Wife and I will travel July 2018 and stay in Lake Como. We will have 10 days on the ground. We know we spend a couple of days visiting Verona and neighboring towns in the region. We have visited the rest of Italy in previous trips. The question is are their worthwhile trips to Switzerland as day trips? Researching the Alps seemed like a lot of slow traveling. We are fit people but are not looking to hike. Appreciate the suggestions.
Posted by
11169 posts
We have been to Bellagio four times, the longest stay was two weeks. We found it hard to leave beautiful Lske Como but did go to Lake Lugano. One time we traveled for two weeks on this itinerary: Milan-Lake Maggiore- Grindelwald-Pontresina( near St-Moritz- Bellagio on Lake Como. The drive from Pontresina wasn't too difficult so maybe you could do thst( skip St-Moritz.) Also look at doing Bernini Express train from Tirano, Italy and back. The City of Como has a nice old quarter on the lake too. We had a ferry pass and went all over Lake Como. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Bainbridge Island
3107 posts
Verona is close to Lake Garda but nowhere near Lake Como.
Trips into Switzerland are a possibility, either the Alps, or the lake towns like Lugno, depending on where you stay at Lake Como.
Will you have a car?
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1557 posts
We stayed on the west side of the lake. From there we made a day out of the tiny, scenic village of Morcote (nice view if you walk a little above the village) and Lugano. A great day was spent in Bellinzona, which has a nice core and three castles. Our third foray into Switzerland involved hiking something called the Chestnut Trail, for which we had a beautiful, misty day with a light drizzle - finding a starting point for the hike proved more difficult than the hike itself. We did not purchase the highway sticker, driving strictly on side roads.
If staying on the east side of the lake, Bergamo is very much worth a visit. As another poster mentioned, you could make a long day out of the Bernina Express, something we could not do at the time because of unpredictable weather. As an aside, driving around Lake Como is not easy, and the scenery to the immediate south is not attractive.