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Lake Como, Maggiore, or Lugano

gib86

New Member
Good morning. I will be in Milan this June for a meeting with a supplier, and will likely stay over for a few days of vacation. Oddly, my wife is insisting on accompanying me on this business trip, and wants to visit one of the lakes north of Milan.

I've tried doing a bit of research, and will likely go to Lake Como. Not settled on the town, but we only will have 4 days/3 nights.

We have traveled Italy a fair amount, and really like getting lost in the city streets of Venice or Sienna. Not sure we will find anything similar in Lake Como, but I'm sure the scenery will make up for that.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on lodging or locations. I understand it is fairly easy to use the ferries to explore other areas of Lake Como. I'm not settled on Como, just don't know much about the other 2 lakes.
 
For a sleepy village on Lake Como, I suggest Varenna. You can take the ferry to the other upscale places like Bellagio and Menagio.

It's been awhile since I was there. At that time, it was a slow train out of Milan to Varenna.

We stayed at the small Albergo Milano -- very comfortable, clean and it has a great outdoor terrace. We had two rooms for that trip (one for our sons). One son was very happy in Varenna while the other thought it was boring -- in case you're looking for excitement.
 
We always stay at the Albergo Milano in Varenna, on Lake Como as well. Love the village, and they have some great restaurants. Easy walk to catch the Ferry. If you do decide to stay at the Albergo, ask for Room 2. Small, but it has a wonderful large terrace. Room 1 is okay as well, but the room itself seems a bit smaller, also has a large terrace overlooking the lake. The owner is also a chef, and the meals are wonderful in the evening on a very large terrace, overlooking the lake.
 
Thank you for the replies. By some major coincidence, I had already settling on Varenna, and have a reservation at the Albergo Milano for 3 nights. They only had rooms with balconies remaining - I don't think terrace rooms are available. I also made a dinner reservation at the hotel for our arrival evening.

Amazing that both responses recommended the exact hotel I had already made a reservation at.

We will be coming in on a train after spending a day in Veronna. How close is the train station to the hotel?
 
Although, we have never arrived by train, we understand it is very close to the hotel. I've heard some say, it's about a five minute walk, but I don't know that first hand.
 
We arrived by train and walked to the hotel. Very easy unless you have more than two bags each to carry/roll.

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Make sure you eat at Osteria Quatro Pass on via XX Septembre, 20. We stay in Bellagio every spring, but always make reservations and take the boat to Varenna to eat there.
 
I second Harvey's recommendation. Quatro Pass is our favorite restaurant in Varenna, or on the entire lake for that matter. Even better, it's just across the walkway from the Albergo Milano.
 
You can't go wrong with either Bellagio or Varenna at Lake Como. We stayed in Bellagio at Hotel Bellagio. We loved the location, but tend to agree with Cameron's recommendation of Varenna. Varenna seemed more quaint than Bellagio and is accessible by train; whereas Bellagio is not if I recall correctly. We stayed in Milan for a few days before going to Lake Como. Milan is well worth a few days. As a matter of interest, we used a private driver, Davide Guerrera, to get to Bellagio from Milan.
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My husband and I have stayed in Bellagio 4 or 5 times in the past 20 years and have loved it as a home base to rest, overcome jet lag, do some hiking, explore the small towns on the lake. We've stayed at Hotel Du Lac, Hotel Florence and Hotel Silvio, which is mile or two from the village. Each has it's own ambiance - old world feeling. Silvio had a wonderful restaurant when we stayed there 10 years ago. Bellagio or Varenna, Lake Como is only an hour or so drive from Milan.

Varenna is better without a car as someone has posted. Last summer we stayed in Varenna at the end of our trip at Hotel Milano and they accommodated our family of five adults with two apartments which were great- although no real views of the lake. Breakfast was good and the terrace was gorgeous. Many fine restaurants, nice walks, kayak rentals etc. and a couple places to actually swim in the lake. Bellagio has a local swimming spot, outside of town, that you could access with a car or bike.

We have also stayed and spent time on Lago d'Iseo which was smaller, with few english speaking tourists and enjoyed it, and the surrounding area immensely. Vineyards to the east are lovely and interesting. Beautiful lakel!! We stayed at I Due Roccoli Ihttp://www.idueroccoli.com. Excellent accommodations, great breakfast and amazing views from the walking paths and restaurant, but it was a drive up the mountain on the eastern side of the lake. It's a wedding venue too (we were surprised) with lovely gardens. We had an amazing meal in a small local place that was so memorable it may be the reason we return! Overall, the views are the big draw in this area. Seek out a festa and enjoy!
 
The Milanese largely go to Lake Orta (Orta San Guilio). We've stayed their twice; for a week each time. Visited the other lakes but really preferred Orta. Milanese hold special events such as weddings there.
Lake Orta
 

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