Lake Como day trip from Switzerland

You don't need to go as far south as Como town, and it would be a long boat ride back up the lake if you did. You can ake a shorter train ride to Lugano, Switzerland, and connect there by local bus #C12 (1 hour each way) to Menaggio, near your named destinations on Lake Como.

Lucerne, Lugano, and many other cities in Switzerland are also on lakes and have mountains. They are not the same as Lake Como, or as Italian, but still good for photography.

What about exploring the Lake Luzern area instead? You would save a long train voyage.

It takes about an hour and a half by ferry from Como to Bellagio, for example. That's three hours of your six. Another two hours for a leisurely lunch. Whatever time is left for walking around.

Laura was posting at the same time, she is right about not having to go all the way to Como. But Bellagio is about halfway to Menaggio, so you are still spending a lot of time on the ferry.

Thanks for pointing out the Lugano option. After checking the train schedules, it looks like that would give me at least an hour or two extra time in the region. Is the bus from Lugano to Menaggio well marked (does it leave from outside the train station)?

I know I'll see lots of lakes in Switzerland, but as Laura pointed out, I'm going for the Italian feel, and well, the food too :-). I also think the villas dotting the lake are unlike anything you'd find in Switzerland.

How many days are you in Lucerne? I'd just explore that and not head to Lake Como unless you are there for 5-7 days already.

Lucerne to Bellagio or Varenna will be a long trek just to spend a few hours there, but if you get an early start, you will enjoy the amazing scenery :-)

So you already know that your best option will be to take a train from Lucerne to Lugano then a bus to Menaggio then ferry to Bellagio & or Varenna.

Here is the bus schedule(winter schedules effective Sept 12, 2014 -June8, 2015):http://www.asfautolinee.it/Portals/5/Documents/Orari/I1213/lago/LAGO-invernale.pdf

The new schedule should be available sometime before June.

Check this website: http://www.asfautolinee.it/en/home

• Click on 'Extraurban timetables'
• then click on 'Orario Completo LAGO' (very top of list) to download pdf.

If you check current schedules (Bus Line C12- pages 28-33) the last bus departing from Menaggio will be at 17:35, arriving in Lugano at 18:34.

According to google maps, the bus terminal in Lugano (Lugano Cassarate - Terminal Bus) is about 1.5 km from the train station, so you will need to take a local city bus or taxi to get you from train station to bus station.

Once you reach Menaggio, you can take a ferry across to Bellagio or Varenna as it only takes 15 minutes or so.

I actually took some of the best photos from the ferry boat as we approached or departed each of the lakeside villages.

Hopefully you will have nice weather in September.

We were there at the beginning of October & enjoyed one beautiful sunny day & one foggy, drizzly day.

You can check the ferry schedule here:http://www.navlaghi.it/eng/c_illago.html

You may want to buy the day pass (for the mid-lake) & that way you can take the ferry to Bellagio then Varenna (or vice-versa) then back to Menaggio.

Have a wonderful trip!

Priscilla, thank you so much for the detailed insight. I actually found these websites yesterday when I was doing some in depth research for this trip. What confuses me about that bus schedule are all the codes. But I'm assuming that Gior means everyday, right? And since this schedule only covers mid-Sept through early June, do you think there will me more frequent bus trips for the summer months?

Gabriel,

Yes, Gior means everyday (weekdays & holidays)

Refer to pg. 9 of schedules sent previously to decipher all the abbreviations & pg. 28 which is specific for bus line C12

For example:

• F6= weekdays & Saturday
• F5= weekdays excluding Saturday
• Fest= holidays (holidays & it also means Sundays)

I don't speak Italian but I'm learning a bit & use google translate for help ;-)

keep in mind that buses travel less frequently on Sundays.

I don't know if schedules will change during the summer months.

Many of these buses are used by school children so since school will be out, schedules may change but tourism will increase, so will just have to wait for new schedules ;-)

Thanks again!

It is true that in the lake region every time you turn an angle a new landscape opens, but the general feeling of Lake Maggiore (Locarno and Ascona), Lake Lugano and Lake Como are very similar. Going to one of the Swiss lakes could shave some time from your schedule. Lake Maggiore is shared between Italy and Switzerland so maybe with careful planning you can have a boat trip to Italy from Locarno.

The railway section between Lucerne and Bellinzona/Lugano is very scenic, but it is quite slow and Swiss railways are expensive. The trip is slow as the line turn endlessly over itself; Biasca is 30 miles as the birds flies from Erstfeld but the train takes more than one hour. In the future a very long tunnel will link these places saving a lot of time.

As for the food, we have to admit that in Italy is better. Italian Switzerland should have about the same food as northern Italy, but restaurants are much more expensive. While I had in the past some nice lunches in private homes of Italian Switzerland (I briefly worked there and know some locals), my restaurant experiences there were always under the Italian quality and quality/price ratio. Still, if you visit the Swiss lakes you can spare a couple of hours traveling on an already very long day.

You hit the nail on the coffin. I've been to Italy many times and I have to say I love me some good Italian food. And if you're saying it will be less expensive than on the Swiss side, even better. I'm sure I will have some sort of Swiss Rail Pass because I'll be in Switzerland for 5 days, so I'm sure it won't be as expensive of a trek. I understand it's slow, but hey I once did the trek between Rome and Pompeii, which totaled about 3-4 hours I didn't fret about it. And the fact that I'll see some beautiful sights along the train route will make the otherwise long train ride more enjoyable. Now, of course, I think I will have to keep this day trip idea as a possible side trip. I wouldn't want to get down to the lake and have it raining.