Traveling around Lake Como from Sheraton Lake Como

[Billpcti]

My wife and I will be visiting Lake Como and staying at the Sheraton Lake Como for three full days in May 2019. Can anyone assist with preliminary itineraries you would recommend? Are there ferries or other means of transportation you'd recommend for getting the most out of our stay. Thank you.

 

[Passepartout]

I'd pick up Rick Steves' Italy guidebook to get the most of a stay there.

 

[stslc]

My wife and I will be visiting Lake Como and staying at the Sheraton Lake Como for three full days in May 2019. Can anyone assist with preliminary itineraries you would recommend? Are there ferries or other means of transportation you'd recommend for getting the most out of our stay. Thank you.

There is a boat rental in Menaggio that rents great boats so you can explore the villas and towns along the lake. Each town has a public dock you can tie up at and explore the village. We did a half day rental and visited Bellagio and Varenna as well as going up and down the lake to see the many villas. It was amazing. The rental company was AC Boats. They were very friendly and accommodating. There are also ferries between the major towns that are inexpensive and easy to use. Make sure to mind the schedules. We missed the ferry back to our town and had to walk about three miles back to town.

 

[vikingsholm]

Been to Lake Como a couple of times, including our honeymoon. It is one of the premier destinations in the world if you enjoy fantastic scenery and the history and architecture of Italy. We had lakeview apartment rentals in Menaggio and Tremezzo, and watching the white horse clouds/fog drift over the lake in the morning and then burn off by mid day while drinking an espresso on the patio deck is something you never forget. Walking along the waterfront and town of Menaggio was a regular excursion as well.

I second stslc's recommendation of boating to Bellagio and Varenna. We did these as separate day trips on the ferry system out of Menaggio, which was very reasonably priced and frequent. Spend a good part of a day walking around Bellagio, which is one of the most beautiful settings around, and dine near the lakeshore if you can. Varenna has some nice restaurants nestled into the hillside along a waterfront walkway perched up above the lake too.

We also enjoyed driving around the entire lake, stopping at various town centers of the little lakeside towns along the way, each with its own character and charm. There's a scenic plain on the north end too that leads into a smaller lake called Lago di Mezzola which feeds Lake Como.

We also enjoyed driving over to Lugano Switzerland, stopping at a random Inn for lunch (in either Carlazzo or Porlezza Italy on the east side of Lake Lugano, can't recall exactly), where we stumbled onto some of the best penne arrabiata I've ever had. Lugano is a more modern, busy city, but a nice side trip.

Also did longer side trips to lakes Maggiore, and Garda into the Dolomites, which are both very scenic. If you only have 3 days though, I'd focus on the small towns around Lake Como, and maybe a quick side trip to Lugano.

 

[Superchief]

I used to travel through Europe regularly for work and had always wanted to visit the Lake Como area. Although I never stayed there, the train from Zurich to Milan went through the area and had the most spectacular scenery of any train I've ever ridden (including the CA Zephyr). I highly recommend taking this train to/from Zurich if you have the time.

 

[isisdave]

If you get up and it looks like a beautiful day, you can spend it shuttling around the lake on the ferries. They run often, like hourly or sooner. There are day tickets, which are reasonable. There's a mid-lake day ticket which doesn't include the town of Como (but you could add a short leg to get into the mid-lale zone), and a more expensive area ticket that does. https://www.palazzodelvicere.com/lake-como-ferry-prices-and-tickets-2018/