Things to Do in Lake Como: Gardens, Boats, Towns and Walks

The best things to do on Lake Como are on the water and in its gardens: a day by boat between Bellagio, Varenna and Tremezzo, the terraces of Villa del Balbianello and the botanical garden of Villa Carlotta, the funicular from Como up to Brunate, an easy walk along the Greenway on the west shore, and lake fish at a long lunch. The gardens open from March to the autumn, and the ferries run all year. Below, what to do and where, with the villas we suggest as a base, all from our Lake Como villa rentals.

Things to do in Lake Como at a glance

See the lake by boat

Lake Como is best understood from the water. The public ferries of Navigazione Laghi run all year on seasonal timetables, and a car ferry links Bellagio, Cadenabbia, Varenna and Menaggio, the four towns at the centre of the lake. For a day that follows your own pace, our concierge books a private boat with a skipper: a morning in Bellagio, lunch on the west shore, Villa del Balbianello seen from the water in the late afternoon light, and back to the villa’s own dock or the nearest pier.

Walk the great villa gardens

Villa del Balbianello, on the wooded point of Lavedo at Lenno, belongs to the FAI, the Italian National Trust. Its terraced garden and loggia look out over the lake from the end of the point, and the rooms of the villa are seen on guided tours. It is reached on foot, about a kilometre uphill from Lenno, or by taxi boat from the Lido di Lenno, booked ahead. It opens from mid-March and closes on Mondays and Wednesdays outside holidays; the FAI page for Villa del Balbianello has the current times.

Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo pairs a museum of sculpture and painting with a botanical garden, at its most striking when the azaleas and rhododendrons flower in spring. In 2026 its main season runs from 20 March to 18 October, with autumn opening until 8 November; it has its own pier, Tremezzo, and the Villa Carlotta visitor page lists the hours.

Villa Melzi in Bellagio keeps the villa private and opens its English-style gardens from March to October: Japanese maples, camellias, a pond under weeping willows, a neoclassical chapel and an orangery turned small museum. In Varenna, the botanical garden of Villa Monastero runs along the shore.

Bellagio, Varenna and the lake towns

Bellagio sits on the point where the lake’s three branches meet, with stepped lanes running down to the water and the gardens of Villa Melzi at the edge of town. Across the water, Varenna, often called the prettiest village on the east shore, has Villa Monastero on the lake and the medieval Castello di Vezio above it. Menaggio has a lakeside promenade made for an evening walk, and Tremezzo and Cadenabbia face Bellagio across the central lake. Off Sala Comacina lies Isola Comacina, the lake’s only island, reached by boat.

Como: the funicular and the seaplanes

Como, at the lake’s south-western tip, has the cathedral, the lakefront Tempio Voltiano dedicated to Alessandro Volta, and the funicular that has climbed to the village of Brunate since 1894. From the top, the whole of the first basin of the lake opens below, and a walk further up leads to the Faro Voltiano, a lighthouse built in Volta’s honour. On the lakefront, Aero Club Como, founded in 1930 and the oldest seaplane club in the world, flies passengers over Bellagio and Villa del Balbianello.

Walks with a view

The Greenway del Lago di Como is an easy path of about ten kilometres on the west shore, from Colonno through Sala Comacina, Ossuccio, Lenno, Mezzegra and Tremezzo to Cadenabbia, with ferries and buses to come back. Above Ossuccio, the Sacro Monte climbs past fourteen Baroque chapels built between 1635 and 1710 to a sanctuary facing Isola Comacina; it is part of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2003. On the east shore, the Sentiero del Viandante follows an old route through Varenna and Bellano, and the railway and ferries make it easy to walk a single stage.

Eat like the lake

Lake Como cooking is built on the lake and the mountains: risotto with perch, missoltini, the lake shad dried in the sun, polenta, and the cellars called crotti, cut into the hillside, where the long lunches happen. Our concierge books the tables that are hard to find, and at villas with a chef the same dishes can be cooked at home.

A week on Lake Como, as our concierge plans it

• Day one: arrival from Milan Malpensa, about an hour by car, and a first dinner at the villa.
• Day two: a private boat to Bellagio, with dinner ashore on the way back.
• Day three: Villa del Balbianello in the morning, the Greenway in the afternoon.
• Day four: Bellagio and Varenna by ferry, with the gardens of Villa Monastero.
• Day five: Como, the funicular to Brunate, or a seaplane flight over the lake.
• Day six: a quiet day at the villa, the pool and the chef.

Villas to stay in, close to it all

When to go

The gardens open from March, the azaleas flower in spring, summer is the busiest season on the water, and September and October are often the most beautiful months; our guide to the best time to visit Lake Como goes month by month. For June to September, ask about a villa nine to twelve months ahead; for spring and autumn, six to nine months is usually enough. If you are still choosing between regions, see how Lake Como compares with Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast.

Things to do in Lake Como: your questions