Getting around Lake Como

If you were thinking about renting a car to get around in Lake Como, think again.  You definitely don’t need one.   Getting there from Milan is easily accessible by train and the boat service to and from the various towns is very reliable.  The only drawback is if you want to dine in a town other than the one you are staying in, you will need to eat on the early side as the last boat leaves most ports at 9pm.  That said, many of the towns are not easily accessible to each other by car, so you are actually better off with the boats.  Aside from that, I didn’t see a need for a car, as walking is the best way of getting around.

When coming in from Milan, the trains run frequently and take about ½ hour to an hour depending on where you are staying on the lake.  Part of why we chose Varenna was that it was a direct ride from Milan on the train.  We didn’t need to transfer to a boat.  That was particularly important as we arrived in the evening from Venice and we would have been hard pressed to get there in time for check in if we had had to get a boat as well.  We would have had to leave at least an hour to two hours early if we were staying in a town that required us to transfer to a boat.  Plus Varenna is a spectacular town to stay in!