Sightseeing in Como

Sightseeing in Como is mostly sightseeing on Lake Como, with the town as its harbour. The lake is an inverted Y: one arm runs south-west to Como, one south-east to Lecco, one north to Colico, and Bellagio sits where they meet. Boats leaving Como on the east shore pass Torno and the Nesso gorge, where mountain torrents fall to the water beneath a stone bridge. The villas line the west bank and the centre. Balbianello at Lenno was built in 1787 for Cardinal Durini, Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo was raised by Marquis Giorgio Clerici in the late seventeenth century, and Villa Melzi at Bellagio went up in 1808-10 for the vice-president of Napoleon's Italian Republic. In the far north, Piona Abbey keeps a thirteenth-century cloister, and the Pian di Spagna is a Ramsar wetland.

Como sightseeing tours are mostly boat tours. Small-boat cruises from the Como lakefront take three or four hours: up the east shore, an hour ashore in Bellagio or Varenna, or in both on the four-hour version, then back along the west shore with a glass of wine on board. A three-hour cruise with an aperitif starts instead at Colico and calls at Piona Abbey. Private cruises add a guide and a walk through Como first, with three or five hours afloat; the same circuit can be driven from Milan with a private driver. On land, a guided walk of two hours covers the Duomo, the Broletto, the Teatro Sociale and San Fedele, and a self-guided detective game fills about two hours.

Practical. Small-boat cruises collect a fuel surcharge in cash on board and refund in full until 24 hours before; private cruises charge half inside seven days. Highs run near 30C in July and 6C in January, with nights close to freezing, and Como gets noticeably more rain than Milan, May being the wettest month, so a light waterproof earns its place. Villa Carlotta opens in late March, and the drive from Milan does not include its entrance.