Visit Varenna

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/where-to-stay-menaggio-or-bellagio

Check out Hotel Villa Cipressi. We would stay there again.

There aren't a lot of indoor sights on Lake Como aside from the museums and such you'd encounter in the town of Como itself (where most folks on this forum do not seem to go). There are several fancy villas with gardens overlooking the lake. Sometimes both can be visited, other times just the gardens. Villa Carlotta and Villa Balbianello are on the west side of the lake, south of Menaggio. There's hourly bus service down the road, which would be helpful if you wanted to go to both those places the same day; the distance isn't walkable. The lake ferries might also be helpful, and you'll need a ferry in any case to cross the lake if you decide to stay in Varenna. The ferry schedules change quite a lot, seasonally, so you should check out the current schedule before you head over to Italy. The ferry tickets are bought at the dock on the day of travel; you cannot buy them in advance, and they are not for any specific sailing.

I very much enjoyed feeling a bit like an explorer as I walked the southern part of the Lake Como Greenway, which is on the west side of the lake. Earlier posts on this forum have mentioned one or more interesting walks north of Varenna.

My trip was at the very end of August and things may be different in April, but I enjoyed the rather large market (mostly crafts) along the waterfront in Bellagio, near the ferry dock. I was told it's every Sunday. The market in Lenno I had read about before the trip, which I think is on Saturdays, was a big disappointment (very small, and I found it offered mostly imported cheap stuff), but since I was in Lenno to go to the Villa Balbianello anyway, the market wasn't important.

Questions about Lake Como appear on the forum frequently. The forum's search function isn't great, so I often use Google instead, but you can find additional information about activities in the area by searching or by simply scrolling backward through the Italy forum. I see someone has asked about cooking classes in the area, so you might look for that thread if you have any interest.

We stayed at the Hotel Olivedo in Varenna last month and loved it! We had a room on the top floor with a beautiful view. Breakfast was nice too. It is an easy walk from the train and right at the ferry.