Best way to drive from Stresa to Bellagio

Carol,

Have you considered taking the train on this route instead of stressing about driving?

You can easily travel from Stresa to Milano Centrale, then transfer to another train to Varenna.
Once you reach Varenna, you can take a 20 minute ferry to Bellagio.

Will you be staying in Bellagio, or were you thinking of visiting as a day trip from Stresa?

If you drive, you will need to drive in part on narrow winding two lane roads. You can get on the freeway near Stresa and drive on freeways all the way to Como, but from Como to Bellagio, along the lake, it's a two lane winding highway. Same if you go up from the Lecco branch of the lake.

The drive is almost 2 hours each way. If you go by train+ferry or train+bus, you are looking at 3 and 1/2 hour travel. If you plan to visit on a day trip, it's somewhat a bit too far for my taste.

The final section from Como to Bellagio is on the lake shore - I mean literally the lake shore. The longer itinerary through Erba and the hills on the back of Bellagio may be marginally easier to drive.

Thank you for your help. We will be renting a car at Malpensa because we don't want to drive in Milan. We are planning to drive to Stresa and spend 2 nights, then to Varenna and take the ferry to Bellagio and spend 2 nights, then to Sirimone and spend a night before driving down the Dalmation coast, and flying back home from Venice.