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Boats and ferries

Scheduled boats, hydrofoils and car ferries: from Como to Colico, from Lecco to Bellagio and from shore to shore across the centre of the lake.

A Navigazione passenger boat under way, the shore behind.Ray Swi-hymn · CC BY-SA 2.0

The timetable, pier to pier

The boats, fast services and car ferries from one pier to another on the day you choose, with their arrival, and the journeys with one change where none goes straight.

From Milan, by train and boat

The train to Varenna, Como, Lecco or Colico and the boat from there: the journeys on the day you choose, there and back.

Train and boat are separate services, each on its own timetable; 5 minutes are added to the walk between station and pier. The timetables of Trenord and Navigazione Laghi are authoritative. Rail strikes called: 9 November, 20–21 November, 3–4 December.

Boats and ferries are the lake's public transport: they serve the villages on both shores, including those without a station, and they are the only public service that crosses the water.

The service is run by Navigazione Laghi, which reports to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and also runs the boats on Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda. There are three lines. The main one runs from Como to Colico, the whole length of the lake, and serves more than thirty piers. On the Lecco branch a seasonal line links Lecco with Bellagio. In the centre of the lake the car ferry shuttles between Bellagio, Cadenabbia, Menaggio and Varenna all year round, and it is the lake's only crossing open to cars. The ordinary boat stops almost everywhere: from Como to Bellagio it takes about two hours. The fast service, by hydrofoil or catamaran, skips the minor stops and covers the same route in about fifty minutes. Some sailings are still made by the Concordia, a paddle steamer of 1926.

How it worksWhere to buy · Types of ticket · Contactless cards · Cars and bicycles · Children, luggage and dogs · Wheelchair users
  1. Where to buyTickets are sold at the ticket offices of the main piers, online and in the Navigazione Laghi app. At piers without a ticket office you buy them on board.
  2. Types of ticketYou can choose a single, a return or an unlimited-travel ticket (libera circolazione). The unlimited-travel ticket is valid for one or six days and allows any number of journeys between the piers it covers, with every intermediate stop. Single and return tickets are valid only on the day shown on the ticket. The fast service needs a supplement, even with an unlimited-travel ticket.
  3. Contactless cardsOn most vessels you can also pay with a contactless card or your phone, holding it to the validator when you board and again when you get off. Contactless payment is not available on the fast service or the Concordia, for reduced fares, or for passengers travelling with luggage, bicycles, animals or vehicles. If you forget to tap out, you are charged a full day's unlimited travel on the whole network.
  4. Cars and bicyclesThe car ferry carries cars, motorbikes, campervans and bicycles, and drivers take their own vehicle on and off. On the ordinary boats a bike boards if the vessel and the traffic allow it: the timetable marks, sailing by sailing, where it is recommended and where it is not carried. Bikes never board the fast services.
  5. Children, luggage and dogsChildren under four travel free with an adult, provided they do not take a seat. Each passenger may carry one piece of luggage free, with its longest side up to 60 centimetres. Dogs board on a lead no longer than one and a half metres, with a muzzle to hand; medium and large dogs need a ticket.
  6. Wheelchair usersThe newer vessels have lifts and accessible toilets. The ships and the main piers have boarding ramps, and boarding always takes place with staff present. The timetable marks the sailings recommended for wheelchair users. Concessions for passengers and their companions require the specified documents and differ between ordinary and fast services. A vessel can be replaced by another with different conditions, and the captain may limit wheelchair boarding for safety reasons.
Good forCrossing from one shore to the other in the centre of the lake
  • Crossing from one shore to the other in the centre of the lake: Bellagio to Varenna or Menaggio in a quarter of an hour, Bellagio to Cadenabbia in about ten minutes, instead of an hour and a half or more by road
  • Reaching the villages of the western shore, which has no railway: Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Argegno, Lenno, Menaggio, Gravedona, Domaso
  • Seeing from the water the villas that face the shore, and walking to some of them from the pier: from the Tremezzo pier to the entrance of Villa Carlotta is about 450 metres
  • Travelling car-free across the centre of the lake, and changing between boat and train at Varenna and Como, where station and pier are close together
  • A day from village to village on a single ticket: the unlimited-travel ticket (libera circolazione) lets you get off and back on at every pier it covers
  • Reaching the Isola Comacina, where the scheduled boats also call in season
Watch out forOut of season sailings are far less frequent, and in winter some routes shrink to a minimum
  • Out of season sailings are far less frequent, and in winter some routes shrink to a minimum. The line between Lecco and Bellagio is seasonal.
  • The last evening sailing varies with the route and the season: check it in the timetable before staying for dinner on the other shore.
  • In some villages the boats and the car ferry use different piers: at Bellagio and Menaggio the car ferry has a pier of its own.
  • In the car-ferry timetable some sailings are passenger-only boats: if you are travelling by car, pick the car-ferry sailings.
  • Places are limited to the vessel's maximum capacity. In summer and on public holidays queues can form at the ticket windows: it is worth reaching the ticket office about twenty minutes before departure.
  • In strong wind or rough water sailings can be suspended. During strikes only the sailings in the guaranteed morning and evening periods are assured.

Where to board

All on the map
First Basin11 piers
Centro Lago12 piers
Upper Lake6 piers
Lecco Branch10 piers
The Triangle3 piers

The other modes