Bellagio or Varenna

jen,

I'd also recommend Varenna. I've always found it good for "people watching" and it would be a wonderful place to spend a couple of nights. I'm not sure that Bellagio will be that much more fast paced, so either location will be good, but transportation is easier from Varenna.

In addition to Albergo Milano, you could also look at Hotel Royal Victoria or Villa Cipressi. If you decide to stay in Bellagio (and your budget will allow), I'm sure you'd be very comfortable at Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni (be sure to watch their "Romantic Experience" video).

Congratulations on your anniversary!

I spent 2 nights in Varenna at the Royal Victoria, a little bit of a larger hotel, very nice and comfortable. Varenna is a nice, small lakeside town, great for strolling, with some nice smaller restaurants, and good ferry connections to other towns. Spent most of a day in Bellagio, and really enjoyed that. It was certainly more developed and bustling during the day, with many more shops, various restaurants and many more people (visitors), at least during the day. Spent a couple very nice hours walking around a lakeside estate just outside of town, beautiful wooded areas and gardens, with walking paths, a small museum, really lovely. This once belonged to a former VP of Italy, in the time of Napoleon. I believe there is at least one other such estate at the other end of Bellagio, not sure how similar. Varenna is definitely more quaint, not remote but certainly quiet. I also stopped briefly in nearby Menaggio, which I did not find particularly interesting or especially attractive, so I caught the next boat out of Dodge, so to speak. I expect you would enjoy staying in either Varenna or Bellagio, and would likely visit the other by ferry. Have an evening and dinner in each town one night, and next time you will be the resources providing comparisons!

You could consider staying in Como itself for the experience of a larger city on the lake.

I have been to both and I prefer Bellagio. Verenna is very nice but a bit small. I think Bellagio has a lot more restaurants and good ferry service. We rented an apartment but we ate at a hotel once that looked real nice overlooking the lake called Hotel Bellini. Might want to check it out.

Remember you can use Google Maps Streetview to take a look around these places for yourself, to see what appeals most to you.

Another vote for Bellagio. We stayed at Borgo Le Terazze and it was far enough out of town so that it felt quiet and had beautiful views, but was just a short shuttle ride or walk to town. We day tripped to Varenna and I had to chuckle when I saw blue travel books in about 75% of everyone's hands.

Jen
My husband and I stayed in Varenna in October, 2 years ago for 3 days and found it to be too quiet. Some places were closed at that time of year. A day trip to Bellagio sold us as to where we would stay if we ever went back to Lake Como.

Varenna can get pretty closed up by late October, but I wouldn't have that concern for Oct. 2 - 5. Both Varenna and Bellagio are full-service towns in high season (unlike, for instance, the Swiss mountain village of Gimmelwald or the Italian mountain village of Castelrotto).