Lake Como trains

Trenitalia website. Train from Milano Centrale to Como S Giovani train station. 40 minute ride if I remember correctly.

Trains are not difficult to understand. But if u have travel anxiety sometimes it is just easier and more relaxing to take guided Tour. Your hotel could steer u with this. Or look into a multi day bus tour with a tour group like trafalgar, Globus etc.

There are three different train lines in the Lake Como area.

The line to Lecco and Varenna and the east coast of the lake leaves from Milano Centrale. A few trains may leave from Milano Porta Garibaldi.

The commuter line to Como Lago Nord, just by the pier, leaves from Milano Cadorna.

The Como S. Giovanni station is somewhat distant from the lake shore and is on the Milan to Chiasso and Switzerland line. It handles both regional and international traffic, with trains from Milano Centrale and Porta Garibaldi.

All the three Milan station (Cadorna, Porta Garibaldi, Centrale) are on the underground green MM2 line.

Judy,

My first stop is Milan and would like to take a day trip to Lake Como. I have read that starting in Varenna is a good idea and working my way back to Lake Como to catch train to Milan.

I’d suggest taking the Regionale train from Milano Centrale (main train station in Milan) to Varenna (one hour journey), then the same in reverse.
You can buy your tickets at Milano Centrale.

You can check train schedules on Trenitalia.com and you’ll need the following train stations:

Milan= Milano Centrale
Varenna = Varenna -Esino

You’ll need to validate (date/time stamp) your ticket prior to boarding the train to avoid expensive fines.

Once the train approaches Varenna ( right after going through a tunnel) you’ll want to get ready to get off the train which only stops for 1-2 minutes.

Hope this helps. Have a wonderful trip!

Edited to add...
Once you reach Varenna, you can take a ferry to the nearby lakeside villages; Bellagio, Menaggio, etc...

Enjoy!

There is Lake Como and then there is the town of Como on the southern end of the lake. It appears you're thinking of going from Varenna to Como during your day trip. That ferry ride from takes quite awhile. I would agree with the previous poster that taking the train to Varenna, visiting Bellagio and/or Menaggio by ferry, then returning by ferry to Varenna and taking the train back to Milan
probably makes more sense for a day trip .

We did a day trip by train from Milan Centrale to Varenna. We took the ferry to Menaggio and rented a boat to go around the lake for 3 hours. It was a lot of fun. We did not go to the town of Como as that is a longer boat ride away than what we had time for. We then went back to Varenna by ferry and had dinner along the water there. There are many nice restaurants along the waterfront. We took the train back to Milan that evening. It was a wonderful way to spend the day and a great day out of Milan. We got our return tickets back to Milan at the Varenna train station's travel agency when we arrived that morning. Many people were also doing the same thing!

Thank you everyone for your assistance!