Can I bring my dog?

On Navigazione's Lake Como boats dogs board under the responsibility of whoever brings them, on a lead no longer than one and a half metres; a muzzle, rigid or soft, has to be carried, and the captain or a crew member may ask for it to be put on when the situation calls for it. Anyone who cannot do so gets off at the next landing. The captain may also limit or refuse dogs when the boat is very crowded.

The fare depends on the height at the withers. Under fifty centimetres a dog travels free; above that it pays the reduced fare, without the fast-service supplement. Guide dogs for blind or deaf people and police and rescue dogs on duty pay nothing and face no restrictions. For other animals and for season tickets, ask at the ticket offices.

Two rules on board: the dog does not take a seat or disturb other passengers, and whoever is with it cleans up after it, with what is needed already in a pocket.

On Trenord trains there are two cases. Dogs, cats and other small pets travel free, one per person, in first and second class, inside a carrier no larger than seventy centimetres by thirty by fifty. A dog of any size may board on a lead, if it is muzzled and has its certificate of registration with the dog registry.

A dog on a lead travels in the carriage vestibule, and is excluded on weekdays, Monday to Friday, from 7:00 to 9:30 and from 17:30 to 19:30; the window does not apply to passengers travelling to or from Malpensa airport with a boarding pass. Animals stay off the seats, and if they disturb others the staff may ask you to move or to get off. Guide dogs always travel, free and without limits.

Free travel applies to journeys that start and end within the Lombardy rail fare area, and the lake's trains, from Milan to Como, Lecco, Varenna and Colico, all stay in Lombardy. A journey leaving the region needs a ticket for the animal, and for Switzerland Trenord's cross-border conditions apply. When a train is replaced by a bus, animals outside a carrier are not guaranteed a place.

On ASF buses, the C lines that serve the Como shore, a small dog on a lead and muzzled is allowed, or another pet in a cage, always with a ticket at the current fare. The animal stays on its lead, in your arms or close to you, never on the seats and never blocking the doors or the aisle; when the bus is crowded it may be refused. Guide dogs for blind people travel free.

The Como–Brunate funicular and the Argegno–Pigra cable car belong to ATM, and the same rule applies to both: an animal pays the ticket for bicycles, pushchairs and parcels, a dog must wear a muzzle, and a guide dog for a blind person travels free.

Above Lecco, the Piani d'Erna cable car takes dogs of any size, with lead and muzzle compulsory, and charges a supplement for them; anyone who set out without a muzzle can buy one at the ticket office.

At four villas in the centre of the lake the rules for dogs are much the same. At Villa Carlotta dogs are welcome in the garden, on a lead. At the Balbianello the FAI admits them to the garden, always on a lead; inside the buildings only guide dogs and certified assistance dogs may enter. At Villa Monastero a dog may go only into the garden, with a lead and waste bags. At the Giardini di Villa Melzi it comes in on a lead, with bags, and may also enter the museum and the chapel.

In the park of Villa Olmo, in Como, dogs and other pets may stay only on the paths, on a lead and supervised, not on the green areas, and whoever brings them must pick up after them.

For the other villas, ask at the ticket office.

At the Castello di Vezio, above Varenna, dogs of any size are allowed, but only on a lead, off the lawns and green areas and away from the owl's aviary. At the Orrido di Bellano dogs of any size may go in; not into the Ca' del Diavol; into San Nicolao and the Museo Giancarlo Vitali only small ones, in a bag or a carrier.

At the Museo della Seta in Como only small dogs come in, ones that can be held in your arms or kept in a carrier. At the Val Sanagra museum, in Grandola ed Uniti, dogs are not allowed; at its Fornace Galli they are, on a lead and only in the park area. At the public openings of the Sormano astronomy centre dogs are not allowed.

At Varenna, between Olivedo and the Malpensata, is the Bau Bau Beach, the only beach on Lake Como set up so that dogs can go in without muzzle or lead. The beach at Onno, in Oliveto Lario, is also open to dogs.

For the other beaches and lidos the rules on dogs are made by the municipalities and the operators, and they change from place to place: ask locally.

In the regional forest of the Corni di Canzo, run by ERSAF, dogs must always be kept on a lead and closely watched, because most of the local wildlife sees them as dangerous predators.

At the Lago di Piano nature reserve, in the Val Menaggio, the visitor rules forbid bringing in dogs unless they are kept on a lead.