THE THREE TOWNS
Bellagio, Como or Varenna: Which Lake Town?
The central lake's three main towns have distinct characters — what each is like, and how they fit into a single day.
See Lake Como day trips on GetYourGuide ↗Bellagio, the Pearl
Bellagio is the one everyone pictures: perched on the promontory where the lake's three branches meet, a tumble of stepped stone alleys — the salite — climbing from a pretty waterfront, lined with boutiques and lake-view cafés, with the gardens of Villa Melzi a short walk along the shore. It's the most beautiful and the most crowded of the three, and it's the anchor of almost every day trip. Climb the salite to escape the waterfront crush and you'll find the quieter, lovelier upper town.
Como, the working town
Como, at the south-western tip, is the lake's largest town and usually where a day trip begins, since it's the end of the train and road from Milan. It's more of a real, working town than a resort: a magnificent cathedral begun in 1396 and finished across four centuries, a lakefront promenade around Piazza Cavour, a deep silk-weaving heritage, and a little funicular up to the hill village of Brunate for a view over the whole basin. Give it an hour or two at the start or end of the day.
Varenna, the quiet one
Across the water on the eastern shore, Varenna is the calmer, more romantic counterpoint to Bellagio — a former fishing village of pastel houses, with the shoreline gardens of Villa Monastero stretching two kilometres along the lake, and the red-railed Passeggiata degli Innamorati, the Lovers' Walk, hung above the water. It's a common April-to-October addition to a day, reached by a short ferry hop, and for many visitors the highlight precisely because it's less overrun.
Fitting them into a day
On a single day you'll realistically pair a cruise with Bellagio, and add either Como (usually at the start, as the arrival town) or Varenna (a short ferry from Bellagio, seasonally). Trying to do all three plus the cruise properly is a stretch for one day — better to do two towns well than three in a rush. If you can only choose one beyond the cruise, Bellagio is the classic; Varenna is the quieter reward.