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The day most people do when they come from Milan, forty minutes away by train: the town of Como in the morning, up the Brunate funicular to see the whole lake from above, and in the afternoon the boat to Bellagio, which sits right at the fork where the lake splits in two. The boat is part of the plan, not the transport.
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A suggestion, not a rule: once you create the trip you can split it up however you like.
21 min on foot hasta la siguiente
23 km · by transport hasta la siguiente
💡The boat is not a jaunt, it is the transport
The lake is shaped like a Y and the shores are separated by water, so driving from Varenna to Bellagio takes forty minutes going round and fifteen by ferry. There is a year-round scheduled service and a car ferry between Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and Cadenabbia. Check the Navigazione Laghi timetable before planning your day: in winter there are far fewer crossings.
💡The villas close odd days and half the year
Balbianello closes Mondays and Wednesdays and must be booked. Villa Carlotta opens March to November and shuts for the winter. And several also close in bad weather, because access is through the garden. Do not build a day around a villa without checking its calendar that same week: it is the most common mistake here.
💡With a car you will lose time and money parking
The shore roads are narrow provincial routes with a wall on one side and the lake on the other, and they jam in summer. Parking in the central villages is expensive and scarce: in Bellagio or Varenna you can circle for half an hour. If you are coming from Milan, consider the train to Varenna and moving by boat: it works out cheaper than the hire car and the parking together.
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