How To Spend 4 Days in Lake Como Without a Car

There’s no getting around it, Lake Como in Northern Italy is a beautiful spot. However, a lot of the time, people think you need a car to explore the lakes. That’s definitely not the case. Here’s how to spend four days in Lake Como without a car.

Pick your base

If you’re not using a car, you have to choose where you’re staying pretty carefully. I did a LOT of research into transport routes and links around the lake itself and into Milan and Bergamo, where we were flying in and out of pretty early in the morning.

There are a few main towns around Lake Como:

Como
Lecco
Varenna
Bellagio

They all have their pros and cons, but we opted to stay in Lecco, which had numerous direct trains to Bergamo, Varenna, and Milan. It was also a lot cheaper than staying in Como or Bellagio, which are a lot more touristy, in my opinion.

I use a couple of different sites to work out where would be a decent place to stay. Omio was really good for rail, FlixBus‘s route map was my main starting point to narrow down locations, and Rome2Rio is always good for seeing different routes from A to B and the price differences between the various transportation methods.

Day 1. Explore Bergamo & Lecco

We flew from Liverpool to Bergamo airport, also called Milan-Bergamo, so it can be confusing when you start booking initially. Bergamo is a gorgeous medieval walled city and it’s definitely worth exploring. We caught the bus from the airport into the city, grabbed some breakfast and headed up the hill to the Old Town.

You can get a short funicular up the hill to the Old Town, but the queue was huge and there weren’t that many stairs to climb… As we’d had an early flight and couldn’t get into our apartment until the afternoon, we spent the whole morning exploring Bergamo before walking back to the train station and heading to Lecco.

After ditching all our stuff in our super cute lakeside apartme nt, we wandered around the lake, took in the amazing mountain scenery all around us, and checked out the town itself.

Honestly, I was in awe at how beautiful Lecco was. With lakes, mountains, and beautiful Italian architecture, it’s definitely an overlooked holiday spot. A lot of Italians stay here when they visit the lakes for a reason!

Day 2. Cruise to Bellagio

Did you even go to Lake Como if you didn’t go on a boat cruise? Well, we decided to get the local ferry from Lecco to the town of Bellagio, which sits at the fork of Lake Como. The ferry took around an hour and a half, and it was amazing to see all the little towns and villages along the way.

The ferry tickets themselves only cost around 18 Euros for a return ticket, so it was a ton cheaper than doing an organised excursion.

Bellagio itself is a lot busier than Lecco and a lot more touristy. Immediately, you step off the boat, and there are a ton of travellers and souvenir shops all around you. After being in the local vibes of Lecco it was a little overwhelming.

However, Bellagio definitely has more going on. There are so many restaurants, cafes, bars, and wine shops to explore. We found a cool spot up on the hillside that overlooked the bay, and the prices were actually pretty reasonable.

Day 3. Milan

So, this was the big day. We got up early and jumped on a direct train to Milan. It takes just under an hour and only costs 5 Euros per person each way. We’d checked the trains on Omio ahead of going to the station, so we knew which trains we wanted and how much we should be paying!

Of course, we did all the touristy standards. We took photos outside the iconic Milan Cathedral, explored the Galleria, and wandered around the streets during the super-busy Milan Design Week.

But the best thing that we did was actually go to the canal neighbourhood in the south of the city. The Navigli district is full of beautiful canals that kind of make it feel like you’re in Venice. You’ll find a ton of bars and restaurants all along the canals where we had a delicious lunch and some pretty strong cocktails. It definitely feels like more of a local spot, and has a laidback vibe about it.

Wandering back from Navagli to the Sforza Castle and through Sempione Park, we found a tiny shop and bar in the middle of the park, so we had even more cocktails and wine in plastic cups in the middle of the park like the classy travellers we are.

After that, we went back to the station to head back to Lecco. However, we did somehow get one of the longest trains back ever by accident that stopped at every tiny train station in the entire area. But, two and a half hours later, we were back in Lecco, pretty much exhausted.

Day 4. Hike around the Lake

Considering we walked our feet off on day three, we decided against doing any of the big mountainous hikes around Lecco – and there are plenty of them! Instead, we headed out around the lake itself to a small beach about a 40-minute walk out of the town. Yes, it was midday on a Tuesday, but we had the beach completely to ourselves, surrounded by the mountains. It was pretty magical.

Once we were back in town, we spent the last few hours in Lecco wandering around the town, checking out the local shops and buying some last-minute souvenirs and interesting comic books to help me improve my mediocre Italian!

The next day, we hopped back on the train from Lecco to Bergamo and then the airport bus from opposite the train station. It was all super straightforward.

Trains in Italy

When you buy a ticket for a train in Italy, you need to validate it before you get onboard the train. It’s the same on buses too, and if you don’t do it, you can get fined.
By and large, the trains were all running on time, so don’t expect any delays or leeway – unlike with the British trains…
There are quite a few double-decker trains in Italy which are pretty cool if you can jump on one.
Check which route you’re heading on. Otherwise, like us. you might have a really long journey that’s twice as long as the one you want.

Where did we eat in Lake Como?

As the name of this blog suggests, I’m a big fan of eating and drinking my way around the world, and Italian is one of my all-time favourite cuisines and wine countries.

New favourite wine: Fina Kiké, a crisp white from Sicily that paired well with the sunshine terrace of La Fontana in Bellagio.

Best bakeries of the trip: T Bakery in Bergamo, La Centrale in Lecco, and Il Cannolo in Milan (the best cold brew and cannolis!)

Memorable restaurants: La Canaletto in Navigli, Milan, and Surreal, a Dali-inspired tapas joint in Lecco.