fountains everywhere, so you can easily fill them up. Another thing I would recommend taking with you is sunscreen and a hat. If you do not plan to pack any or you forgot, don’t worry! There are enough shops or market stalls that sell hats in many different varieties.
Money, money, money
We are so accustomed to use that plastics card in The Netherlands, that we sometimes forgetting that not every country accepts a card everywhere. Italy has come a long way in accepting different payment methods. Nevertheless there are still some places that only accept cash. You probably only need it for smaller payments. Something we did encounter is that some restaurant give a 10% discount when you pay cash. So if you want to save money on those bills, cash will come in handy.
We hope this Lake Como Travel Guide was helpful to you plan your own trip. It’s such a beautiful area that has so much to offer!
