Where to stay in Lake Como: the best towns and hotels

Train and ferry times and hotel opening dates were checked on 5 October 2026 with Trenord, Navigazione Laghi, the ASF bus company and the hotels’ own websites. Lake hotels set their prices by season and change them often, so this guide gives a price level (€ to €€€€). Check live rates before you book.

Best towns to stay on Lake Como compared

Town	Train from Milan	Ferry	Feel	Price level
Varenna	Yes, direct from Centrale, 64-65 min	Central lake, passenger and car ferry	Small and quiet in the evening	€€ to €€€
Bellagio	No	Hub of the central lake, passenger and car ferry	Busy, smart shops, crowded in summer	€€ to €€€€
Menaggio	No (bus from Como)	Central lake, passenger and car ferry	Lakeside promenade, families, outdoor sports	€ to €€€€
Tremezzo and Lenno	No (bus from Como)	Own piers on the central lake	Quiet, near the villas, grand hotels	€€ to €€€€
Cernobbio	No (bus from Como)	Pier, 5 min from Villa d’Este	Small lakeside town near Como	€€€ to €€€€
Como	Yes, from Centrale (about 40 min) or Cadorna (about 60 min)	Start of the lake line, 2 hours to the central lake	A working town with city services	€€ to €€€€

Price levels reflect the hotels in each town: their official star ratings, their brands and their MICHELIN Keys. € means a hostel, €€€€ a five-star.

Lake Como is shaped like an upside-down Y, and Varenna, Bellagio and Menaggio face each other where the three arms meet. A ferry ride between any two of them is short, and a central lake day pass costs €17.50, so staying here makes island-hopping by boat easy. Our Lake Como travel guide explains the ferries and the main villas.

Bellagio vs Varenna vs Como

Choose by how you arrive and what you want to do in the evening.

• Varenna is the easiest if you come by train. Varenna-Esino station is on the Milano Centrale line, about 16 trains a day, and a one-way ticket costs €7.40. The village is small and quiet at night.
• Bellagio has no train. You arrive by ferry (15 minutes from Varenna) or by bus C130 from Como, which takes about 70 minutes. In return you get the most ferry connections and the widest choice of hotels in the central lake.
• Como has two stations with direct trains to Milan: Como San Giovanni from Milano Centrale in about 40 minutes, and Como Nord Lago, on the lakefront, from Milano Cadorna in about 60 minutes. It is a working town with shops and restaurants, and its hotels are the most likely to stay open in winter. The central lake is far, though, about 2 hours to Bellagio on the slow boat.

If you want to see Milan as well, Como is the base that keeps both close. If the lake is the point of the trip, stay in the central lake.

Varenna: best for arriving by train

Varenna is on the eastern shore, with a station on the line to Lecco and Sondrio. Villa MonasteroMap and its botanical garden are in the village.

• Hotel Royal VictoriaMap (€€€) is a four-star with 45 rooms and an outdoor pool from mid-May to mid-September. The building dates from 1838 and was restored in 2018.
• Hotel Villa CipressiMap (€€€) is a historic villa with a botanical garden, which non-guests can also visit from April to October.
• Casa Du LacMap (€€€) is the former Hotel du Lac, renamed in 2025. It is a four-star on Via del Prestino, and breakfast is served at the Royal Victoria, which belongs to the same group.
• Hotel OlivedoMap (€€) was built in 1896 as a coal depot for the lake steamers and is still run by the same family. It has 20 rooms, is a 5-minute walk from the station, does not take children under 14 and is open from February to October.
• Albergo MilanoMap (€€) has 16 rooms and apartments and a terrace restaurant over the lake. It closes from November to March.

See more hotels in Varenna, or read our Varenna guide for what to do there.

Bellagio: best for ferry connections

Bellagio sits on the point where the lake divides, and boats leave its piers for Varenna, Menaggio, Cadenabbia and Como. The Villa MelziMap gardens are here too. Expect crowds on summer weekends.

• Grand Hotel Villa SerbelloniMap (€€€€) is a five-star and a Relais & Châteaux member, with a lakefront pool, a private jetty and a 1,500 m² spa. It opens from April to November.
• Hotel BelvedereMap (€€€) has been run by the same family since 1880. It is on the hillside above the centre, with terraced gardens, an outdoor pool and a spa.
• Hotel Du LacMap (€€€) has 41 rooms a few steps from the ferry pier, plus a rooftop bar.
• Hotel FlorenceMap (€€), Albergo Firenze in Italian, is a three-star on Piazza Mazzini that has been a hotel since 1864. It has a small spa.
• Palazzo GenazziniMap (€€€) is the old Hotel Metropole on Piazza Mazzini, restored and reopened under the new name on 1 June 2026. It has 35 rooms, including 20 suites, and stays open until 2 January 2027.

See more hotels in Bellagio, or read our Bellagio guide for what to do there.

Menaggio: best value on the west shore

Menaggio has a lakeside promenade and a ferry pier on the central lake, including the car ferry to Bellagio and Varenna. It is a popular base with families and with people who come for hiking, golf or water sports. There is no train. Bus C110 from Como takes about 66 minutes.

• Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & SpaMap (€€€€) is a five-star with Two MICHELIN Keys, a 1,200 m² spa with a heated indoor pool and a beach club on the lake.
• Grand Hotel MenaggioMap (€€€) faces Bellagio across the water, with a pool by the lake. The ferry pier is about 5 minutes on foot.
• Hotel Garni CoronaMap (€€) is a family-run three-star with 24 rooms on the main square. It serves breakfast only and has no parking. The pier and the bus stop are 5 minutes away.
• Lake Como Hostel La PrimulaMap (€) faces the lake and has dorms and private rooms with their own bathroom, plus a bar and restaurant. In October 2026 dorm beds started at €25 a night and lake-view doubles at €59.

Tremezzo and Lenno: for the villas and grand hotels

The Tremezzina shore, between Lenno and Cadenabbia, is the quietest of the central lake bases, and it is where the two best-known villas are. Villa CarlottaMap has its own ferry stop in Tremezzo, and Villa del Balbianello (FAI)Map is reached from Lenno. There are fewer restaurants here, and Tremezzo, Lenno and Cadenabbia each have their own pier.

• Grand Hotel TremezzoMap (€€€€) is a five-star with Two MICHELIN Keys, three pools (one floats on the lake), a private beach and a five-acre park. Its 2026 season runs from 19 March to 2 November.
• The Lake Como EDITIONMap (€€€€) opened in September 2025 in a 19th-century palazzo in Cadenabbia, with 148 rooms and a restaurant by chef Mauro Colagreco.
• La DarsenaMap (€€€) is a 13-room boutique hotel with a private jetty, 100 metres from the Tremezzo pier and 500 metres from Villa Carlotta.
• Hotel Villa MarieMap (€€) is a family-run hotel in a 19th-century Liberty villa with frescoes and a garden pool.
• Hotel San GiorgioMap (€€) in Lenno is a three-star run by the same family since 1920, with a heated pool in a historic park and a private beach.

Cernobbio and the luxury hotels near Como

The southern end of the lake, close to Como, has some of its most famous hotels. They are a short ride from Como by bus or boat, and a long way from the central lake.

• Villa d'EsteMap (€€€€) in Cernobbio is a five-star in a 16th-century villa, with 151 rooms, a ten-hectare park and a pool floating on the lake since 1966. It was promoted to Two MICHELIN Keys in 2026. The Cernobbio pier is 5 minutes on foot, and the 2026 season runs until 7 January 2027.
• PassalacquaMap (€€€€) in Moltrasio has 24 rooms in a late 18th-century villa. It is the only hotel on Lake Como with Three MICHELIN Keys.
• Il SerenoMap (€€€€) in Torno, 6 km from Como, has 40 suites that all face the lake, an infinity pool over the lake and a design by Patricia Urquiola. It holds Two MICHELIN Keys.
• Mandarin Oriental, Lago di ComoMap (€€€€) in Blevio is a five-star with a floating pool and a spa. It is seasonal and reopened for 2026 in the spring.
• Hotel AsnigoMap (€€€) is the mid-range option in Cernobbio, with 30 rooms, a lake-view pool and a panoramic restaurant.

Como town: best for trains and winter

Como is the place to stay if you want frequent trains to Milan or are coming between November and March, when many lake hotels are closed. From the lakefront you can walk to the Duomo di ComoMap and the Brunate funicularMap.

• Palazzo VeneziaMap (€€€€) on Piazza Cavour is the former Vista Palazzo Lago di Como, renamed after Villa d’Este bought it. It is a five-star in an 1870 building with a rooftop restaurant and bar, 2 minutes from the funicular.
• Palazzo Albricci PeregriniMap (€€€€) has One MICHELIN Key. It is a 15th-century palazzo inside the old town walls, run by the Galli family.
• Palace Hotel Lake ComoMap (€€€) is a four-star in a Liberty palazzo on the lakefront.
• Albergo TerminusMap (€€€), on the same lakefront street, is a Liberty building from 1900, 2 minutes from the Duomo. It stays open in winter.
• Posta Design HotelMap (€€) is in a building by the rationalist architect Giuseppe Terragni, also 2 minutes from the Duomo.
• Ostello Bello ComoMap (€) faces the lake and a park on Viale Fratelli Rosselli, about 10 minutes from the train stations. It has private and family rooms as well as dorms for 4 to 8, every room has its own bathroom, and the reception and bar are open around the clock.

See more hotels in Como. If you are spending a night in Milan before or after the lake, our guide to the best hotels in Milan has a section on hotels near Milano Centrale, where the Varenna trains leave, and where to stay in Milan compares the neighbourhoods.

Lecco and Bellano: other towns on the train line

Two more towns on the eastern shore have stations on the Milano Centrale line that runs to Varenna. Lecco is a larger town at the bottom of the southeastern arm, and it has a ferry pier. Bellano is a village north of Varenna, known for its gorge, the Orrido. The Sentiero del Viandante footpath links Varenna and Bellano in about 2.5 hours, and you can take the train back.

Both are farther from Bellagio and the villas than Varenna, so on a first trip Varenna is the more practical stop on this line.

Lake Como hotels with a pool

Many lake hotels have a pool, and a few float on the lake itself. These are the ones in this guide.

Hotel	Town	Pool
Grand Hotel Tremezzo	Tremezzo	Three pools, one floating on the lake
Villa d’Este	Cernobbio	Floating pool on the lake, since 1966
Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como	Blevio	Floating pool
Il Sereno	Torno	Infinity pool over the lake
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni	Bellagio	Lakefront pool
Grand Hotel Menaggio	Menaggio	Pool by the lake
Grand Hotel Victoria	Menaggio	Heated indoor pool in the spa
The Lake Como EDITION	Cadenabbia	Pool
Hotel Belvedere	Bellagio	Outdoor pool
Hotel Royal Victoria	Varenna	Outdoor pool, mid-May to mid-September
Hotel Asnigo	Cernobbio	Lake-view pool
Hotel San Giorgio	Lenno	Heated pool in a historic park
Hotel Villa Marie	Tremezzo	Garden pool

Outdoor pools have their own season (the Royal Victoria’s runs from mid-May to mid-September), so check the dates with the hotel if you travel in spring or autumn.

Do you need a car on Lake Como?

You do not need one if you stay in Varenna or Como. Both have direct trains from Milan, and the ferries link the central lake towns. Bus C110 runs up the west shore from Como to Tremezzo and Menaggio, and bus C130 goes to Bellagio.

If you drive, the car ferry crosses the central lake between Bellagio, Cadenabbia, Menaggio and Varenna, so you do not have to drive around the arms of the lake. Parking is the thing to check before you book:

• In Varenna, the car parks charge €2 to €3 an hour, or €18 to €25 for a day, and the centre has one-way traffic on weekends in 2026.
• Albergo Milano in Varenna sends guests to a public car park 300 metres away, at €15 a day.
• Hotel Garni Corona in Menaggio has no parking, while Hotel Villa Marie in Tremezzo has its own car park.

If you land at Malpensa, take the Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale and change there for Varenna or Como San Giovanni. Our guides to getting from Malpensa to Milan and to Milano Centrale cover both steps.

When to book a Lake Como hotel

The lake hotels work on a season that mostly runs from March or April to early November. Some of the big hotels close for the winter, and so do small family hotels such as the Olivedo and Albergo Milano in Varenna. In 2026 the autumn ferry timetable runs from 5 October to 1 November, with fewer boats after that.

Summer weekends and August are the busiest times, and ferries can fill up to capacity. If you are planning only one night, a day trip from Milan may be simpler, and our boat tours guide covers the private and shared boats that leave from Bellagio, Varenna and Como.