Things didn’t start out too well when tried to pick up our rental car to get to Como. We got to the rental office 20 mins early to be the first in line, but when opening time rolled around, the front of the office still had its metal security door down and nobody was to be seen. Just over an hour later and with at least a dozen people now waiting outside, the security screen rolled up and a nonchalant woman waved us to the front desk …
Where are we on our road trip through Northern Italy?
Milan âž” COMO âž” Sirmione âž” Verona âž” Venice âž” Murano âž” Burano âž” Modena âž” Vernazza âž” Pisa âž” Florence âž” San Gimignano âž” Volterra âž” Siena âž” Assisi âž” Civita di Bagnoregio âž” Orvieto âž” Mostri Park âž” Sorrento âž” Pompeii âž” Herculaneum âž” Amalfi âž” Rome âž” Malpensa
We were over an hour late getting on the road, and due to the delay more traffic was on the road which caused the approx 1hr drive to look more like 1hr 45 min drive, making us arrive almost 2 hrs later than planned. We only had a day there and if we missed the ferry we were doomed.
Como is both the city and the lake. If you are only there for a day then you need to get the on-off ferry service that drops you at various stops to visit. You can drive around the lake, but this will take you a LOT more time and you wont be relaxed looking at the scenery, but instead trying to see around each corner and not drive into another traveler or into the lake, so the ferry is the best way to see it.
That drive defined the term ‘peddle to the metal’. I had resigned myself to have to pay whatever automatic speeding ticket they sent to my rental car company and then on to me. Our little car flew, but even so, was overtaken by big BMW and Mercedes Benz cars. Feeling the futility of it I pressed on. We came around the final corner at the lake, and saw to our amazement that the ferry was still there! It too had been delayed taking longer to disgorge its disembarking passengers and boarding it new ones. Luckily an underground car park was nearby and after parking, we dashed to the small ticket office, bought a ticket and were one of the few remaining passengers to board.
The lake is shaped like a upside down ‘Y’. The bottom left of the â…„ you have the city of Como. The bottom right of the â…„ you have the city of Lecco. and at the top of the â…„, you have the city of Colico. Whenever you are looking at timetables and schedules always look for the Como ↔ Colico route. To complete the geographical picture in the middle where all spokes of the â…„ meet, you have the well know city of Bellagio.
There are also 3 types of service and we used them by taking the slower ferry up while we chilled and pulled into the smaller stops so we could see the sights, and coming back to Como we wanted to take the faster hydrofoil service to get us back as we had already seen the sights. The third services is a small puddle jumper that takes you to the three coasts of the lake in the middle of the â…„.
You can see them all at this link.
Useful Tips;
- Make sure that the boat you intend to take actually goes where you want as not all boats go to all places, so look at the stops en route.
- Italian abbreviations are important on the timetables: ‘Fer.’ means Monday to Saturday, ‘Gior.’ means Every Day, and ‘Fest.’ means Sundays and Festivals/Holidays.
The slow boat north goes up the right side of the lower right leg and there is plenty to see. Best place to sit on the boat it the starboard (right) side of the boat as the coastline you will be going up wil be just outside your window.
Watch out for a beautiful waterfall, small cottages and villages. Broaden your horizons too as looking out across the lake you will be able to spot George Clooney’s house as well as gorgeous mountains and a plethora of well manicured boats of different size and purpose.
From a tourist perspective Bellagio is ‘the’ destination to visit. For us, this was a destination to be avoided. You can see most of the city from the ferry without getting off it, and do you really need that Instagram snap, or wait for ages to get a restaurant table and pay outlandish prices for the privilege?
We prioritized Menaggio as the place to get off, explore and have lunch and we were very pleased we did. A lot more quiet than Bellagio and we also thought it was a lot more picturesque.
After exploring Menaggio we then caught the ferry south to Lenno where it was a short walk in the hot sun to ‘Villa del Balbianello’, you know, that fancy house featured in movies such as: Casino Royale and Star Wars Attack of Drones. Well worth it.
When you got off the slow ferry at Lenno, you did check when the next FAST hydrofoil left Lenno to take you back to Como right? Of course you did, otherwise you may have to wait up to 2 hours longer than expected to catch the next one and that would get you back to Como a lot later in the day. Travelling is always a contest between time and money, and for us it was worth spending a few extra $ to get back to Como to explore the lakeside and relax before dinner.
Unlike Milan, Florence, Rome and other Italian metropolitan cities, Como’s restaurants do not stay open as late. In fact we almost got caught out trying to get dinner and managed to finally eat at an authentic brew pub ‘Il Birrivico’ a fair walk away from our apartment. I suggest that you go onto TripAdvisor or Yelp in advance to decide what type of food you want, where to get it and at what time it closes!
Guided Tours of Como
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