r/LakeComo • u/karllo24 • 2d ago

Staying in Como

We are possibly looking to stay at Como and take the available transportation to the villas. Is it a bad idea considering that this time of the year can be very busy?

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u/carlnard24 2d ago

If you're willing to wake up early to queue up for ferry tickets, no. It's not a bad idea. We were just there less than a week ago. We stayed in Como. On the day we traveled to Bellagio and Varenna, we woke up at 615, took the hotel bikes down to the ferry ticket office and bought our tickets for the fast boat to Bellagio and the triangle day pass which goes back and forth to Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio.. There's a number of different available times for the fast boat, 730, 840, 11, etc. We bought the 1215 ticket, and got there like 20 minutes early. We stayed in Bellagio for an hour or so, got some drinks, took some pictures. Then took the ferry to Verenna. I had the best gelato I've ever had, we had some more drinks and took many pictures. Headed back to Bellagio for dinner and some shopping. Took the fast boat back to Como at 620.

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u/tuliploveslulu 1d ago

Were you able to purchase the return fast ferry to Como at the same time?

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u/carlnard24 1d ago

No, we purchased that ticket immediately upon arriving in Bellagio. Last ferry out was at 6:20.

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u/tuliploveslulu 1d ago

Did you have to wait long? I imagine you were waiting with everyone wanting to purchase tickets outside of Bellagio. Approx how many ticket windows are there?

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u/carlnard24 1d ago

15-20 minutes. There's two or three windows if I recall correctly.

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u/tuliploveslulu 1d ago

Thank you!

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u/carlnard24 1d ago

You're welcome! Enjoy your trip. We ate dinner at Angolo Divino Enoteca Wine Bar in Bellagio. The food was excellent. I highly recommend it. The carbonara was the best I had in Italy. On Varenna I had the best pistachio gelato of my life from La Passarella.

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u/JoeyJoeC 1d ago

Why go to the ticket office early instead of just buying the ticket from the official website and using the QR code on your phone?

Edit: Just seen you can't pre-book the fast services.

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u/carlnard24 1d ago

From what I understand, you can only buy the fast boat ticket (45-50 min ride) from the ticket office in the same day. You can buy the slow boat tickets online, but that boat takes 3+ hours to reach Bellagio. Also those tickets sellout online quickly.

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u/ComoBoatLife 1d ago

Staying in Como is not a bad idea at all, but I think it works best if you keep expectations realistic. If your plan is to use it as a base and then try to do too many villas or central-lake stops in one day, it can start feeling more transport-heavy than relaxing, especially in the busier season. As a base, Como makes sense ā€” just better for a smoother pace than for an overpacked itinerary.

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u/tuliploveslulu 1d ago

Iā€™m staying in Como so I can do a day trip to Milan and also see S. Como. I will also stay in Bellagio to see more central Como.

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u/General-Celery956 6h ago

I'm currently in Como on the last day of our trip and we visited Bellagio one our first full day and tbh I absolutely preferred Como to Bellagio. I understand the appeal of Bellagio and yes it's probably the prettiest village on the lake and it deserves a visit for sure but it's absolutely packed with visitors and super touristy.

We enjoyed going there once but coming back to Como we felt much more at peace and relaxed. Como, depending where you're staying, can be super quiet and chill. If you want to avoid crowds then stay in Como and visit the other towns. There are also other quieter villages on the lake you can choose from but Como made sense for us as a base as it's well connected to Milan and the airport. Also even taking the slow ferry to Bellagio was fine - yes it takes like 2 hours but we were not in a rush and the views were fantastic. We enjoyed the slow boat but if you want to go fast there's a fast ferry (that is covered). If that's your vibe, then you won't regret staying in Como.