One dayLake Como in 24 hours
A day between Varenna and Bellagio, by train and ferry.
Public transport
Two days in the centre of the lake
Three shores, four gardens, and never more than twenty minutes of ferry.
2days8stops
- Suggested base
- Varenna if you arrive by train, otherwise Menaggio
- Transport
- Public transport
- Pace
- Balanced
- Best season
- Spring · Summer · Autumn
- Maurizio Moro5153 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Nemo bis · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Deensel · CC BY 2.0
- Daderot · Public domain
- Navin75 · CC BY-SA 2.0
Two days give you a night on the lake instead of a same-day return.
Sleeping in Varenna or Menaggio lets you use the ferry triangle like a metro: the first day on the eastern shore, the second on the western, with Bellagio in between.
Suited to
- A first visit with one night available
- Couples
- Anyone wanting villas and gardens without a car
Book ahead
- Accommodation.
- Villa del Balbianello, where booking is required, on the villa's website.
The stops, today
Open on the map
The route, stop by stop.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Download the route (GPX)Stops and track for Komoot, OsmAnd, Organic Maps or a Garmin.
The page as a printable document, with the route drawn on it: useful where there is no phone signal.
Add to your calendar
One event per day, with the day's plan. Import the file into a calendar app that supports the ICS format.Day by day
- Day 1
Varenna, the castle and Bellagio
Eastern shore in the morning, the headland in the afternoon.
Morning
Up to Castello di Vezio
Twenty-five minutes up a steep mule track above Varenna, and from the top you see exactly why the tower is there: it commands the whole fork of the lake.
Lunch
Lunch in Varenna
In the village, after the descent. Then Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi, which are next door to each other.
Transfer: On foot10 min
Afternoon
Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi
Two gardens in a row on the same walk: the first long and botanical, the second small and terraced. Together they take two unhurried hours.
Transfer: Boat15 min
Evening
Ferry to Bellagio for sunset
Fifteen minutes across the water, then Punta Spartivento in low light and dinner in the village.
- Day 2
The garden shore
Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello, with a ferry and a bus in between.
Transfer: Boat10 min· From Bellagio to Cadenabbia; from Varenna about half an hour
Morning
Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo
The ferry lands at Cadenabbia, and the entrance is about 900 metres along the lake; from the Tremezzo pier, where the boats call, it is 450. Between mid-April and mid-May the park is in full flower; the rest of the year the sculpture collection and the terraces remain.
Transfer: Bus10 min
Lunch
Lunch at Tremezzo or Lenno
The C110 bus links the two villages in ten minutes along the shore.
Transfer: On foot20 min
Afternoon
Villa del Balbianello on the Lavedo point
From the Lido di Lenno it is twenty-five minutes on foot or five by taxi boat. The villa was designed to be seen by those arriving from the water.
Transfer: Boat20 min
Evening
Ferry back
From Lenno or Cadenabbia back to Varenna or Menaggio. Check the last sailing: out of season it is well before dinner.
Worth knowing
- Villa del Balbianello and Villa Carlotta close on different days: check before deciding which day goes where.
- Plan on two villas a day at most: with three there is little time left for each.
