In January in Como, average temperatures range from 3 to 9 °C, and the shortest day of the year lasts eight hours and forty-three minutes.
Almost all the villas with large gardens close until March; the towns, churches and museums stay open, and on clear days Monte Rosa is visible from Brunate.
Villas and gardens
The lake's most visited villas are above all gardens, and almost all of them close in winter. Villa Carlotta, at Tremezzo, reopens in late March; the gardens of Villa Melzi, at Bellagio, close at the beginning of November and reopen in spring, as does the park of Villa del Grumello in Como.
Some gardens stay open. The botanical garden of Villa Monastero, at Varenna, opens in winter too, on fewer days and for shorter hours, and Villa del Balbianello, at Lenno, stays open on some days a week until Epiphany. The park of Villa Olmo, on the Como lakefront, is open every day of the year.
Como, Lecco and the Romanesque churches
In Como the Pinacoteca civica, the Tempio Voltiano and the Silk Museum stay open all year, and the funicular climbs to Brunate every day. In Lecco you can visit Villa Manzoni, where Alessandro Manzoni spent his childhood, Palazzo delle Paure and Palazzo Belgiojoso.
The Romanesque churches can be visited all year: Sant'Abbondio in Como, Santa Maria del Tiglio and San Vincenzo at Gravedona, and Piona Abbey on the Olgiasca peninsula, with its thirteenth-century cloister.
Boats and trains
The centre-lake ferry links Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and Cadenabbia all year; between Bellagio and Varenna the crossing takes a quarter of an hour. In winter there are fewer sailings and the last evening departure is much earlier than in summer. The boat line between Lecco and Bellagio is seasonal. The train from Milan runs along the eastern shore, through Lecco, Varenna and Colico, every day of the year.
Christmas on the lake
From late November to Epiphany, festive lights and projections on the facades of central Como mark Christmas, and in Lecco the wooden huts of the Christmas village fill Piazza XX Settembre and Piazza Cermenati. Lecco celebrates its patron saint, San Nicolò, on 6 December. One evening in late November the FAI opens Villa del Balbianello for its nativity night, and on 1 January the Teatro Sociale in Como holds the New Year's Concert.
The winter light
In winter the sun stays low above the horizon, and the mountains hide a different share of it in each village. In December Brunate, on the ridge seven hundred metres up, gets eight and a half hours of sun a day; Dongo, under the Bregagno, gets four. On clear days the snow-covered Alps are visible, and the same view takes in the palms along the shore.
On cold mornings, mist may form over the water and along the slopes, reducing visibility. On shaded slopes, snow and ice can stay on the paths for days, even at low altitude.
Como, Lecco and Varenna have their stations close to the centre and trains to Milan all year. In Como and Varenna the pier is also a few minutes' walk from the station, and from Varenna the ferry crosses to Bellagio and Menaggio.
