Best Things to Do on Lake Como: 14 Sights Ranked

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Lake Como is for boat rides between small lakeside towns and for visiting historic villas with gardens. The 14 things below are ordered by priority: the first six fill two good days, and the rest are for a third day or a second visit.

This page is the ranked list. For the overall plan, start from the Lake Como guide, then choose a base with where to stay on Lake Como.

At a glance

Shape: an upside-down Y, 46 km long, with Como and Lecco at the two southern ends and Bellagio where the arms meet.
How to move: public boats run by Navigazione Laghi. Varenna has a railway station; Bellagio does not.
Season: most villas open from late March to early November. The winter boat timetable runs from 2 November 2026 to 14 March 2027.
Book ahead: Villa del Balbianello. Everything else can be bought on the day outside August weekends.
How long: two or three days. See how many days to spend on Lake Como.

The 14 best things to do, in order of priority

1. Cross the mid-lake by public boat

The boat is both the transport and the best view of the villas, which were built to be seen from the water. Navigazione Laghi runs a ferry-boat line between Bellagio, Cadenabbia, Varenna and Menaggio, plus slower ships and a fast service on the Como to Colico route.

Time: mid-lake crossings are short; Como to Bellagio by slow boat fills much of a morning. Booking: not needed for the mid-lake boats. Fares depend on the distance band. From 1 April 2026 a one-way ticket costs from €3.00 to €14.50, and a one-day free-circulation pass from €8.00 to €32.00 depending on the stretch covered. Tickets bought on board cost €1.00 extra when the pier ticket office is open.

2. Varenna

A small town on the east shore with a lakeside walkway, steep lanes and two of the sights below. It is the only mid-lake town with a railway station, Varenna-Esino-Perledo, on the Lecco to Tirano line, which makes it the easy entry point from Milan.

Time: two hours for the town alone, half a day with Villa Monastero. Booking: none. The town is small and boats can be full on summer afternoons, so cross early. Details are in the Varenna guide and in trains to Lake Como.

3. Bellagio

The town on the tip of the promontory where the lake splits into its two southern arms. The old center has the Romanesque basilica of San Giacomo and a lakefront walk to the Villa Melzi gardens.

Time: two to three hours without the gardens. Booking: none. Bellagio gets very crowded in the middle of summer days, and the road and buses from Como are slow then. Go early or stay for the evening. See the Como and Bellagio guide.

4. Villa del Balbianello, Lenno

A villa on a wooded headland, created in 1787 by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini and left to the FAI (the Italian national trust) by the explorer Guido Monzino in 1988. Scenes of Casino Royale were filmed here.

Time: one hour for the park, two with the interior, plus the approach. Booking: mandatory, on the FAI ticket site. As of November 2026 the park costs €15 and the park plus villa €25. The interior is visited only on a 50-minute guided tour in groups of up to 16. Cars cannot reach the villa: the walk from Lenno is about 1 km uphill and takes around 25 minutes, or you can take a private taxi boat from the Lenno lido. Opening days change through the year, so check the FAI calendar first.

5. Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo

A villa with a museum and a botanical garden of about 8 hectares. Inside are sculptures linked to Canova, a marble frieze by Thorvaldsen and Hayez's painting of the last farewell of Romeo and Juliet.

Time: two hours. Booking: tickets are sold online and at the gate. The 2026 season ran from 20 March to 8 November, followed by weekend openings in late November and on 5 to 8 December. The adult ticket is €17.50, and the family ticket for two adults and two children is €35. The entrance is about 450 m from the Tremezzo boat pier.

6. Villa Monastero, Varenna

A former Cistercian convent turned into a villa, with a narrow botanical garden that runs along the shore and a house museum.

Time: one to one and a half hours. Booking: optional online. In 2026 the garden alone costs €13 and the garden plus house museum €15; children up to 14 enter free. Unlike the other villas it stays open in winter, from Thursday to Monday between November and February, with daily opening again from spring.

7. Villa Melzi gardens, Bellagio

An English-style lakeside garden laid out for Francesco Melzi d'Eril in the early 1800s. The villa is private and cannot be visited; the ticket covers the park.

Time: one hour. Booking: none. The ticket is €10 and children up to 11 enter free. The gardens close for winter; the official site announces the reopening for the end of March 2027.

8. Como old town and the cathedral

Como is a working city of the south-west arm, with a historic center and a cathedral begun in 1396 and finished in 1770, when Filippo Juvarra's dome was completed. The city is also the historic center of Italian silk: see the Como silk guide.

Time: two to three hours with the lakefront. Booking: none. Como is far from the mid-lake: with one day only, do not spend it all here.

9. The Como to Brunate funicular

A funicular from the Como lakefront to the hill village of Brunate, for the view over the city and the first basin of the lake. The lower station is a five-minute walk from Como Lago railway station.

Time: one to two hours return. Booking: none. The fare is €3.60 one way and €7.20 return. It runs every day from 6:00, every 15 minutes for most of the day. Check the last run on the ATM page.

10. Walk a section of the Greenway del Lago

An 11.2 km signed walking route on the west shore, from Colonno to Griante through Sala Comacina, Ossuccio, Lenno, Mezzegra and Tremezzo.

Time: the whole route is a full day with stops; a practical section is Lenno to Tremezzo, which links Balbianello and Villa Carlotta. Booking: none, it is a public path.

11. Castello di Vezio, above Varenna

A medieval tower and walls on the hill above Varenna, with an olive grove and a wide view of the mid-lake.

Time: one and a half hours including the uphill walk from Varenna. Booking: none needed. The ticket is €7. The castle is open daily from 1 March to 1 December, and from December to March only on fine-weather weekends and holidays. It closes when it rains in November. The falconry displays that older guidebooks mention were permanently suspended after an act of vandalism in October 2022.

12. Orrido di Bellano

A gorge cut by the Pioverna river, visited on footbridges fixed to the rock, ending at a waterfall. Bellano is on the east shore north of Varenna and is also a stop for Navigazione Laghi boats.

Time: under an hour. Booking: online tickets are available but not required. The ticket for the gorge is €8, or €5 for children from 6 to 14 and for holders of a public transport ticket. There are stairs and narrow passages, and pushchairs are not allowed.

13. Sacro Monte di Ossuccio

Fourteen Baroque chapels along a path that climbs the slope to a sanctuary. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Time: one and a half hours up and down. Booking: none for the path. Check locally for the opening hours of the sanctuary church.

14. Isola Comacina

The only island of the lake, opposite Ossuccio, with archaeological remains and a small museum, the Antiquarium, on the mainland side.

Time: one and a half hours. Booking: none, but an entrance ticket is required, sold at the Antiquarium museum in Ossuccio or at a card-only machine on the island. The island is open from May to the end of October, daily from 10:00 to 18:00. The official site says the restaurant, the bar and the toilets on the island are closed until further notice, so bring water.

What to skip if you are short on time

With one day: do numbers 1 to 3 and one villa. Choose Villa Monastero if you arrive by train at Varenna, or Villa Carlotta if you want the larger garden. The one-day Lake Como itinerary gives the order.
Como and Brunate (8 and 9): only if you sleep in Como or pass through it.
Villa Melzi is pleasant but similar to the other gardens. Skip it if you have already seen Villa Carlotta.

How to group them by day

Day 1, east shore and Bellagio: Varenna and Villa Monastero in the morning, the boat to Bellagio after lunch, Villa Melzi gardens if you still have energy. Add Castello di Vezio if you start early.
Day 2, west shore: boat to Lenno for Villa del Balbianello at the booked time, then the Greenway on foot to Tremezzo and Villa Carlotta. Return by boat from Tremezzo or Cadenabbia.
Day 3, your choice: Como, the cathedral and Brunate; or Ossuccio with the Sacro Monte and Isola Comacina; or Bellano and its gorge by train.

Ready-made versions are in the two-day itinerary and the three-day itinerary. If the lake is part of a longer trip, see the Milan and Lake Como plan for five days or the Milan, Lake Como and Venice route.

Ferries: what to know before you queue

Fares are by distance band, not by town name. The Navigazione Laghi site has a fare calculator.
A free-circulation pass gives unlimited trips for one day between the piers it covers, with stops on the way. Compare its price with the single fares for your route before buying.
The fast service costs a supplement of €1.50 to €5.50 on top of the ordinary fare. Fast-service tickets do not allow intermediate stops, and bicycles are not carried.
Timetables change with the season. Check the PDF for your dates.

For the trip in, read how to get from Milan to Lake Como. If you land late or travel with heavy bags, compare private transfers to the lake and the nearest airports in flights for Lake Como.

What to book ahead and what not to

Book: Villa del Balbianello, always. The interior tour time is assigned at the ticket office, and the FAI warns that the wait can reach 60 minutes.
Book: your bed, if you come between June and September or at Easter. See hotels on Lake Como.
Do not book: ordinary boats, the funicular, Castello di Vezio, the Greenway.

When these sights are open

The list above works in full from April to October. From mid November to mid March Villa Carlotta and Villa Melzi are closed, Balbianello opens on selected days only, and the island is shut; Villa Monastero, Como, the funicular and the Bellano gorge stay open. Month-by-month notes are in the best time to visit Lake Como, with separate pages for April, June and September.

Still choosing a lake? Compare Lake Como and Lake Garda or Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, or read whether Lake Como is worth the detour.

Questions travelers ask

Which Lake Como villa should I visit if I only have time for one?

Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo if you want a museum and a large garden in one ticket (€17.50 for adults in 2026). Villa del Balbianello has the more dramatic position, but it needs a reservation and a 25-minute walk or a taxi boat from Lenno.

Do I need to book Villa del Balbianello in advance?

Yes. The FAI states that booking is mandatory. As of November 2026 the park ticket costs €15 and the park plus guided villa tour €25, and the interior is shown only on 50-minute tours for up to 16 people.

Are the Lake Como villas open in winter?

Mostly not. Villa Carlotta's 2026 season ended on 8 November, with a few weekend openings until 8 December, and the Villa Melzi gardens reopen at the end of March 2027. Villa Monastero in Varenna stays open from Thursday to Monday through the winter.

Is a ferry day pass worth it?

It depends on the number of boats you take. A one-day free-circulation ticket costs from €8.00 to €32.00 according to the stretch it covers and allows unlimited trips with stops. For a single return crossing, two one-way tickets are cheaper.

How much does the Brunate funicular cost?

The ATM fare sheet lists €3.60 for a one-way ticket and €7.20 for a return, with a reduced return at €4.80 for children up to 12. Children under 4 travel free.

Sources

More Lake Como guides

Author: the TourLeaderPro.com editorial team, a network of tour leaders and registered tourist guides in Italy.

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Best things to do on Lake Como: 14 sights and how to fit them in