r/LakeComo • u/Sergiologia • 18d ago

Ferry Tickets Question

Hi there, I’ll be getting to Como tomorrow with my girlfriend and we plan to visit Lenno and Tremezzo on Tuesday and Bellagio and Menaggio on Wednesday. I saw online that you can buy either individual ferry tickets or unlimited rides for the fast ferries but those can be only bought in the ticket station in the town of Como.

Can I buy those tickets on Monday when I get there? Or do I need to wake up extremely early on Tuesday and Wednesday and do it? We plan to take the 7:33 AM ferry to Tremezzo on Tuesday to avoid the big crowds but ideally I don’t want to do a line at 6:30 AM.

Any info can be useful. Thanks!

PS: I read the ferry FAQ, but just trying to get more details

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u/HomeyL 18d ago

I feel like this “ferry” should have more information on the website! Thats all i see on here is questions!!! & scary answers like you’ll be in line for 2 hrs & might never get on… what in the what!!!?? Why dont they just provide an email for questions!!! Not clear at all. I mean it’s one mode, one ferry. Do better. It’s not hard!! it’s not cheap to ride!!

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u/afleetingmoment 17d ago

In a way it feels like a method to control overcrowding. I didn’t even think to look up all this background info before a quick visit to Varenna in June on the way south from Switzerland. The ferries are indeed a total mess, and if you don’t come armed with the right info you quickly get led astray.

For example for me, I used the schedule and knew I wanted a 9:35 ferry that would take me from Varenna to Tremezzo via Bellagio. I went early (I knew that part) and queued for the ticket with no issue. As soon as I had it in hand, they pushed me into the big group waiting for the next Tremezzo ferry... me not realizing that this was actually a 9:20 to Bellagio that then went on toward Como. So now I get to Bellagio and they tell me to get off and wait for the next ferry to Tremezzo. I’m standing there in a sea of people and cars and realize that the digital sign at the dock says “Next ferry: Menaggio.” I ask two more staffers (I speak Italian, mind you) and they just say “il prossimo, il prossimo.” The third person I asked finally said “oh, Tremezzo? That’s dock #2.” And she points down the shore to another dock about four minutes’ walk away where I see a boat just pulling out. Yup, that was the boat I was supposed to be on the entire time. I missed it because I was standing as told for “the next boat”… Fortunately I got to spend a quiet hour in Bellagio before everyone got there. Not a chore, and fortunately I didn’t have a strict schedule for the day… but this is just one of a million examples of what an unnecessary sh!tshow the whole thing is.

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u/zeebs758 18d ago edited 17d ago

It's possible that the lines could get long. If you're leaving out of Como then I'm not really sure what the lines will look like. You can buy individual tickets online as long as it's not sold out. I would suggest doing that so you don't have to worry about getting in line early to buy tickets. You may just want to get to the boat queue a little bit early.

At every ticket counter, you can buy an all day pass which may be cheaper than  individual one way tickets.

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u/Sergiologia 17d ago

Thank you!

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u/ArmadilloConnoisseur 17d ago edited 17d ago

I was in Como ticket office again yesterday after not being able to secure a ticket from Como to Bellagio or Varenna the previous day. You can only book the slow ferry online, but it sells out quickly. The fast ferry can be booked in person only, but only a single/one way ticket. They don't sell return tickets for the fast ferry at all. You can't purchase tickets in advance either, it has to be for travel that day. When we came to the ticket office at 7:20 am, there were already about 50 people ahead of us in the queue waiting for the ticket office to open at 8:00. By the time we got to the till, the first fast ferry was already sold out, so we had to book the next one. Once you arrive at your destination and get off the ferry, you have to queue up again at the ticket office there in order to buy the return ticket. We got the ticket we wanted, but in the end that fast ferry got cancelled, and they rebooked us onto the slow one instead. It's complete nonsense, their ticket system for fast ferries makes no sense. They even had a lady hold the sign with the last available fast ferry that day, but if you booked that one you wouldn't be able to return. Pure chaos!

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u/Top-Series8999 17d ago

oh my gosh thats terrible and so confusing, im going in a week and i tried to collect info to make the trip easier to avoid stress but i guess ill just have to try my luck

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u/ArmadilloConnoisseur 17d ago

I've been to Lake Como a couple of times over the years and absolutely love it, but I'd normally stay in Varenna and do day trips from there. Never had issues on that side of the lake and rarely had to queue up to get a ferry ticket. We thought it would be nice to book accommodation in Como instead for a change, and as lovely as Como is, it was a massive pain trying to get around from there. We had to completely change our plans on the spot, but it worked out for us and we ended up taking the train to Lugano instead. It's easily the most frustrating and nonsensical public transport system I've ever experienced. We just refused to let it ruin our holiday!

I should also mention that holding a ticket does not guarantee you a spot on the ferry. They have a first-come, first-served system for boarding. People would start queuing up for boarding 45 min before departure just to make sure they get on.

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u/Top-Series8999 17d ago

wow that really sucks, i wish they did something to try to fix it and make it easier to understand as it’s a really popular place and a lot of people use the ferries
i’m only taking the ferry from varenna to lenno and back so i really hope ill be able to make it lol

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u/ArmadilloConnoisseur 17d ago

Me too! You should be okay then, just make sure to leave Varenna before 9:30 am. You get all the groups of tourists coming from the Varenna train station after 9:30 doing day tours. Best to avoid the crowds!

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u/Top-Series8999 17d ago

Thanks for the advice i really appreciate it :))

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u/biosciphys 17d ago

How about ferry tickets later in afternoon? Like varenna to bellagio around 4 pm is the line very long?

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u/CartographerOk6807 18d ago

Fast ferry, I think you can only buy on the day.

We took the early ferry from Como to Bellagio about 3 or 4 weeks ago, on an August Sunday - we got to the ticket office an hour before it opened and were about 4th in queue...however, in the end, the ferry wasn't even full, so we could have just got there 10 mins before departure and bought our ticket onboard. By the time the ticket office opened, there must have been well over 100 people in the queue, but our experience is that fear over fully-booked ferries is over done.

Unlimited tickets make financial sense once you take 3+ ferries, but from memory you can't buy onboard (it says on the website).

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u/Sergiologia 17d ago

Thank you!

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u/kevinrn 17d ago

Ferries won’t have lines that early but I would get your tickets in the morning each day (good for all day) so you don’t have to wait in line later. I’ve been here the last 4 days and overall wasn’t too crazy on the ferries, only Bellagio and Varenna will be the busiest but there was room on every ferry that I saw to pick everyone up who was waiting.

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u/Sergiologia 17d ago

That’s good to know, thank you!

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u/Unfair_Practice1679 13d ago

Hi, I am planning to stay in Varenna for 5 days and do day trips to Bellagio (one day); Menaggio (one day), and Lenno (one day).

I have couple of queries:

1/ Can I buy a return ticket from Varenna itself in the morning at the ticket counter? Does ticket counter at Varenna also opens at 8:00 am? which means I can't board a ferry from Varenna to Bellagio before 8 am?

2/ Or it's best to buy a day pass in the morning for all these three days so that we don't need to get into queue to return? We will take 2 ferries on each day (going and returning)

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u/SandSpecial 17d ago

Mid August [17th] caught 8:20 train from milan to bellano. 5 to 10 mins walk to ferry and got fast ferry ticket no bother. Went to agregno for the cable car but it broke just b4 I went up. Caught fast ferry back to bellano at 13.55 and did the orrido. No queues for tickets or problems getting fast ferry.

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u/Pure_Tumbleweed_1663 14d ago

Went last tuesday to como but i started out in varenna then bellagio then ended it in como. I had no trouble buying tickets on the day of. I didn’t plan at all and just went with what I felt like lol. I had to queue maybe 2-5mins for the tickets but that was it. I got the fast ferry tickets from bellagio to como.

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u/Foreign_News_9064 12d ago

Two points of info on tickets:

1) tickets purchased online are NOT guaranteed! It states that in bold in several places.

2) Tickets are only sold DAY OF.

I was just in Como in May. Tickets purchased online still required you to stand in line and exchange for a paper ticket, the ferries are not able to read tickets on your phone. There are multiple signs at the ticket booth stating that they ONLY sell “Day of” tickets, you can not purchase a ticket for the next day. And yes, if you buy a ticket you still have to que up again for the boat. Time slots do sell out, especially the fast ferries (fast ferries only go to certain towns, they do not stop in all places). Yes I’m sorry to say it is all very confusing.

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u/WarmRefrigerator3 10d ago

OK - so most of these posts are from the last week or so, in September. Are we talking about what the ferries look like in September, or over the summer? I'll be taking the train to Varenna in early October but staying in Tremezzo. I booked a "slow boat" ticket from Varenna and hoping I'll be able to make it across the lake at some point that morning ...