In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Take the train to Varenna-Esino: 1 hour 4 minutes from Milano Centrale, from €7.70, then the ferry to Bellagio (€5.50). Como is quicker, 39 minutes to Como San Giovanni from €5.40, and from Como the boat to Bellagio is €12.00. There is no train to Bellagio, Menaggio or Tremezzo. A day on your own costs about €26 from Varenna, €35 from Como, plus the villas. Villa Melzi’s gardens close for the year on 1 November 2026 and Villa Carlotta is open daily only until 8 November. A coach tour from €63.50 (10 to 11 hours) fixes the day and often adds Lugano. Or book now: the Lake Como, Bellagio and Lugano tourad is from €63.50, and the Como, Bellagio and Varenna day tripad from €79.21 (GetYourGuide).
Getting there
Fares are Trenord’s regional fares from Trenitalia’s booking engine; the lowest fare shown is what a regional ticket costs. A regional train needs no seat reservation.
| From | To | Journey | Fare from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Centrale | Como San Giovanni | 39 to 40 minutes, direct | €5.40 (EuroCity from €16.00) |
| Milano Centrale | Varenna-Esino-Perledo | 1 hour 4 minutes, direct, a train at :20 past the hour in the morning | €7.70 |
| Milano Cadorna | Como Lago (Como Nord Lago) | 1 hour 1 minute, direct, every 30 minutes | €5.40 |
| Milano Centrale | Lecco | 39 minutes, direct | €5.40 |
- Two stations in Como: San Giovanni is the national station in the lower town, about 10 minutes’ walk from the lakefront and the Duomo. Como Lago is the Trenord terminus from Cadorna, beside the boat piers. San Giovanni is the quicker train; Lago drops you at the boats.
- No train to Bellagio, Menaggio or Tremezzo. Varenna is the quickest way to the middle of the lake by public transport: train to Varenna-Esino, then a ferry.
- Strikes: a national rail strike runs from 21:00 on 29 October to 20:59 on 30 October 2026. The Ministry’s strike list shows later dates, and Milan public transport has the ones for November and December.
Tours
A coach tour takes you to the lake, sails a leg by boat and brings you back, with a guide. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price for one adult; all cancel free up to 24 hours ahead. A “private boat” in a title is the boat for the group, not a private tour.
| Tour | Length | From | Rating | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Como Private Boat, Bellagio and Luganoad | 11 hours | €64.50 | 4.8 from 11,719 | From Milano Centrale: Como, a boat to Bellagio, then Lugano |
| Como, Lugano and Bellagio Exclusive Boat Cruisead | 11 hours | €67.50 | 4.8 from 7,679 | The same route; Wi-Fi on the bus and boat |
| Lake Como, Bellagio and Lugano with Lake Cruisead | 10 hours | €63.50 | 4.9 from 2,741 | The same route |
| Lake Como, Bellagio & Varenna Day Trip With Boat Ridead | 10.5 hours | €79.21 | 4.8 from 473 | Bus to Bellano, boat to Bellagio and Varenna, no Lugano |
| Small Group Como, Bellagio, Varenna, Boat Cruisead | 10 to 10.5 hours | €97.28 | 4.8 from 1,257 | Up to 14 people, by train and boat: Como, Bellagio, Varenna |
| Small-Group Lake Como, Bellagio, Varenna & Fallsad | 10.5 hours | €145 | 4.9 from 308 | Up to 15 people, by train and boat, with the Bellano Gorge |
The Lugano tours cross into Switzerland, so carry a passport. The Varenna coach tour meets at Piazza IV Novembre in Milan and drives about 105 minutes each way to Bellano, where the boat starts.
What to see
The lake is a Y with Como at the bottom of one arm, Lecco at the other and Bellagio on the point where they meet. A day covers one or two towns and one villa. The order that works from Milan: train to Varenna, ferry to Bellagio, and a villa on whichever shore you land on. With Como as the base, take the boat up to Bellagio or Tremezzo and walk back to the pier for the return.
Varenna
Train 1 hour 4 minutes · Villa Monastero €15 · closed Tuesdays
A fishing village on the east shore with a lakeside walkway, the Passerella degli Innamorati, and a ferry landing for Bellagio, Menaggio and Cadenabbia. Villa Monastero is a house museum with a botanical garden: €15, or €13 for the garden alone, €11 for over-65s, €9 for ages 15 to 25, and free for under 15. In October it is open daily 10:00 to 18:00, with the house museum closed on Tuesdays. In November and December it is open 10:00 to 17:00 and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, closed on 25 December and open 26 to 31 December. The online ticket fixes the day, not the hour, and does not allow re-entry.
Varenna from the lake, with the church tower above the waterfront houses. Photo: DD991, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Bellagio
Ferry from Varenna €5.50 · from Como €12.00 · Villa Melzi gardens €10
The town on the point, a climb of stepped lanes from the pier. Villa Melzi’s gardens are €10, or €14 for two days, with no booking and free for under 12. They are open 10:00 to 18:30 (last entry 18:00) until 24 October and 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30) from 25 October, and close for the year on 1 November 2026. The villa itself is not open. The gardens are the one paid entry in Bellagio; the rest is the walk uphill and a lunch stop.
Tremezzo and Villa Carlotta
€17.50 · daily 10:00 to 18:00 until 8 November · then listed weekends
Villa Carlotta is 400 m from the “Tremezzo - Villa Carlotta” landing. An adult ticket is €17.50, over-65s €15, students aged 6 to 18 €7 and 19 to 25 €12, a family of two adults and two children €35, and under 6 free. It is open 10:00 to 19:00 until 18 October and 10:00 to 18:00 (last ticket 17:00) from 19 October to 8 November. After that it opens only on 14 and 15, 21 and 22, and 28 and 29 November and 5, 6, 7 and 8 December, 10:00 to 16:00, last ticket 15:30. Other days are by reservation only, by email.
The terraced flower beds in the garden of Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo. Photo: Croberto68, Wikimedia Commons.
Lenno and the Villa del Balbianello
Villa and park €25 · park only €15 · booking required · closed Monday and Wednesday
FAI’s Villa del Balbianello is open Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday, booked on its site. The villa interior is a guided visit of about 50 minutes in groups of up to 16. Hours are 10:00 to 18:00 in the main season and 10:00 to 17:00 from November, with the last park entry at 16:00 and the last villa tour at 15:00. In December it opens only on 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27 and 29, and in January 2027 on 2, 3, 5 and 6. Children aged 6 to 18 and students up to 25 pay €17 for the villa and €11 for the park. From Lenno it is a 1 km walk uphill, about 25 minutes, not suitable for pushchairs. A taxi boat from Lido di Lenno runs by reservation, from a private operator. GetYourGuide resells the park entry at FAI’s price, €15ad, and sells a taxi boat one way with the gardensad from €29.90.
The loggia of the Villa del Balbianello at Lenno, seen from the lawn below. Photo: Phyrexian, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Como
39 minutes from Centrale · Brunate funicular €3.60 single, €7.20 return
The Duomo and the lakefront are a short walk from San Giovanni. The funicular up to Brunate is €3.60 single and €7.20 return, children to 12 €2.40 and €4.80, on the tariff in force since 1 July 2025. For a boat from Como without going to Bellagio, the classic wooden boat cruisead is from €63 and the premium shared boat tourad from €49.41 for 75 minutes to 2 hours.
Ferries
Navigazione Laghi runs the boats. Fares are by stretch; the figures below are the adult one-way full fare on the slow boat.
The car ferry Adda on Lake Como, seen from Menaggio. Photo: Daniel Case, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
| Route | Stretch | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Como to Bellagio, Menaggio, Cadenabbia or Tremezzo | 6 | €12.00, plus €5.00 on a fast service |
| Como to Varenna | 7 | €13.50 |
| Como to Lenno | 5 | €9.50 |
| Bellagio to Varenna | 3 | €5.50 |
- The slow boat from Como to Bellagio takes about 2 hours 35 minutes, the fast services about 40 minutes. Bicycles do not travel on the fast boats.
- A ticket bought on board costs €1 more where the ticket office is open. Children aged 4 to 11 pay a reduced fare, under 4 travel free, and over-65s pay about 20% less.
- A one-day pass for the whole stretch is €27.00 for stretch 6 and €17.50 for stretch 3. It pays once you take three legs of stretch 3 or more, and a fast service adds the supplement.
- Between Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna and Cadenabbia the car ferry crosses in 10 to 30 minutes, roughly every 30 to 40 minutes on weekdays.
- The season: the autumn timetable runs 5 October to 1 November 2026, and a winter timetable takes over from the start of November. Last winter’s ran 3 November 2025 to 22 March 2026 on the same lines, with reduced service on 25 December and 1 January. Boats are suspended in strong wind, and the operator’s notices list it.
What a day costs
Train fares are the lowest regional fares, doubled for the return.
| Day | Train | Boat | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varenna and Bellagio | €15.40 | €11.00 (Varenna to Bellagio, return) | €26.40 |
| Como and Bellagio | €10.80 | €24.00 (slow boat, return) | €34.80 |
| Add Villa Carlotta | +€17.50 | ||
| Add Villa Melzi gardens, to 31 October | +€10.00 | ||
| Coach tour with Lugano | from €63.50 |
A tour buys one seat on a coach, fixed timings and a Lugano stop. The day on your own buys a free choice of hour and villa, and costs less than the tour even with a villa ticket added.
Before you go
- The thing that ruins a day: the closing dates. Villa Melzi shuts on 1 November, Villa Carlotta goes to weekends after 8 November and the Balbianello opens on listed days only after that.
- Passport: carry one for Lugano. The Swiss side is in Schengen, with the same rules as Italy.
- Which to take: Varenna and Bellagio for the quickest day on your own; Como with a boat if you want the villas on the west shore; a tour for Lugano or one fixed booking.
Day trips from Milan compares every trip. Bergamo is the other short train, and Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands are the next lake west. Milan public transport covers the way to the stations, 3 days in Milan fits a lake day into the week, and where to stay in Milan compares the areas. What to book before you go to Milan lists the closed days in the city.
Common questions
How do I get from Milan to Lake Como?
By train. Trenord runs from Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni in 39 to 40 minutes and to Varenna-Esino in 1 hour 4 minutes, from €5.40 and €7.70. From Milano Cadorna, Trenord reaches Como Lago, beside the boat piers, in 1 hour 1 minute every 30 minutes.
Is there a train to Bellagio?
No. Take the train to Varenna-Esino and the Navigazione Laghi ferry across to Bellagio, a stretch 3 fare of €5.50, or the train to Como and a boat from there at €12.00.
How much is the ferry from Como to Bellagio?
€12.00 one way at the full fare on the slow boat, with a fast-service supplement of €5.00 on top. Buying on board costs €1 more where the ticket office is open. A Como to Bellagio return by slow boat is €24.00.
Which Lake Como villas are open in November?
Villa Carlotta is open daily 10:00 to 18:00 until 8 November 2026, then on 14 and 15, 21 and 22, and 28 and 29 November and 5 to 8 December. Villa Melzi's gardens close for the year on 1 November. The Villa del Balbianello opens Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday, by booking, and on listed days only in December.
Is a Lake Como tour from Milan worth it?
For one fixed day with a guide and Lugano, yes: coach tours start at €63.50 for 10 to 11 hours. On your own, train and ferry to Bellagio cost about €26 from Varenna, and you choose the villa and the hour.
Do I need a passport for the Lake Como and Lugano tours?
Yes, for any tour that includes Lugano. Switzerland is in the Schengen area but outside the EU, and the coach crosses the border.
