10 Lake Como Hotels at a Village the Ferry Actually Serves

Lake Como is shaped like an inverted Y, about 46 kilometres long, and the roads along it are narrow, walled, and in summer very slow. The lake is also served by a public ferry network that has been running since the nineteenth century, with fast hydrofoils and slower car ferries connecting the towns, and it is frequently the quickest way between two points.

The catch is that the service is not uniform. The central basin, where the three arms meet, has the dense connections: Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio, Tremezzo and Cadenabbia are minutes apart by boat with frequent departures all day. The far ends of the lake have a fraction of that.

Why the ferry map is the real map

If your hotel is in the central basin you can have breakfast in Tremezzo, look at a villa in Bellagio, eat lunch in Varenna and be back before the afternoon, and none of it involves a road. Those crossings take ten to fifteen minutes.

If your hotel is at Como at the southern tip or up towards Colico, the same day requires either a long drive on a walled lakeside road behind a coach, or a slow ferry with infrequent departures.

The southern tip has its own argument: Como town is a proper town with shops and a station, it is 40 minutes from Milan by train, and the hotels around Cernobbio and Torno are among the best on the lake. But the trade is real and worth knowing before booking.

The ten below are grouped by position.

The central basin

Where the arms meet, and where the ferry network is dense. This is the answer for a first visit.

Grand Hotel Tremezzo sits on the waterfront at Tremezzo opposite Bellagio, with a pool floating on the lake itself, terraced gardens behind and the ferry landing outside. It is the grand hotel of Como and the best-positioned property on the lake.

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni occupies the tip of the Bellagio promontory in a nineteenth-century palace with formal gardens, two pools and a view down all three arms. It is the most traditional stay here.

Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & Spa sits at Menaggio on the western shore with a restored belle époque frontage, a pool and considerably lower rates than the two above, with the same ferry connections.

Hotel Du Lac Varenna occupies a position at Varenna on the quieter eastern shore, minutes from the ferry and from the village's stepped lanes. It is the value pick in the basin.

Filario Hotel & Residences sits at Lezzeno on the eastern shore of the western arm, contemporary and low, with a swimming platform on the water. It is the most modern building on the lake.

The southern tip, around Como and Cernobbio

The town end. Better connected to Milan, denser, and with several of the finest hotels on the lake.

Villa d'Este occupies a sixteenth-century cardinal's villa at Cernobbio in twenty-five acres of gardens, with a pool floating on the lake and a guest list going back two centuries. It is the most famous hotel in Italy.

Passalacqua sits at Moltrasio in an eighteenth-century villa restored recently, with terraced gardens climbing the hillside and a level of design that is the most talked about on the lake.

Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como occupies a hillside at Blevio facing Como across the water, with a spa, a pool over the lake and boats to the town.

Il Sereno Lago di Como sits at Torno in a low modern building on the water, with a rooftop pool and a restrained interior that is the opposite of the villa hotels.

Vista Palazzo Lago di Como occupies a townhouse in Como itself with a rooftop restaurant over the piazza and the cathedral, and it is the only hotel here that puts you in a working town rather than beside the water.

What we have left off

The hotels at the northern end around Colico and Domaso are excluded. They are cheaper, they have the best windsurfing on the lake and the mountain scenery is more dramatic. They are also an hour or more from the central basin by road and poorly served by fast boats.

What to do

Buy a ferry day pass and use it. The central basin crossings are the point of being here.

Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo and Villa Melzi at Bellagio are the two gardens worth doing, and Villa del Balbianello at Lenno is the most spectacular, reached by boat or a walk through the woods.

Hire a wooden Riva-style boat with a driver for a couple of hours at sunset. It is expensive and it is the thing everyone remembers.

Walk the Greenway del Lago from Colonno to Griante, about ten kilometres along the old lakeside path, or take the funicular from Como up to Brunate for the view down the lake.

Eat lake fish. Perch with risotto is the local dish and it is much better than it sounds.

Practical notes

Milan Malpensa is about an hour from the southern end, Linate slightly less. The train from Milan to Varenna takes an hour and puts you directly on the central basin, which is the best route if you are not driving.

May, June and September are ideal. July and August are hot and the roads are at their worst. Many hotels close from November to March.

Driving is possible and unrewarding. The lakeside roads are walled, narrow and slow, and parking at the villages is minimal.

Questions people actually ask

Bellagio or somewhere else?

Bellagio is the most beautiful village and the busiest. Varenna and Tremezzo are quieter with the same connections. All three are minutes apart by boat.

Is a car useful?

Less than you would think. The ferries cover the central basin better and the roads are slow. Hire one for a day if you want the mountains.

How many nights?

Three, four if you are combining it with Milan.

Is it worth it in July?

The lake is beautiful and the roads are difficult. Stay in the basin, use boats, and avoid driving.

If you only book one

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