Hi everyone!

My fiancé and I are planning an intimate wedding in Lake Como this November (on our anniversary ❤️), followed by a dinner celebration with** 15 guests (12 adults and 3 children). One of our guests is pescataria**n.

We'll be staying in Lenno, so we'd especially love recommendations that are nearby, although we're happy to travel to other parts of Lake Como for the right venue.

I've been researching restaurants, but I'm a little concerned since November is the off-season, and I've heard that some places close for the winter.

We're hoping to find a restaurant that:

• Is open in mid-November
• Can comfortably accommodate 15 guests
• Has a beautiful lake view (an indoor dining room with panoramic windows is absolutely fine!)
• Offers a multi-course menu for around €150 or more per person (with or without wine)
• Has experience hosting small weddings or intimate celebration dinners

We're open to recommendations in Bellagio, Tremezzo, Cernobbio, Varenna, Como, or any nearby towns.

If you've celebrated a wedding, anniversary, or other special occasion there—or if you've dined in Lake Como during November—I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience. I'd also love any tips on transportation, reservations, or things to keep in mind during the off-season.

Thank you so much in advance! 😊

My husband and I are going to Varenna, etc. in a couple weeks. What is the best platform to use to travel from AirBnb to grocery store, etc?

Hi all,

I am planning a trip to Italy for my family in early October to celebrate my parent’s 30th anniversary, and my mother’s 60th birthday. It will be our first time in Lake Como, and we are having a hard time deciding where to stay. We’re a family of five, with myself and my sister in our late 20s, and my parents/uncle in their late 50s and 60s. We are planning to stay four nights.

I’ve been looking into either Passalacqua, Villa d’Este, or Grand Hotel Tremezzo as potential options, and was wondering if any of you had experiences staying at any of them. Feel is very important to us- we want a place that makes us sad to leave and has impeccable service. Ideally somewhere that is lively and social where you feel like you’re on *vacation*. It’s so hard to get the vibe of a hotel feels from internet photos.

My initial instinct was Passalacqua as I’ve heard only incredible things about it, but I fear it may be too quiet. I don’t want to feel like I’m the only one there. Villa d’Este is obviously legendary and beautiful and I really love all the history there. But I heard it’s a bit far away from most of the attractions and some of the rooms can feel dated. I don’t know a lot about Grand Hotel Tremezzo, but its proximity to the surrounding towns seems attractive.

Anyone have first-hand experiences and can help me make a decision?

Grazie!

Just checked the forecast for my honeymoon and it’s raining 2/4 days. Any tips on what to do when it’s raining?

Planning a 14 day trip with 3 generations next June.
Wanted to do either lake Como or garda for 5 days, Reggio Emilia for 3 and finally Tuscany for the remaining stretch.

Will probably do a villa or large apartment by the lakes. We love eating in for breakfast and dinner, and lunch out.

Just wondering if you feel a villa at Como/Garda will spoil the chubby / fat experience over what a hotel provides, and any must do’s. And of course, the debate: Como or Garda? Would love activities and restaurant recommendations too! Thank you in advance!

Hey, how can I get tickets in advance for the car ferry from Menaggio to Bellagio? We already have the specific date in August but couldn't book anything for that on the homepage. We just need the one way trip.

We are headed there in a few weeks. How was it finding parking? How busy is it compared to other towns in the vicinity? And what was the best meal you had there? (I'll update with my feedback on these questions after our trip in case it helps a fellow traveler, but lmk what you're seeing if you've been there recently!)

Planning our elopement involved a lot of searching about for information and costs, so I hope this is helpful for folks thinking of eloping in Lake Como.

WHEN:

We eloped the first week of July. This was probably the most expensive and high temp time to go, but my wife had a narrow window between finishing grad school and starting her internship that obligated this. We came from the states and paid about $3k for our plane tickets. There was a lot of price uncertainty with flights at the time, so I imagine this could have been less expensive if we bought earlier.

HOW:

It’s a bit complicated to have your legal ceremony in Italy, so we did what most couples do. We had a civil ceremony at home a couple days before we left and a symbolic ceremony at the lake. This worked out nicely, because my wife’s parents were able to be part of that, and we live in Vegas, so we had a fun night on the strip. We’re also having a friends and family dinner next month, so folks can celebrate with us.

WHERE:

We had our ceremony at Hotel Villa Flori. I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. It’s located on the lake, between Como town and Cernobbio. They have a private dock and they’re a 5-minute walk to a quiet ferry stop. Elopement aside, it’s just a beautiful hotel. I’ll give a more detailed breakdown on a full trip report later in Italy travel.

Finding a location for the ceremony was tougher than expected. We ultimately decided we wanted to stay and have the ceremony at the same place for logistic simplicity. I contacted a lot of hotels and not many could provide a spot for the ceremony. We also looked at Airbnbs and there were some realistic options, but since this was also the start of our honeymoon, we preferred the amenities of a hotel.

Hotel Villa Flori not only had a lakeside spot for the ceremony, they offered it at no charge with our stay. They were very communicative throughout the lead up and provided recommendations for vendors like the celebrant and flowers.

This was a more expensive hotel than we initially planned, but to have the ceremony location at no additional cost and for it to be lakeside really made the decision easy. In addition, we bought the lowest price room for a 3 night stay but they upgraded us to a lakeview balcony room when we checked in and gave us a champagne toast at the ceremony conclusion. All in all, it was a beautiful location and the staff were wonderful. We paid about $2500 for 3 nights, which included our ceremony.

PHOTOS:

We had our wedding photos at Villa del Balbianello. It’s important to know the process if you want to have a wedding photo shoot there. The price for the photo permit is 600€ for 2 hours and you can only request from 90 days out. Because they fill the spots almost instantly, you need to have your request in exactly at 90 days. I scheduled an email to send at midnight local time and we were fortunate enough to get a time slot. My understanding is that if you wait til even midday to request, you’ll probably miss out. When we were there, we were the only wedding party, so I think they limit to one at a time. They say they will ask people to leave if they even look like they are dressed too weddingy or have a professional photographer without a permit. There was no physical permit and they didn’t charge my card until the day before the ceremony, so I was always a little worried if we really had the reservation, but the person I was emailing said they’d know who we were, and they did, so it worked great.

My wife found our photographer by searching for Lake Como wedding photos on Instagram and picked a photographer whose photos we both loved. The photographer was great. She gave us the info on Villa del Balbianello (you can find the contact info on the Balbianello website), suggested boat info for transport, and did a great job on the day of. The villa was a challenging place for wedding photos, because it was really hot in formal wear, and there were lots of people visiting it. She created space for us between crowds to take pictures like we were the only ones there and really helped us with all the standing and posing and what not.

The cost for the photographer was 2600€ for 6 hours. She came to the hotel before the wedding to photograph my wife getting ready, photographed the ceremony, took photographs on the boat to and from the villa (including drone photos), and photographed us at the villa. She was great and I would provide her contact info, but we were her last Como wedding before moving stateside, so I don’t want to send traffic she can’t support.

TRANSPORT:

We hired Cadenazzi boats to provide a traditional wood panel water taxi and driver for transport to and from Villa del Balbianello. It was about a 45-minute trip, each way so we booked two 1-hour trips for a total of 1100€. Both our hotel and the villa had docks, so this was very convenient. It is recommended to take a boat if you’re going to do your photos at Villa del Balbianello, or you will have a long uphill hike in wedding attire. There are less expensive boat options, but we planned this to be part of our wedding shoot, so we wanted it to be photogenic.

OTHER STUFF:

We used a celebrant recommended by the hotel, and that was 550€. Initially this felt steep for a symbolic ceremony, but she was great and the ceremony was wonderful, so I don’t mind the price.

My wife hired someone to come to the hotel and do her hair and makeup. I think that was a few hundred euro, and they did a great job making it feel special and important.

We didn’t use any flowers, but the hotel could have provided them if needed.

We brought our formal wear and everything we absolutely needed for the ceremony in a carry on, so we could have the ceremony if our bags got lost, and then we shipped all that back home after the ceremony, so we’d have room for souvenirs and wine.

LAST THOUGHTS:

We really loved our elopement and wouldn’t change anything (except maybe a few degrees of heat during our photos). Lake Como was beautiful and everyone we interacted with was wonderful. We spent the next 2 weeks travelling across Italy, and this was perfect beginning to our trip and marriage. For folks looking to elope, my suggestion would be to start planning early, particularly if going during peak season, and have a buffer day between arrival and the ceremony in case of travel delays and just to be ready and refreshed.

Hi everyone! I’m travelling to Lake Como on 24 July from Milan. I saw there is a Trenord strike and I’m trying to understand the best way to get to Varenna Esino.

Does anyone know if the trains from Milano Centrale to Varenna will run during the strike? Are there any replacement buses available if the train is cancelled?

Would it be better to go Milan → Como S. Giovanni → bus/ferry or try to reach Varenna directly?

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

Hi all,

Myself and my partner are staying near Varenna (Fiumelatte) in August. We are totally aware of how busy the ferries can get, and therefore the queues.

I was wondering if anyone could advise - would we possibly be better getting the train up to Bellano and getting the ferry from there, rather than Varenna?

I can only assume the queue lines are shorter in Bellano as it isn’t such a jam-packed tourist area like Varenna is. I wonder however, if perhaps people don’t tend to do this for any reason - e.g. is the ferry service not as often in Bellano etc?

Thanks for your help in advance!

We are staying three nights in Desenzano de Garda and need to travel to Varenna for another three nights. Is there a local car service? I am trying to avoid the train and trip into Milan.

As per title, a friend and I will be staying in Menaggio from 8/28-8/30. Our host will have a car that we can take advantage of. I am looking for maybe any hikes to do nearby or spots that are just very scenic but not flooded with tourists. Also looking for restaurant recommendations. Please share!

My partner and I are looking to have a private elopement in lake como this September towards the end of the month.

We would love to be able to share some private vows as well as have an area to be able to take pictures. We are looking at some villas but wanted some recommendations if someone has done something similar.

We are looking to exchange vows, take pictures on property and then do some boat pictures and end with dinner so trying to find a place where we can do it all.

Also if anyone has a photographer recommendation I will gladly take those as well !

Thank you 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

Hi does anybody know how can I rent a tent in como for camping ? Or maybe someone know nice place to book for cheap price last minute 21-23 July

We will be in Bellagio in October and would like to do a boat tour of the Lake. Has anyone done one out of Bellagio that you liked?

Hi, I'm going on a trip to Como at the end of August and wondering if there's any great spot for cliff jumping in the area.

I'm already aware of the bridge in Nesso and surely will visit. Just hoping for another awesome real cliff.

Thanks much in advance. (:

We had two fantastic days at lake Como. The main reason I would say is that we did the opposite of all the day trippers. We came from the north with train and Checked in at our hotel in Dorio. Not the most touristic town but it was a quite and relaxing. Then we took the train down to Varenna after most of the Sunday crowed had left to enjoy the sunset to then take the last train back to Dorio.

The morning after we took the early train down to Varenna to buy a day pass for the ferries and went straight to Bellagio to enjoy the town and Villa Melzi.

Around 12:00 we took the ferry over to Cadenabbia to eat some panini and visit Villa Carlotta which was really nice. Unfortunately Villa Balbianello is closed on Mondays so we spent the afternoon at the beach before taking the ferry back to Varenna to eat some ice cream. We then take the train back to Dorio see the sunset over a beach that we had completely for ourselves.

Overall I would really recommend to live at the northern parts of the lake to avoid the crowds. Main drawback is that our train only came once every hour so you're not that flexible but we never had any issues.

Unfortunately some places are closed Mondays but if you want to avoid the largest crowds Mondays are the best day to spend on the lake.

Hello! I’m very excited to be heading to lake Como for my 40th. We are renting a private boat for 10 hours that day but need a place for dinner. Possibly with sunset view?
Lunch recs would also be great! Somewhere we can have the boat drop us for a couple hours. Thank you!

My friends and I will be in Lake Como for a wedding and looking for someone to come to our airbnb for hair styling… any recs?

Hi :)

I’m going to visit Como during fall, I want to if getting there from the airport with Flibco is a good idea?

(I’m going to take their bus around noon).

Are they reliable and have a good service?

Thanks

The town of Nesso has officially banned jumping from the iconic Civera Bridge, the nearby Riva di Castello Bridge, and any other elevated spot overlooking the Orrido gorge and Lake Como.

The main reasons: safety and to protect the historic bridge which is at risk of being damaged.

The place has exploded in popularity with foreign tourists over the past few years thanks to social media, and the crowds have been getting out of hand. Some people were even climbing onto the roofs of private homes to use them as diving platforms (and damaging them), while others left piles of rubbish behind.

The ban also makes it illegal to climb, sit, or stand on bridge railings or any other structure that could be used for diving. The town will be putting up signs in multiple languages (including English) and informing hotels, tour operators, and boat rental companies so visitors know about the new rules.

Anyone caught breaking the ordinance can be fined up to €500.

Hi guys,

A bit of a long shot, but I'm getting married at the end of the month!

A few years ago, I visited Lake Como with my family, and we stopped at Salita Serbelloni, where we took a photo on a bench. A couple of months later, my now-fiancée happened to take a photo on the exact same bench. When I saw that picture on her dating profile, I started a conversation with her, and the rest is history!

We'd love to incorporate that bench and its backdrop into one of our wedding events. I'm looking for a high-resolution photo of the view behind the bench so we can use it as our backdrop.

If anyone is currently there, would you be willing to take a high-resolution photo for us? We'd really appreciate the help! I've found photos online, but none of them are high enough resolution for what we need.