Top Things to Do in Lake Como
20 must-see attractions and experiences
Roman senators started it. Lake Como still stops breath. The lake is shaped like an inverted Y, hemmed by the Lombardy Prealps, 146 kilometers of shoreline staging Europe's most persistent spectacle: hammered-pewter water at dawn, cobalt by mid-morning, pastel villages glued to cliffs. Como city—southwestern tip—is the transport hub, 55 minutes by train from Milan. The best experiences scatter across Varenna, Menaggio, Bellagio, Lenno, Bellano, all reached by ferry. Pick your base carefully: western shore catches afternoon light, eastern shore keeps quieter rhythms. Silk, Romanesque churches, Lombard pride pre-date the celebrity villas. Alessandro Volta was born here; Pliny the Younger raved about his retreat. April–early June gives cool mornings, blooming gardens, manageable crowds. September keeps warmth, sheds August hordes. Whatever the weather, the pre-sunset light makes adults forget their cameras.
Don't Miss These
Our top picks for visitors to Lake Como
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta – Duomo di Como
Cultural ExperiencesFive centuries of shifting ambition—Gothic nave, Renaissance chapels, Baroque dome—cohere into magnificence. The façade flanks the Pliny brothers in marble; inside, sixteenth-century Flemish tapestries hang in light no camera can catch.
Orrido di Bellano
Natural WondersA river-cut slit of gneiss, catwalks above churning water—cold spray, loud echo. Accessible since the 1800s; locals charged a fee and invented heritage tourism here.
Villa Monastero – Varenna
Museums & GalleriesTwelfth-century convent turned mansion; eleven terraced gardens run the botanical spectrum. Views across to Bellagio are among the lake's best sustained panoramas.
Villa Olmo – Como
Museums & GalleriesNeoclassical bravado on the city's northern edge—eighteenth-century aristocratic theatre for Napoleon and modern art alike. Public gardens include a rare city-center swim spot.
Punta Spartivento – Bellagio
Notable AttractionsSmall park at the promontory tip where the lake splits. One glance north, west, east—Como's geometry suddenly legible.
Tempio Voltiano – Como
Museums & Galleries1927 rotunda honoring Volta. One circular room: original voltaic piles, notebooks, correspondence that rewired civilization.
Porta Torre – Como
Notable AttractionsTwelfth-century gate—35 m of rough stone, arrow loops, zero ornament. Marks the shift from Roman grid to medieval expansion.
Greenway del Lago di Como
Natural WondersTen-kilometre west-shore stroll Colonno–Cadenabbia through Lenno, Mezzegra, Tremezzo, Griante. Optional detours into Villa del Balbianello and Villa Carlotta. Flat, signed, bar-equipped.
Lungolago Viale Geno – Como
Natural WondersDomestic promenade: runners, nonnas, card games under plane trees. Public beach, funicular to Brunate.
Basilica of Saint Abundius – Como
Cultural ExperiencesTwo km south, 1095 Lombard Romanesque—twin towers, apse frescoes with Gothic bluntness. Industrial neighbourhood makes grandeur sharper.
Medieval gates, Enlightenment instruments, Rationalist war memorials, Libeskind steel—twelfth to twenty-first c. within a walk.
Life Electric – Como
Notable Attractions2015 Libeskind sculpture—24 m stainless steel, Volta-inspired, shifts with every step. One of the lake's few major contemporary pieces.
War Memorial – Como
Notable Attractions1933 Rationalist cylinder by Terragni and Sant'Elia. Commemorative function collides with modernist aesthetics—complex result.
Gattoni Tower – Como
Notable AttractionsMedieval tower Volta used for atmospheric electricity tests. Plaque easy to miss.
Ponte del lago – Como
Notable AttractionsPedestrian bridge/promenade, 4.8 stars from 80 reviews. Stand above water, Alps frame horizon.
Private Guided Tours – Lake Como
Notable AttractionsPerfect 5.0 stars across 68 bookings. Local guide collapses ferry learning curve, opens locked doors, turns views into coherent story.
Silk, science, Liberty décor, immersive tech—specialist depth that general museums rarely reach.
Castello Baradello – Como
Museums & Galleries435 m above town, Roman core, twelfth-century tower. Napo Torriani's caged remains once hung here. Forty-minute wooded hike.
Museo Villa Bernasconi – Cernobbio
Museums & Galleries1906 Liberty-style silk-baron mansion; floral ceramics shout confidence. Interior tracks Como silk wealth.
Museo della Seta di Como
Museums & GalleriesOriginal jacquard looms, dye vats, design archives—Como still produces 75% of European silk. Two floors, surprisingly gripping.
Lake Como Museum | Immersive Experience & Souvenir Shop
Museums & GalleriesProjection-mapped rooms, spatial audio, 4.9-star rating across 300 reviews. Ten-thousand-year natural history in visceral form.
Lake first, then Alps, gorges, gardens. Greenway, Orrido, Viale Geno run wild-to-domestic spectrum.
Chilometro della Conoscenza – Como
Natural WondersSelf-guided science trail links Volta sites—Tempio Voltiano, Gattoni Tower, Life Electric—into one narrative. Under an hour.
Planning Your Visit
Practical tips for getting the most out of Lake Como
Book Your Experiences
Guided tours, tickets, and activities in Lake Como