Lake Como Activities

joannie,

Locarno may not be the best place for making day trips to Lago di Como due to the travel times, but I suppose it's possible. The "best" places to see are somewhat subjective, but I prefer the small town of Varenna in the mid lake area, and also places like Bellagio.

A good day trip from Locarno would be to visit Stresa, which is also on Lago Maggiore. You could perhaps travel there one way by boat and the other way on the scenic Cento Valli Railway. If you decide to take the scenic train, note that it departs from the underground FART station and not the regular rail station in Locarno. It terminates at Domodossola and you'll use the regular train from there to Stresa. You'd have to check the rail and boat times to see if that will work (I've only done it in the opposite direction).

Varenna is centrally located and is quiet nice. The pace of Lake Como is so nice compared to the hustle/bustle of the cities. My wife and I ended our 14 day Italy vacation in Lake Como. After seeing all the big cities, it was nice to dine by the lake and people watch with no real itinerary of museums and churches to see! :)

We took the ferry around to the Bellagio and a few other towns during the day. It was well worth the train ride from Milan. There are a number of gardens that can be viewed, if you like and I think there are a few area cooking classes. The RS tour book does cover those.

Varenna is a good "base" to start out.

I think you booked the wrong lake madam.
Locarno is on Lake Maggiore.
I posted suggestions on lake Maggiore recently to another poster. if you use the search function you'll find that post.
If you want to see lake Como you should move closer to it. Locarno is not that conveniently located. At least Cernobbio or Como, if not further up in Menaggio or Bellagio or Varenna.