which village on Lake Como

The Como towns most often mentioned here are Varenna (smaller) and Bellagio. They both are distinctly hilly, and I don't know how readily available taxis are; there's a lot of money in Bellagio, so I imagine it has more taxis than Varenna. (Others will be able to comment on that, I assume.) Menaggio, which is also on the very handy mid-lake ferry route, is noticeably flatter. I found it very attractive but will concede that many would consider Varenna and Bellagio somewhat more picturesque. The problem is that they are more picturesque partly because of their hilly, squirrely streets.

One thing visitors to Lake Como enjoy is visiting the fancy villas and their gardens. The villas are typically set up on a hill; it would be important to figure out what sort of allowances are made for people with mobility challenges to approach them.

I haven't been to Lake Maggiore or Lake Garda recently enough to make comparisons to Lake Como.

Menaggio on Lake Come is far less crowded than tiny Varenna. which can get completely overrun with crowds delivered regularly by trains arriving all day at its train station. Menaggio is also far less crowded than Bellagio— whose fame has become a double-edged sword as it seems to be the one Lake Como town that everyone visits. In season, It can be difficult to move through the throngs of visitors on the streets of Bellagio. Mennagio has the added advantages of being relatively flat, which makes visiting it easier—and scenic because it faces the other two towns which are on the eastern shoreline of Lake Como.
Menaggio has taxis , actually has a couple Agriturismos you can stay just outside of town, and is just a 15-minute ferry ride from Bellagio and Varenna.

Both Garda and Maggiore are flatter with more room to spread out/ avoid crowds

Where are you going after this stop?

I would say that only Menaggio is suited for people with disabilities. Varenna and Bellagio are hilly and with plenty of stairs and steep alleys.

I like Varenna and we stayed there before covid, and before my wife got her white cane and rollator (4 wheeled walker). At that point we had no issues with the walk along the main road or the lower one, or joining both with some of the lanes, or getting to and onto the different ferries at the dock.

Granted that everything is up from the water, but I would say that the main road is nearly the highest bit, the church a little higher and the multi-storey car park a little higher still, but my memory is that the main road from the water is maybe 2 or 2 and a half stories to at most 3 stories. Depending on your wife's mobility issues she may be ok with that. I am confident that mine could if I was guiding her and we stopped halfway. The only problem with the rollator is that because the white cane mounts to the side and only the top is visible motorists and pedestrians don't recognise it for what it is and often don't give her the room she needs - that's why I guide her.

If there is anything else I can do to aid with access issues I'm happy to help.

THANK YOU so much; Nigel, Roberto, Christine, Kenko and A Craven! We have zero familiarity with the Lake Como region so every little tidbit you each shared is helping to bring our Lake Como options into focus for me... our trip planner.

Anyone else, have an opinion or idea I'm happy to hear them. I'll be booking our stay this week sometime.

Safe and fun travels all!
Craig
Twin Cities MN

If you are leaving from MXP after this Lake stay-Stresa is a great choice as it is closer to the airport than Milan-direct bus from Stresa to airport

Hi Christine, Not sure what you mean? Last time we traveled to Europe was 2019 so we don't know a lot about routing for this one. We plan to take a high-speed train from Rome to Milan, Then transfer to local train heading to the Lake Como area. Spend 2 nights in Lake Como and then take a train to Verona. From Verona we finish in Venice and fly out from Venice to home. No train tickets bought yet.

Craig

I've stayed in Menaggio and it's nice; one reason we chose it was because we had a car.

You might also think about staying in Como and taking ferries as day trips to another town....agree about Bellagio; too hilly, jammed with tourists...so many shops for tourists.....

It's a fairly long ferry ride from Como up to the mid-lake area. I wouldn't want to do that multiple times as the OP would need to do over the course of a 2-night stay. The great thing about staying in a place like Varenna, Bellagio or Menaggio is that the ferries run frequently and the trips to other mid-lake beauty spots don't take too long.

Thank you one and all. Going to find a place in Menagio. We love have a slower paced village. Sounds the the best fit for Nita. We love the once in a while Michene star restaurant but mostly great local food if any one has a rec. obviously a view would be a plus.

Heading out to fly fish a local SE Mn River. Should hit 50 today. Perfect!

Best
Craig

Craig-
My advice to stay in Stresa (Lake Maggiore) was only if you were flying out of Malpensa (Milan) afterwards

Since you are going to Verona next you might consider Lake Garda instead of Como
Would involve less travel and easier trains and with only 2 nights you’ll have more time to enjoy the lake, less time getting to/from

Desenzano del Garda is on the fast train line. Most hotels there will pick you up at the train station
I know this one does:
https://hotelmayersplendid.com-hotel.com

Fast train from Roma Termini change in Padova or Verona- about 4 hours total

Christine, thank you for suggesting Lake Garda and your travel time saving idea. Only question I have is Lake Garda almost the match of Lake Como for mountain / lake scenery. For scenery on a 1-10 scale how would you rate Lake Garda vs Lake Como?

BTW, I booked 4 nights in Verona. We love the movie "Letters To Juliet" filmed in Verona and are excited about having 4 nights in Verona. I know it's not nearly as loaded w/ famous sites to see as Rome but for us, we will feast our eyes on the ancient cityscape & enjoy dinning in Italian restaurants & cooking food from a local market in our rental. A good friend of ours travels worldwide monthly and lines up a heavy site seeing itinerary of Churches, historical sites, museums etc. For Nita and I we just love the Italian lifestyle and the ancient city cores. So, if there are not a ton of museums, churches etc in Verona, that won't matter to us. With Nita's mobility we can only do so much anyway. We'll be happy to enjoy an evening at a restaurant gazing at the city scape itself and oohing and awing at the sunsets and lighting on the old buildings. I'll get out in the evening for long long walk and take a lot of photos of stuff we don't have in the USA,

That said if I'm shortchanging Lake Como with only 2 nights I could cut Verona down to 3 nights.

Your thoughts?
Craig

Lake Garda, on the north side of the lake, has higher mountains than lake Como. If you ask 100 Italians I bet a slight majority prefers lake Garda, but overall I think both are equally beautiful.
Rick Steves is pushing Lake Como, and Varenna in particular, because he has a tour company, and his tours go to Varenna on lake Como, not to Lake Garda or Lake Maggiore or Lake Iseo, all of which are beautiful, so it's obvious that he pushes the locations that could bring more business to his tours.
You can check the photos of lake Garda yourself, there are plenty of resources available online.
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/lake-garda

Thank you Roberta, what village in Lake Garda should we stay in for a great view of the mountains to the north and for still semi easy to get my wife around in for dinners etc? We will be taking a train from Rome and switching trains in Milan to get to Lake Garda. We'd prefer to not rent a car in Garda unless it really enhances the experience there. When done we'd then take a train to our next stop in Verona.

Thanks so much!
Craig

You dont need to go thru Milan to get to Garda
Take fast train Roma Termini to Verona Porta Nuova
Then trasfer to regional or fast to Desenzano-a very short ride

Thank Cristine, is 2 nights in Lake Garda enough and is there different villages to sort out for best place to stay?

I prefer the north side of lake Garda, more scenic mountains.
Malcesine, Limone, Riva, Torbole, are popular villages on the north side.
However the train doesn't get there, only Desenzano or Peschiera.
However there are buses from both Verona and Peschiera to Riva del Garda, which stop at Malcesine, Torbole, and Riva. If it's only for a couple of days a car is not necessary. If it was longer, then I would consider it to visit the nearby mountains and also to drive the Strada della Forra

Where is the best place to book a highspeed train from Rome to either ... Peschiera del garda or Verona? There are several options but some seem to be a reseller. which is ok if that's the best vs the actual train company? With Nita's disability I'd like to avoid transfers.

Thank you all!
Craig