Como Lake

By Enrico Massetti

Book by Enrico Massetti with 241 color images.
'Lake Como' is a name you will often hear from friends or read in travel blogs if you plan a vacation in Italy. The third-largest lake in Italy is a hit amongst vacationers, and there are plenty of reasons behind it. So, let's underline everything you want to know about the area before making a vacation decision.
Where exactly is it?
Lake Como has a glacial origin and is in Lombardy, Italy, and is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in Italy, Como, is located between Milan and Switzerland's border.
Why is it so famous?
Those unfamiliar with Lake Como's charm often wonder why it garners so much attention. Why do people fly from all around the world to see just a lake?
It is not just any lake; it is marked by one of the best properties, natural beauty, mountains, picturesque villages, adventure sports options, and the pure luxury of Lake Como holiday villas.
Apart from historic villas and waterfront cottages' cultural heritage, the Lake Como area also offers plenty of scope for outdoor activities like hiking, trekking, and biking. In addition, the lake itself provides avenues for kite surfing, sailing, yachting, windsurfing, and fishing.
Ladies especially fall in love with the boutiques that mark the place and men with golfing in the Lake Como area.
Who visits Lake Como?
The hot holiday spot is frequented by vacationers worldwide who crave a quaint, peaceful holiday in the lap of nature.
The rich and famous, too, chose Lake Como to spend time away from the flashlights. Celebrities like Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, and Richard Branson maintain holiday homes near the lake's shores.
If you are looking forward to a similar experience, then Lake Como Villas for rent is readily available.
This guide covers Lake Como and the towns of Como, Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna; in addition to the one-day trips you can make from one of these towns to Piona, Villa Carlotta, and Villa del Balbianello.
There are extensive descriptions and photos of the attractions.
This guide contains links to train and navigation companies' websites, so you can check the latest schedule and buy the tickets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Enrico Massetti
• Release date: Aug 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005268015

Enrico Massetti

Enrico Massetti nació en Milán, Italia, donde vivió durante más de 30 años, visitando innumerables destinos turísticos, desde las montañas de los Alpes hasta el mar de Sicilia. Ahora vive en Washington, Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, visita regularmente su ciudad natal y disfruta recorriendo todos los lugares de su país, especialmente aquellos a los que puede llegar en transporte público. Puede contactar con Enrico en [e-mail].

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Enrico Massetti

prepared for my Florida friend

who now manages a B&B in Canton Ticino

Table of content

Enrico Massetti

Table of content

Lake Como

Visit Lake Como

Visit Como

The Como Cathedral

The Broletto

Basilica of Sant'Abbondio

Basilica San Fedele

Basilica of Sant'Abbondio

Walls, Gattoni Tower and Tower Gate

Museum of Archaeology

Villa Olmo

Info on Villa Olmo

Other monuments in Como

Volta Temple

Where to eat in Como

How to get to Como

To Como from Canton Ticino in Switzerland

Chiasso station refurbishing

Arriving from the North by car

How to get to Lecco from Milan

One Day: The Brunate Funicular

Walking from Brunate.

Info on the Funicular Como - Brunate.

Where to eat in Brunate

Around Lake Como

One Day: Lake Como tour - Cernobio

Villa Erba

Cernobio - Villa d’Este

Isola Comacina

Lunch on the island

A terrace on the Lake

The Comacina island

The archaeological palimpsest of Comacina

Lenno - Villa del Balbianello

The villa from the Lake

The Chapel

The Gardens

One Day: Villa Carlotta

Where to eat in Tremezzo

Menaggio

Where to eat in Menaggio

Staying on Lake Como

Bellagio

Bellagio

Downtown Bellagio

Bellagio - Villa Serbelloni

The park of Villa Serbelloni

Guided tour of the park

Curiosity

Villa Melzi Gardens

Tour of the Park

Water-Taxi boat tours

Where to eat in Bellagio

Picnics in Bellagio

Info on Bellagio

Returning from Bellagio to Milan

Menaggio

Menaggio the town

Menaggio History

Where to eat in Menaggio

Picnic in Menaggio

Info on Menaggio

Banks

Taxi Services

Varenna

Varenna - Villa Monastero

Fiumelatte source trail

Vezio Castle trail

Falconry at Vezio Castle

Varenna - Sentiero del Viandante - Wayfarer Track

Sentiero del Viandante - Wayfarer Track Lierna to Bellano

Wayfarer Track Varenna Bellano

Interesting spots on the path from Varenna to Bellano

The black marble quarries of Varenna.

The dry stone walls.

The funicular of Regoledo

The boundary stones.

A lithological boundary.

Orrido di Bellano

The Cadriano cross

Monte Albiga

Greenway of the Patriarchs

Where to eat in Varenna

Picnics in Varenna

Info on Varenna

Villas on Lake Como

Torno - Villa Pliniana

One day trips on Lake Como

The northern Lake: to Abbazia di Piona - Bellano

Bellano

Gravedona

Piona

Tremezzo - Villa Carlotta

Villa Carlotta's Gardens

How to get to Villa Carlotta

Where to eat in Tremezzo

Picnics in Tremezzo

Tremezzo - Via Regina - Greenway of Lake Como

Via Regina

Via dei Monti Lariani - a challenging trail

Info on Tremezzo

Villa del Balbianello

History

Villa del Balbianello - Guido Monzino collection

How to get to Villa del Balbianello

Biking around Lake Como

Challenging mountain road

Bike rentals

How to get back to Milano from Varenna

Other tourism guides

The Author

Travel books of the same author:

Things to Know

Lake Como

Lake Como - demis.nl public domain

Visit Lake Como

Lake Como is one of the lakes northwest of the Lombardy region and north of Milan. It is one of the largest of northern Italy's famous lakes and one of the most popular with visitors because of its beautiful towns and villages and the scenery with the lake surrounded by hills and mountains.

The lake is long and thin and about 50 kilometers long from north to south. To the south of Bellagio, the southern half of the lake is divided into two separate 'branches' (like an upside-down Y), with Onno and Lecco on the eastern fork and Como Cernobio at the base of the western split.

Lake Como is part of every tour and trip that comes to the region because of the imposing villas and gardens, the pretty port towns, and the lovely lake scenery, but of course, this can make it quite a busy destination!

The central area of Lake Como is the most visited part of the lake, the north and south areas also have their places of interest but are generally less impressive. Having all the main attractions quite close together is also convenient for visitors with limited time.

The towns are generally close together but separated by the lake, it's not a problem as across the lake there are very low-cost regular ferries, subsidized by the Regional Government, so traveling around is easy.

I recommend you stay in Varenna, or Menaggio for your vacation.

Visit Como

Map Description automatically generated

Downtown Como

Tourists sometimes consider Como as merely an access point to the lake. Instead, it is pleasant to visit and has an impressive cathedral and historic center.

Como also has a large area that is rather overdeveloped, and the town is quite a distance from the famous picturesque villages on the shores of central Lake Como. I recommend you stay at one of the more scenic resorts and take a trip to Como, rather than remain here as a base for a visit, but don't miss seeing it, the town center is very charming.

Should you stay in one of the renowned vacation villages on the lake, you don’t need to take your car to visit Como. The lake's public navigation service is very efficient, with both slow boats that stop at almost every village and high-speed hydrofoils that quickly connect the significant localities.

Arriving in Como by car, it is recommended to park the car in one of the several parking garages available around town and get around by walking the city.

The same applies, of course, if you arrive in Como by train. In both cases, it is best to start the visit of Como with a visit to the Cathedral.

From the train station of Como Lago, it's just a 450 m walk, from the station of Como San Giovanni it's nine minutes.

Piazza Cavour, the large open square next to the lake north of the town, has the main tourist information center. It is an excellent place to start the visit—the courtyard, surrounded by tall, colorful houses with plenty of shops and cafes. Walk to the Diga Foranea in the middle of the harbor to have a nice view.

If you follow the path towards the west along the shores of Lake Como, you cross a park to reach the Voltiano Temple, a museum dedicated to Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the battery.

The center of Como is relatively compact and largely pedestrianized, with numerous attractive streets and houses, several piazzas and impressive religious monuments, and other buildings. The most important historical monuments in the center are around Piazza Duomo, which is dominated by the cathedral.

The Como Cathedral

Como Cathedral - Stefano Stabile

Begun in 1396, the Cathedral of Como is the last of the Gothic cathedrals built in Lombardy. It took three and a half centuries to construct and has a late Gothic-Renaissance style.

The dome was designed by Philip Juvara (1687-1736), the architect of the King of Sardinia. The windows are from the nineteenth century and were created and designed by Joseph Pompeo Bertini. There are sixteenth-century tapestries, paintings by Gauedenzio Ferrari, Bernardino Luini, Morazzone (XVI-XVII century), among the many works of art that adorn the interior frescoes in the sacristy (built in the first half of the seventeenth century), and sculptures of Rodari.

The Broletto

The Broletto - Jagger~dewiki

Attached to the cathedral is the Romanesque-Gothic Broletto dating back to 1215, the center of the political and economic life of the city. Unfortunately, it was destroyed several times in moments of heightened tension between the Como factions.

It was renovated by the nobility of Como and opened as a theater in 1765. The Broletto was a living testimony of many battles between the aristocracy and the commoners. Many dances were held at that