Lake Como Private Tour: Bellagio and Varenna by Car from Milan

Highlights

• Three highlights, one day
• Ghisallo pass
• Ferry across the lake

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Milan

   1h 30min

   Most day trips to Lake Como go there and back the same way. This one is a loop. Your private driver picks you up at your Milan hotel and takes you around the lake's three most famous villages without repeating a single road.

2. 2

   Como

   2h

   Walk through the old town to Como Cathedral and Piazza Cavour on the lakefront, the heart of the city that made silk for Europe's fashion houses. Then ride the Brunate funicular, opened in 1894, up to the village of Brunate for a view across Como, the lake and, on a clear day, the Alps.

3. 3

   Stop 3

   1h

   Leave the lakeshore and climb through the green hills of the Larian Triangle, the wedge of land between the lake's two southern branches. Stop at the tiny chapel of the patron saint of cyclists, filled with the bikes and jerseys of Italian racing champions. From the terrace, look down on the lake and the Bellagio point.

4. 4

   Bellagio

   1h 30min

   Drive down to Bellagio, often called the pearl of Lake Como. Climb its stepped lanes, browse silk and leather shops, and have lunch by the water. Local favourites are risotto with lake perch and missoltini, sun-dried lake fish. If you like, walk to the gardens of Villa Melzi or the fishing hamlet of Pescallo. Lunch and Villa Melzi entry at your own expense.

5. 5

   Varenna

   1h

   Drive onto the car ferry with your driver and cross the widest part of the lake. Stand on deck for views of Bellagio behind you and Varenna's coloured houses ahead. Follow the old mule path down to Varenna (about 20 minutes, downhill and stepped), or ride down with your driver. Stroll the lakeside Passeggiata degli Innamorati, see the gardens of Villa Monastero, and enjoy a gelato or an aperitivo on the water. Your driver takes you up to the hamlet of Vezio, above Varenna. Explore the medieval watchtower and its gardens, with views over both shores of the lake. Falconry displays take place on some afternoons.

6. 6

   Stop 6

   1h 30min

   Your driver drops you at the Lido di Lenno, where you can take a taxi boat to Villa del Balbianello and explore the terraced gardens and the loggia at your own pace.

7. 7

   Milan

   1h 30min

   Head home along the eastern shore, past Fiumelatte, a river only 250 metres long that Leonardo da Vinci wrote about, and arrive back in Milan in the evening.

Before you go

Location

Italy