Please sign in to post.

Best place to stay in Lake Como

We are planning to visit Lake Como area in ealy July for 4 nights this year, I have looked at Lake Como forum and seems like a lot of people prefer Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio for staying.
We were looking for place where there is great view and pool and couple place in Varenna are not available for dates.
Now looking at Laglio area, Grand Hotel Imperiale seems great, if we stay at Laglio area, do we need car to get around?
Another place is just south of Bellagio, the hotel is Borgo le Terreze, it is 10mins drive from Bellagio, that hotel has grea up hill view but if you don't want car, then you rely on their shuttle.
My concern is Laglio area vs Vergonese ( south of Bellagio) , which one is better?

If there is any other place that would be great place to stay, please let me know.

Thank you

Posted by
2554 posts

The reason people recommend Varenna, Bellagio, and Mennagio is that it has the best ferry connections. We decided in 2021 to go to Italy and there was no availability in any of these towns. We ended up staying in Bellano which is just one step further north on train line that Varenna is on. It wasn’t quite as convenient but very workable without a car. It might be worth a look.

The ferry is the best way to get around so the question is how far are you from a ferry. My sister in law and family rented a beautiful house on Lake Como but had to rent a car just to get to a ferry.

Posted by
99 posts

I highly recommend Varenna and Hotel Royal Victoria. It has gorgeous views, a delicious full hot breakfast, and a pool.

When we were booking, the website said they were sold out, but we emailed them and we were in. We got one of the rooms with a full balcony and is was about $350.

We enjoyed our location and also, visited Mennagio, which we enjoyed but seemed more bustling and full of students and families.
We loved Bellagio, also, and it's beautiful shops and we had a fabulous dinner there, but overall was a little too posh for us.

For us, Varenna was just right.

Posted by
15398 posts

Not all towns get the frequent mid lake shuttle ferries and Midlake boat service: Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio, Cadenabbia, get the most. Also Tremezzo, Villa Carlotta, San Giovanni, Lenno,, get a few more. Most of the others, including Laglio, get only the Como-Colico ferries, or the Lecco Bellagio ferries, which are not as frequent. The Borgo Le Terrazze seems to be on the hill above San Giovanni, and I’m not sure about the walk down to the dock. If you have a car, you can stay anywhere, but if you rely solely on ferries, then the above towns are a better option. Have you tried Menaggio? It’s a nice village and it might have more choices since it’s a bit larger and not as crowded with visitors as Bellagio or Varenna. In June and July they have a classical music concert on Piazza Garibaldi, on the lake, every night. It’s lovely.

Posted by
1602 posts

We rented an apartment close to Lenno, which has fairly frequent ferry service. Nice promenade, next door to Villa del Balbianello, has a good market (Wed or Sat?), is on the Greenway del Lago, has bus service to the north and south. Two hotels with pools and lakeview rooms:

https://www.sangiorgiolenno.com/

https://www.albergolenno.com/

I'm not a big fan of Menaggio.