Lake Como District

We're in the same boat (haha!) as far as Lake Como goes. We've been all over Italy on a dozen trips but never to the Lakes. We're going in June and will be up there for a week. We narrowed it down to Bellagio or Varenna. Both seem to be wonderful, with Bellagio a bit busier and Varenna a bit funkier. We opted for Bellagio and got a deal at the Serbelloni. Expensive, but we're throwing caution to the wind and going for it. It seems to me it all depends what you want to do and how much you want to spend, but these two towns look like the most fun. But, hey, what do we know!

Both Bellagio and Varenna are good choices and I don’t think you would go wrong with either. Varenna is much smaller and not as busy as Bellagio. I think Varenna is has a little more character. We spent three nights there and I felt I most all of it. If you like to shop, Bellagio would be a better choice.

Kathleen,

My mom and I enjoyed our visit to Varenna a few years ago. It’s a quiet town with a lovely lakeside promenade.

We bought the ferry day pass and cruised along the midlake and visited other lakeside towns including Bellagio.

Have a wonderful trip!

Any town on the mid lake (Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna being the main towns in the area).

Varenna is very cute and very small, with only about 800 residents, but very popular with tourists because it can be easily reached by train from Milan.

Bellagio is bigger and busier, with about 3,800 residents, and plenty more tourists. It’s probably the most famous town on the lake.

Menaggio is a bit smaller than Bellagio, with 3,000 residents. There are tourists primarily in the quaint “downtown” (basically Piazza Garibaldi and nearby streets in front of the lake shore) but not as crowded as Bellagio. They have nightly classical concerts on Piazza Garibaldi in summer. If you have a car, Menaggio has better parking options (and you can easily cross the border into Lugano from there.

kathleen,

I prefer staying in Varenna as it's a very pleasant smaller town and also more convenient for transportation. Varenna is large enough that it has a good selection of hotels and other accommodations and as others have mentioned, the lakeside promenade is wonderful and a great place to enjoy Il dolce far niente.

If you have the RS Italy guidebook, there are good suggestions there for accommodations and restaurants. If you don't have the book, here are a few suggestions....

• https://www.varenna.net/ (good restaurant, a favourite with many here)
• http://www.royalvictoria.com/1/1/EN/Home_page.htm (right in the main piazza, across from the church)
• http://www.hotelvillacipressi.it/en/ (also in the main piazza, also a good restaurant).
• http://www.olivedo.it/en/hotel-olivedo/ (right across from the Ferry dock, a bit more "basic" but I've found the rooms the be very comfortable, also has a good restaurant).

Unless you have mobility issues, you should be able to walk to any of these hotels from the station.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful suggestions. I think we made our decision.