Italian Lakes

We liked charming Menaggio a lot! Along with Varenna and Bellagio, it's situated in the Lake Como Golden Triangle.

I highly recommend Hotel Garni Corona: www.hotelgarnicorona.com.

hey hey travelinmaven
i'm sure you realize you are traveling during high high season when it's hot hot, so so crowded. at any of the lakes. lake como will be crowded with many daytrippers, long lines for trains/ferries waiting how long who knows, restaurants packed.
many people here mention stresa on lake maggiore with easy train transportation.
we stayed on lake garda at hotel nettuno bardolino several years ago for their annual wine festival "festa dell'uva" late september/early october. germans and austrians, on the lake with gorgeous mountain and lake views, restaurants/shops, ferries. the bottom of lake (pescheira del garda or desenzano del garda) are transportaion hubs. many like upper lake but takes a while to travel with bus, private driver or rent a car. (if renting car mandatory of IDP aaa.com/IDP)
traffic can be bad/bumper to bumper, parking can be PITA, many are on bus tours/daytrip to sirmione from milan/verona. very touristy and very crowded busy during day. many other towns/villages to see, ferry rides across lake
rossiwrites.com lake garda
lakegardatravel.net
click towns, things to do, get around
hope you have a great time and find somewhere to stay
aloha

Of course, Lake Como is beautiful. And we are on the lake every year for about 2 weeks. Without a car the best destination is Varenna. From there you easily can explore the lake by ferry, or the eastern side up and down by train.
Ofcourse, Varenna is crowded. But if you stay there, you could leave before the crowds arrive and come back after to enjoy the silence.
If you decide to stay there I can help with informations for day-trips or hikes.
The other Lake what comes in mind is Lake Garda, another Lake we know very well. We will be there again next week. Here I can recommend staying in Garda Town or Bardolino. There you have the best connections around the lake by ferr and by bus. You also can do a daytrip by public bus to Verona, f.e.
But whatever you decide, don't wait too long. It is high season, so all the best accommodations are fully booked.

I would like to second Menaggio. We stayed in Varenna in early June, which we loved of course. We visited Menaggio one day, and we really enjoyed it. It's very pretty, and it was much less crowded than Varenna and Bellagio. There are some nice gift shops and restaurants. If we were to return to Lake Como, that is where we would stay.

Bellagio was MOBBED when we there. In fact, we got off the ferry, and when we saw how crowded it was, and the very, very long line waiting to get on the next ferry, we got in that line for the next ferry and left. I was afraid we wouldn't get on a ferry if we waited.

I think Lake Garda would be a nice choice, too. We stopped in Sirmione on Lake Garda for about 2 hours on our way to the Dolomites, and we thought it was very pretty and quieter than Lake Como. But this was in May.

I also prefer Menaggio, especially from the end of June or July when I tend to travel to Italy.

I go by car, and Menaggio has plenty of available free parking even in July that is walking distance from the pedestrianized town center. At that time of the year they have free classic concerts on Piazza Garibaldi every night, so you can enjoy free music while eating at one of the sidewalk restaurants.

Bellagio and Varenna are very nice and quaint, but they are way more overcrowded in summer. Since you are not planning to rent a car you can stay there and not have to worry about parking, but if you go at the end of June I can tell you that you must be booking accommodations soon, because they are by far the most popular towns on the lake.

I agree, Menaggio is nice, for a day-trip. Why I don't like to stay there: It is too shadow. Because od the high mountain behind on the west of the town, the sun goes down very early. Maybe this is a "plus" in high summer?
The other reason why I almays like more the eastern side: I love watching the sunset over the lake.
There are also other nice towns on the eastern side:
Bellano, only one train station nord of Varenna, with the beautiful gorge there
Mandelo, a bit more south if you love a bit bigger town.
Or the very quiet Lierna, a bit south, with a small but nice beach.
But none of them have the good connections. You almost always have to go by train.
Oh, and yes, I agree: Bellagio is terrible overcrowdes during the day (and overpriced!)

I checked: in Varenna, the sun will set around 8:30 pm in late June.

So, with due respect to rei.beate, the OP's party will likely be dining at a restaurant -- not gazing at the Earth's horizon.

RS's pick Varenna is great for reaching Lake Como's Golden Triangle by train and a day trip. Menaggio is the better choice for hoteling. :)

If you stay at the recommended Hotel Garni Corona, the excellent restaurant CĒRA Bistrot shares the same building.

Wherever you dine though, remember to make a reservation!

Besides the parking situation and the thinner crowds compared to Varenna and Bellagio in July, I like Menaggio because I like to see the sunrise over the lake. It’s also very close to Giulino di Tremezzina, where Mussolini was shot and killed. I like to visit the town where Fascism ended.

I stayed in Varenna this past September and loved the incredible views, preferring the vantage points from there over those of Bellagio. If you go to Varenna, you should get restaurant reservations in advance. I didn't and had limited choices.

How do you like to spend your time? I enjoyed the hike and visit to Castello di Vezio, and the visits to the gardens at Hotel Villa Cipressi and Villa Monastero.

It is easier to get to Lake Como on public transportation than to Lake Garda, but I found a wealth of things to do at Lake Garda. I stayed in Torbole in 2017. I went canyoning, rented a bicycle for a day (there was a route that was fairly flat), took the Malcesine Mount Baldo Aerial tramway, and explored some of the other towns on the lake, using public transportation. The public beach in Torbole gives great lake access (better than Lake Como). In early September, the temperature was perfect for swimming. I think you may be late for finding a hotel or AirBnB reservations, however.

I'll wait for giving more information and suggestions until the OP comes back.

Menaggio. To the commenter who said Menaggio was better for hotels and sunsets, methinks they’ve never spent any meaningful time there.

thank you to everyone for all the great information!

Since, as noted, we have already been to Varenna in June and are familiar with the area and are aware of the crowds, heat and sunset timing (which often makes it difficult to sit out on the lake's edge and eat dinner comfortably) at that time for year, all the information about Menaggio is very helpful! We took the ferry to Menaggio, but only to catch the bus to Lugano. The area to the right of the ferry is not that picturesque, so we hadn't considered Menaggio.

I also really appreciate the information about other towns and Lake Guarda. That was exactly the information I was looking for.

Not surprising, people have very different views, but it is great to get people's first hand recommendations and be able to ask specific questions that meet ones own needs, which is what makes this forum more helpful than reading general reviews.