Lake Como in Three Days: Bellagio, Varenna and the Lakeside Villas
Three days on northern Italy’s most famous lake — the small villages, the historic villas, and the slow ferry rides between them.
📍 Lake Como, Italy
Lake Como is the great mountain lake of northern Italy — Y-shaped, 46 kilometres long, narrow, deep, with the Italian Alps rising directly from its shores and a string of small lakeside villages threaded along the bottom of the cliffs. It has been the favourite escape of Milanese aristocracy since the 18th century — the lakeshore is lined with historic villas and their private gardens — and the modern celebrity association (George Clooney has a house here, as do various Italian and international heads of industry) has become so well-known that Lake Como has, slightly unfairly, developed a reputation as a luxury destination only. The reality is more accessible. The ferries between the villages are cheap and frequent. The small B&Bs in Varenna and Menaggio cost no more than equivalent rooms in any other beautiful European destination. The villas are open to visitors. And the lake itself, in the late afternoon when the light goes gold on the water and the Alps turn pink in the distance, is one of the most beautiful single landscapes in Europe.
Three days is enough. Add days if you want to explore further north or do longer hikes.
The setup
Train from Milan Centrale to Varenna or to Como (the city at the southern end of the lake). Both take about an hour. The ferry network out of Varenna or Como connects you to all the lakeside villages — buy a one-day or three-day ferry pass at any pier (€15–25 per day, unlimited rides).
Stay in Varenna or Bellagio for the central two nights. Both are small, atmospheric, and well-connected by ferry. Mid-range hotels run €150–300 a night in season; smaller B&Bs can be cheaper.
Day one: arrive, settle, ferry to Bellagio
Train from Milan to Varenna-Esino (the small lakeside station). Walk down the small pedestrian path from the station to the lakeshore — about 5 minutes — and into the centre of Varenna.
Varenna is the village that everyone falls for. A small, perfectly preserved fishing village built directly against the cliffs on the eastern shore of the lake, with pastel houses cascading down to the waterfront and a small harbour on the south side. The Passeggiata degli Innamorati — the “Lovers’ Walk” — is a short paved walkway that runs from the central piazza along the cliff edge to the small Villa Cipressi, with views back across the lake to the western shore. The whole village can be walked in 30 minutes; you’ll spend three hours.
Take the small ferry across to Bellagio. The ferry from Varenna is 15 minutes, runs every 20–30 minutes, costs about €5 each way. Bellagio sits at the precise point where the Y of Lake Como divides into its two southern arms, on a small triangular promontory with three sides exposed to lake views. The position is one of the most photographed in Italy.
Walk up the steep cobbled streets of central Bellagio (Salita Serbelloni, Salita Mella, Salita Genazzini are the main pedestrian climbs from the lakefront up through the small old town). The streets are full of small boutiques, gelato counters, jewellery shops, and the famous historic hotels (the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni and the Hotel Belvedere Bellagio are the destination luxury stays). Stop at Salice Blu or any of the small wine bars for a glass.
For dinner, eat at one of the small Bellagio trattorias. La Punta (at the very tip of the promontory, with views in three directions over the lake), Trattoria Baita Belvedere, or Ristorante Salice Blu. Order the missoltini (the local sun-dried lake fish), risotto al persico (perch risotto), or any of the lake-fish specialities.
Take the late ferry back to Varenna. The lake at night, with the small lights of the lakeside villages reflecting in the water, is one of the great travel moments.
Day two: the great villas — Villa del Balbianello and Villa Carlotta
Day two is the villa day. Lake Como is famous for its lakeside villas, many of which are open to the public.
Villa del Balbianello sits on a small wooded peninsula on the western shore at Lenno, accessible only by boat or a one-kilometre walk through the woods. Built in the late 18th century, the villa has extraordinarily beautifully maintained terraced gardens and a small but excellent museum of the explorer Guido Monzino (the last private owner, a 20th-century Italian explorer who left the villa to the FAI conservation trust in 1988). The film Star Wars Episode II and James Bond’s Casino Royale both filmed here. Allow two and a half hours including the gardens. Boat from Varenna to Lenno (45 minutes), then walk to the villa. Cost about €20 entry plus the small boat shuttle to the villa peninsula.
In the afternoon, ferry back to Tremezzo or Cadenabbia and visit Villa Carlotta — a beautiful 18th-century villa with extraordinary terraced gardens (rhododendrons and azaleas in spring, formal Italianate gardens year-round, a small museum of 19th-century sculpture and painting inside the villa). About €15 entry. Allow ninety minutes.
For dinner, eat back in Varenna. Vecchia Varenna (in a historic stone building on the harbour, lake-fish-focused) or Ristorante La Vista (in the Royal Victoria hotel, with a lake-view terrace).
Day three: a hike or a slow last day
Day three, depending on energy, either a hike or a slow last day.
For the hike, take the cable car from Argegno (a village on the western shore) up to Pigra at 860 metres above the lake, then walk one of the high-trail routes that contour along the ridges with constant views down to the lake. The walks are mostly easy, well-signposted, and give you a completely different perspective on the lake from above. Half a day round trip.
For a slower day, take the ferry north to Menaggio (a slightly larger lakeside town on the western shore, with a bigger pedestrian centre and a long lakefront promenade) and have a long lunch at one of the lakeside restaurants. Or go to Como (the city at the southern end of the lake) — a proper small city with a beautiful Romanesque-Gothic cathedral (the Duomo di Como, with extraordinary Renaissance tapestries inside), a medieval old town, and the Tempio Voltiano (a small museum dedicated to the Como-born Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery). A full day if you want to do it properly.
End the trip back at Varenna. One final aperitivo on the harbour. One final ferry ride at sunset.
How nice are Lake Como locals?
Lakeside-warm. The Lake Como hospitality industry is one of the most established in Italy, and the local welcome is professional, polished, and consistently warm. My three days included: a Varenna B&B host walk me to the ferry pier with my bag because the morning was hot; a Bellagio trattoria refuse to charge for a small extra side dish “because you’re a long way from home, take it”; and a Villa del Balbianello caretaker quietly point me to a small viewpoint just off the standard tour route “because you asked good questions, here is the better view.” The Como welcome is real.
If you go
• Stay in Varenna or Bellagio. Both are small, atmospheric, and well-connected by ferry. • Buy a multi-day ferry pass. The ferries are the experience. • Visit Villa del Balbianello and Villa Carlotta. The two best villa-gardens on the lake. • Eat the lake-fish specialities. Missoltini, perch risotto, lavarello (whitefish). • Visit between May and June, or September to October. The light is best in the shoulder seasons.
Lake Como is the bit of northern Italy that has rewarded slow travel for 300 years. Three days here will give you Bellagio, Varenna, two great villas, and the ferries between them. You leave smelling faintly of lake water and slightly tipsy on the Lombard whites.
