Getting There -- By Train --
One to three trains hourly connect Milan and Como's Stazione San Giovanni on Piazzale San Gottardo (regional: from Milan's Piazza Garibaldi station, 55-60 min.; high-speed: from Milan's Stazione Centrale station, 40 min.).
Visitor Information -- The regional tourist office dispenses a wealth of information on hotels, restaurants, and campgrounds around the lake from its offices at Piazza Cavour 17 (tel. 031-269-712 or 031-264-215; www.lakecomo.org). It's open daily 9am to 1pm and 2 to 5pm (sometimes closed Sun in winter). There is also a city tourist office in a little trailer that has moved around a bit since it opened in 2000, but it stays near Piazza del Duomo and seems to have settled on a spot along Via Maestri Comacini around the right side of the cathedral (tel. 031-337-1063). It's open Monday to Friday 10am to 12:30pm and 2:30 to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm.
Bellagio & the Central Lake Region
By far the loveliest spot on the lake (and where travelers should definitely set their sights) is the section known as the Centro Lago. Three towns -- Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio -- sit across the water from one another on three different shorelines.
Getting There & Getting Around -- By Train -- The closest train stations to Bellagio and the other Central Lake towns are in Como -- from which you can continue by bus or boat -- or, more conveniently, in Varenna, with trains hourly to Milan (about 70 min.). If you're planning to leave the central part of the lake after dinner, the 10:30pm train from Varenna to Milan (with an hour stopover in Lecco) will be your last chance to do so. Tip: The ticket window at Varenna's station is rarely, if ever, open, and the automatic ticket machine has been broken for at least 6 years. Get on without a ticket, and in the rare case that a ticket collector appears, explain that you got on in Varenna, and you will pay a regular price ticket on board.
By Boat -- From Como, boats stop first at Bellagio: by ferry 2 hours; by hydrofoil 35 to 45 minutes. They continue on to Menaggio: by ferry, another 15 minutes; by hydrofoil, another 5 minutes. About half the boats then stop in Varenna as well (plus there are about two dozen short-haul ferries each from Bellagio and Menaggio to Varenna): by ferry, another 10 minutes; by hydrofoil, another 5 minutes. You can also get day passes good for just the central lake or for the whole lake.
Many of the ferries carry cars for an additional fee. Schedules vary with the season, but from Easter through September a ferry or hydrofoil makes the trip from Como to Bellagio and other towns along the lake at least hourly. For more information, contact Navigazione Lago di Como (tel. 800-551-801 or 031-579-211); the office is on the lakefront in Como on Lungo Lario Trieste.
By Bus -- One to three SPT buses (tel. 031-304-744) per hour travel from Como to Bellagio (a little more than 1 hr.). Hourly buses to Menaggio take a little more than an hour. Buses leave Como from in front of the main train station; get tickets at the bar inside.
By Car -- Bellagio is connected to Como by a picturesque lakeshore road, S583, which can be very crowded in summer. The A9 links Como with Milan in about an hour. To reach Menaggio from Como, follow route S340 along the western shore of the lake. For Varenna, follow S342 to Nibionno, a speck of a town where it intersects with S36, which runs north through industrialized Lecco and then along the lake's eastern shore. All these roads tend to be crowded, especially on weekends and in summer, so allow at least an hour of traveling time.
Bellagio
Bellagio is at the tip of the peninsula at a point where the lake forks into three distinct basins: One long leg sweeps north into the Alps, Como is at the southern end of the western leg, and Lecco is at the southern end of the eastern leg. Boats from Bellagio make it easy to visit the nearby shores of the Centro Lago -- not that you'll be in a great hurry to leave this pretty old town, with its steep narrow streets, lakeside piazza, and beautiful gardens.
Festivals & Markets -- A pleasant way to spend a summer evening in Bellagio is at one of the concerts held in the Chiesa di Cappuccini, on the grounds of the Rockefeller Foundation between June and July. Bellagio's outdoor market fills the waterfront every third Wednesday of the month.
Visitor Information -- The Bellagio tourist office is at Piazza d. Chiesa 14 (tel./fax 031-950-204; www.bellagiolakecomo.com). Its hours are Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 9am to noon and 3 to 6pm, Tuesday and Sunday from 10:30am to 12:30pm and 3:30 to 5:30pm.
Varenna
You can happily spend some time clambering up and down the steep steps that substitute for streets in this charming village (on the eastern shore of the lake, about 20 min. by ferry from Bellagio) that until not too long ago made its living by fishing. The main attractions, though, are outside town.
The hilltop ruins of the Castello di Vezio (tel. 0341-831-000) are about a 20-minute walk above the town on a gradually ascending path. The main reason for a visit is to enjoy the stunning views of the lake, its shoreline villages, and the backdrop of mountains at the northern end. May to June the castle is open daily 10am to 6pm, July to September 11am to 8pm; admission is 1€ ($1.30).
The gardens of the Villa Monastero (tel. 0341-830-129) are more easily accessible, at the southern edge of town along Via 4 Novembre, and you can reach them by following the series of lakeside promenades through the Old Town from the ferry landing. This villa and the terraced gardens that rise up from the lakeshore were once a not-so-spartan monastery -- until it was dissolved in the late 17th century when the nuns in residence began bearing living proof that they were on too-friendly terms with the priests across the way. If you find it hard to tear yourself from the bowers of citrus trees and rhododendrons clinging to terraces, you'll find equally enchanting surroundings in the adjoining gardens of the Villa Cipressi (tel. 0341-830-113).
Both gardens are open daily March to October: Villa Monastero 10am to 7pm and Villa Cipressi 9am to 7pm. Admission is 2€ ($2.60) for adults (1.30€/$1.70 for children under 10 and seniors over 60) to just one garden, 3.50€ ($4.55) adults (2.50€/$3.25 kids and seniors) to visit both. Call tel. 0341-830-113 for more details.
In season, ferries make the 20-minute run between Bellagio and Varenna about every half-hour. There's a tiny tourist office at Piazza Venini, 1 (tel. 0341-830-367; www.varennaitaly.com), open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 12:30pm and Tuesday to Saturday 3 to 6pm.
Menaggio
This lively resort town hugs the western shore of the lake, across from Bellagio on its peninsula and Varenna on the distant shore. Hikers should stop in at the tourist office on Piazza Garibaldi 8 (tel./fax 0344-32-924; www.menaggio.com), open Monday to Saturday 9am to noon and 3 to 6pm (July-Aug also Sun 7:30am-6:30pm). The very helpful staff distributes a booklet, Hiking in the Area around Menaggio, with descriptions of more than a dozen walks, with maps and instructions on what buses to take to trail heads. The town's bus stop is at Piazza Garibaldi (Sun on Via Mazzini); tickets are sold at Bar Centrale or the newsstand on Via Calvi at the piazza.
The major nearby attraction is about 2.5km (1 1/2 miles) south of town: The Villa Carlotta (tel. 0344-40-405; www.villacarlotta.it) is the most famous villa on the lake and was begun in 1643 for the Marquis Giorgio Clerici, who made his fortune supplying Napoleon's troops with uniforms; he spent much of it on this neoclassical villa and gardens. After a succession of owners, including Prussian royalty who lavished their funds and attention on the gardens, the villa is now in the hands of the Italian government. It's filled with romantic paintings, statues by Canova and his imitators, and Empire furnishings, but the gardens are the main attraction, with azaleas, orchids, banana trees, cacti, palms, and forests of ferns spreading in all directions. You can take the no. C10 bus from Menaggio or walk along the lake (about 30-45 min.). The nearest ferry landing is at Cadenabbia, just north of the gardens, though ferries to Menaggio are more frequent. The villa and gardens are open daily March through October from 9am to 4:30pm (the villa is closed from noon to 2pm), and April through September from 9am to 6pm. Admission is 7.50€ ($9.75) for adults and 3.75€ ($5) for seniors over 65 and students.
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