What to See at Lake Como: The 15 Best Things to Do, Area by Area

Lake Como is shaped like an inverted Y and is about fifty kilometres long. Its highlights are spread across three arms, most of them are separated by water, and the ferry between two of them can take two hours.

So plan by place: decide which part of the lake you are in, then pick what to see there. This list is grouped by area, with a note on how long each stop takes.

If you’re planning a single day from Milan, start with the Milan to Lake Como day trip guide and come back here to fill in the details. If you would like a guide and the boats arranged for you, the From Milan: Lake Como Cruise with Visits to Como & Bellagio (4.7★ from 2,135 reviews, from €66) covers Como’s old town, a cruise past the villas and free time in Bellagio. Check dates below.

The central lake: Bellagio, Varenna, Tremezzo, Lenno

The postcard section, where the three arms meet. Everything below is a short ferry hop from everything else. If you only have one day, spend it here.

1. Villa del Balbianello

The most photographed building on the lake: an eighteenth-century house on a wooded peninsula with a stone loggia looking down both branches of the water. Its terraces played Naboo in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and appeared in Casino Royale.

There are two catches. It is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays, and you cannot drive there: access is by boat or a steep one-kilometre footpath from Lenno. Booking is required even for the gardens.

Allow 90 minutes to three hours. Full detail: Villa del Balbianello.

2. Bellagio’s stepped alleys and Punta Spartivento

Bellagio’s old town is a set of flower-hung stairways climbing from the water, of which Salita Serbelloni is the famous one. Walk ten minutes north to Punta Spartivento (“the point that divides the wind”), where the lake opens in three directions at once. It is free, flat and takes minutes, and it is the best free view on the lake.

Allow two hours for the town. Full detail: Bellagio guide.

3. The Passeggiata degli Innamorati, Varenna

A walkway pinned to the cliff face just above the water, running along Varenna’s lakefront. It takes ten minutes end to end and is the prettiest short walk on Lake Como. Go early: by mid-morning it is a queue with a view.

Allow 15 minutes. Full detail: Varenna guide.

4. Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo

The botanical heavyweight: a vast terraced garden famous for its azaleas and rhododendrons in spring, plus a museum with Canova sculptures. It is five minutes’ walk from the Cadenabbia pier and open daily from 20 March to 8 November in 2026, with selected weekends after that.

If you want gardens more than architecture, this is the one.

Allow two hours, easily four.

5. Villa Melzi gardens, Bellagio

A neoclassical waterfront garden laid out for Napoleon’s Italian vice-president, with a Japanese water garden, a chapel and an orangery museum. It opens daily in season, needs no booking and is largely accessible, which makes it the most reliable garden visit on the lake.

Allow an hour.

6. Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi, Varenna

Two gardens side by side in Varenna. Monastero is a former convent with a botanical garden running nearly two kilometres along the shore. Cipressi is smaller, quieter and terraced, bought by the townspeople in 1980 to keep it in public hands. It closes intermittently for weddings, so check first. A combined ticket usually covers both.

Allow 90 minutes for both.

7. Castello di Vezio, above Varenna

A ruined medieval watchtower reached by a steep cobbled climb of 20 to 30 minutes through olive groves. The 360-degree view over the centre of the lake is the best on the eastern shore, and the grounds are scattered with ghost-like plaster figures that have become the castle’s signature.

One correction: the falconry displays were permanently suspended in October 2022, though many sites still advertise them.

Allow two hours including the climb.

Other experiences you might enjoy

Popular add-ons: a cruise from Como past Villa d’Este, a crossing between Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio, the Brunate funicular, or a guided day from Milan that adds Lugano:

The western shore: Lenno to Griante

Quieter than the central triangle, and the best walking on the lake.

8. The Greenway del Lago di Como

A ten-kilometre waymarked path along the western shore from Colonno to Griante, following stretches of the ancient Via Regina through Sala Comacina, Ossuccio, Lenno, Mezzegra and Tremezzo. It alternates flat lakeside sections with staircases and paths through olive terraces, passing Romanesque churches, historic villas and viewpoints.

The clever part: ferry piers and the C10 bus run along its whole length, so you can walk one or two sections and take a boat back instead of committing to the lot. There are picnic areas at Ossuccio, Lenno and Tremezzo. There are no shops or pharmacies directly on the route, so carry water.

Allow 3–4 hours for the full route, or 60–90 minutes for a section.

9. Sacro Monte di Ossuccio

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, and one of the lake’s great overlooked places. Fourteen baroque chapels containing hundreds of life-size statues climb through olive groves to the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Succour. The ascent takes 30 to 40 minutes, and the view over the Golfo di Venere at the top is, to our eyes, the finest on the lake.

It sits directly off the Greenway, so the two pair naturally.

Allow 90 minutes.

10. Isola Comacina

Lake Como’s only island, inhabited since Roman times and an archaeological site of real significance: the medieval settlement here was destroyed in the twelfth century and never rebuilt. The ruins and the surviving church make for an unusual hour. Boats run across from Sala Comacina and Ossuccio.

Allow 90 minutes including the crossing.

Como town and the first basin

The southern end: closest to Milan, furthest from the famous villas.

11. Como’s Duomo and old town

Como is a working city with a silk-manufacturing history, not a resort, and an hour on foot shows you its best side. The cathedral is an odd and rather wonderful hybrid (Gothic below, Renaissance above, with a baroque dome), and the walled streets around it are handsome.

Allow 1–2 hours.

12. The Brunate funicular

Opened in 1894, it climbs steeply from beside the Como lakefront to the village of Brunate in about seven minutes, with a view down the whole southwestern arm. Walk fifteen minutes further up to the lighthouse for a better viewpoint than the one everyone stops at. Tickets are bought in person at the station, or you can pair the ride with a cruise: the Lake Como Boat Tour with Brunate Funicular and Scenic Views (4.4★ from 189 reviews, from €59) adds a one-hour shared boat tour and a priority funicular ticket.

Allow 2 hours including time at the top.

13. Cernobbio and the villa shoreline by boat

The first basin’s grand houses (Villa d’Este, Villa Erba, Villa Pizzo, and Villa Oleandra at Laglio, which belongs to George Clooney) are almost all visible only from the water. A one- or two-hour boat tour from Como covers them. Our pick on GetYourGuide is the Lake Como: Classic Wooden Boat Cruise Tour (4.6★ from 531 reviews, from €63), a shared wooden boat with a one-hour option from the Villa Margherita pier in Como.

Be clear that this is not the famous villa stretch: those are an hour and a half further north. See Lake Como boat tours compared.

Allow 1–2 hours.

On and around the water

14. Ride the public ferry

Not a tour: the scheduled public boat. It is the cheapest great thing to do on Lake Como, a slow passage between villages with the villas and the mountains sliding past, for a few euros. The Varenna–Bellagio–Menaggio crossings are short and frequent; the full Como–Colico run is a proper voyage.

Buy a day pass if you’re doing three or four hops. See the Lake Como ferry guide.

Allow anything from 15 minutes to a full day.

15. Orrido di Nesso

A waterfall dropping through a narrow cleft in the rock at the village of Nesso, spanned by an old stone bridge. It is the usual turning point for two-hour boat tours out of Como, such as the Lake Como: 2h Small-Group Boat Tour with Prosecco & Villas (4.5★ from 411 reviews, from €120), and it photographs far better than it sounds. Bellano, on the eastern shore, has a comparable gorge with walkways; check the access arrangements before making a trip of it.

Allow an hour if visiting by land.

If you only have limited time

The mistake to avoid is spreading yourself across the whole lake. Two towns and one villa, done properly, beat five towns seen from a boat window.

What to skip

Not everything here earns its reputation:

• The slow boat from Como to Bellagio, if you’re short of time. Two hours each way is a beautiful way to lose a day. Take the hydrofoil or the bus, or start from Varenna (every Como to Bellagio option compared).
• Waterfront restaurants in Bellagio and Varenna. They are not bad, but you pay for the view. Walk two streets uphill.
• Villa Serbelloni park, unless you specifically want the guided tour. It’s booking-only, a stiff climb, and you see the park, not the villa. Punta Spartivento gives you the view for free.
• Chasing celebrity villas. Clooney’s house, the Bond villa and the House of Gucci villa are all private, all viewed from the water, and two of them aren’t the ones the tours claim.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lake Como best known for?

Its villas and gardens (Balbianello, Carlotta, Melzi and Monastero), the villages of Bellagio and Varenna, and the mountain scenery around the water. It also has a long film history, most famously as Naboo in Attack of the Clones.

What is the number one attraction at Lake Como?

Villa del Balbianello, on most counts, for its setting, its gardens and its film associations. Bear in mind it closes on Mondays and Wednesdays and can only be reached on foot or by boat.

Can you see Lake Como in one day?

You can see one part of it well. The central lake (Varenna, Bellagio and one or two villas) makes a comfortable, rewarding day. Attempting the whole lake in a day means spending most of it on boats.

What is the prettiest part of Lake Como?

The central section where the three arms meet, between Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and Lenno. It has the best villas, the shortest crossings and the most dramatic mountain backdrop.

Is Lake Como worth visiting for a day?

Yes. From Milan it’s about an hour by train each way, which leaves a full day at the lake. It’s one of the best day trips from any Italian city.

What can you do at Lake Como for free?

Punta Spartivento in Bellagio, the Passeggiata degli Innamorati in Varenna, the Greenway walk, Como’s old town and cathedral, and walking the lakefronts. The ferry costs little and is one of the best experiences on the lake.

Opening seasons, closure days and access arrangements change seasonally across all of these sites. Everything above was checked against official sources in October 2026. Verify individual attractions for your date, particularly Villa del Balbianello’s Monday and Wednesday closures.

Also worth reading: the Milan to Lake Como day trip guide for three one-day itineraries, the best time to visit Lake Como for when the villas open, the Lake Como ferry guide, Villa del Balbianello, the Bellagio guide and the Varenna guide. Every guided option is on our Lake Como day trips page.