Como is located at the southern end of the western branch of Lake Como, on the border with Switzerland, protected by a natural basin of rare beauty. The historic city, still with the installation of a Roman castrum, is enclosed by medieval walls with towers of revenge (Porta Torre, Torre Gattoni, San Vitale) with the great Cathedral in the center. Sant’Abbondio e and San Fedele are the most important churches. The city is also famous for the rationalist buildings of the architect Giuseppe Terragni, among which are the Casa del Fascio, the monument to the fallen, the Sant’Elia nursery school and the Novocomum. Other important monuments are the Tempio Voltiano, which houses the remains of the famous scientist Alessandro Volta, and Villa Olmo, known for hosting numerous parties and receptions.
To visit:
1. Piazza Vittoria, Porta Torre and the outdoor market
2. San Fedele and the Como Cathedral
3. Basilica of Sant’Abbondio
4. Life Electric and Volta Museum
5. Como – Brunate funicular
6. Giuseppe Terragni’s Architectures
7. Villa Olmo and the park
Argegno is a small town of Roman origin located on the western shore of Lake Como, at the beginning of the coastal road that leads to Tremezzo and Menaggio. The town still retains a series of fortifications built in the Middle Ages and is characterized by small charming streets and the Church of SS. Trinity, in neo-Romanesque style, built in the early twentieth century. Another noteworthy church is the Church of San Sisinio, just outside the town on the road to San Fedele Intelvi, of Romanesque origin, remodeled in 600 and completed in 700. Three kilometers from Argegno, on the provincial road that rises to Schignano, stands the Santuario di Sant’Anna, an imposing building built in the seventeenth century, with a single nave and side chapels and an interior full of decorations and stuccos. Finally, the “alley of the mills” is very interesting, where in 1600 the Molinara canal was built, a system that channeled the waters of the river Telo to provide water supply to 4 mills for grinding wheat.
To visit:
1. Lunch and walk by the lake
2. Walking through the narrow streets and church of the SS. Trinity
3. Sanctuary of Sant’Anna and Church of San Sinisio
4. Pigra Cable Car
5. Lido of Argegno
6. Boat tours around Argegno
7. Walk around in the middle of nature
www.comoanditslake.com/argegno.htm
www.lakecomotravel.com/argegno/
Bellagio is a town of pre-Romanesque origin, with a great history and surrounded by an area of rare beauty. It is located on the east bank of the lake at the meeting of the two branches of Lake Como, in front of Tremezzo. As an ally of Milan under the power of the Visconti, in the Middle Ages it defeated Como and Barbarossa and became important for the defense of the lake by pirates and smugglers. Of the Spanish domination that afflicted Bellagio for about 200 years, only the staircase called “Derta” that goes from Guggiate to San Primo remains. In 1535 the fiefdom of Bellagio was governed first by the Sfondrati family, counts of the Riviera, and then by the Serbelloni family at the end of the 18th century. In recent years Bellagio has become a favorite destination for many poets, writers and intellectuals and many famous personalities have left their mark on Bellagio: among them, the great musician Franz Listz, Gustave Flaubert, Clark Gable, Romy Schneider and Philippe Noiret, and more recently also Robert De Niro and George Clooney. Today Bellagio is a city full of life and living on tourism. In fact, the town is full of shops, restaurants and luxury hotels such as the Bellagio Hotel, then Genazzini, Hotel de la Grande Bretagne, and Grand Hotel Bellagio.
To visit:
1. An historical and romatic town center
2. Villa Serbelloni and Villa Melzi
3. Punta Spartivento and Pescallo
4. Madonna del Ghisallo
5. Lido of Bellagio
6. Boat tours around Bellagio
Cernobbio is a small town located northwest of Como. It is a very well known tourist destination also because it is very close to Como and on the road to Argegno, Tremezzo and Menaggio. The town is located at the foot of Mount Brisbino immersed in the breathtaking panorama of the Lariani Mountains, from which begins a beautiful hiking trail of 125 kilometers (77 miles) that runs along the western side of Lake Como and was used by local people to reach the Alpine pastures. The city is also home to numerous important conventions held in the two famous Villas, Villa d’Este and Villa Erba.
To visit:
1. Villa Bernasconi and Villa Erba
2. Riva di Cernobbio
3. Villa d’Este
4. Via dei Monti Lariani
www.comoanditslake.com/cernobbio.htm
www.lakecomotravel.com/cernobbio/
Gravedona is located in the floodplain of the Liro stream, on the western shore of Lake Como, about 52 km from the provincial capital. On the eastern shore, opposite Gravedona, lies the Piona peninsula and Monte Legnone, the last Larian mountain before the start of the Valtellina. The city, of ancient origins, saw numerous invasions and numerous governors in all centuries of history: it participated in the war with Milan against Como, the one between Medici and Sforza and underwent the domination of Austria and Spain. The old town is made up of two nuclei, Riva and Castello, which preserves most of the ancient houses of Gravedona, among which the one where Alessandro Volta stayed. Along the lake stands Palazzo Gallio, wanted by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, today the site of conferences and events. Among the 12 ancient churches are the Church of San Vincenzo, the church of Santa Maria del Tiglio, ancient Romanesque baptistery, the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, former Augustinian convent, and the church of San Gusmeo and Matteo, frescoed by Fiammenghino. Many other noteworthy ones are found in neighboring countries scattered throughout the territory. Not far away is also the Abbey of Piona, located on the peninsula of Olgiasca, in front of Gravedona on the extreme point of the Lecco branch, a rare jewel of Lombard Romanesque architecture.
To visit:
1. Church of Santa Maria del Tiglio
2. Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and San Gusmeo and Matteo
3. Abbey of Piona
4. Lake Como adventure Park
5. Valle Albano Park
6. Gallio Palace
Menaggio is a picturesque town not far from Tremezzo on the western shore of Lake Como.
Its medieval origins are breathed in the small streets of the center, full of shops and restaurants and with a beautiful promenade.
It was ruled by Spaniards, Austrians and French until becoming a well-known tourist town with the unity of Italy with the construction of numerous hotels and holiday villas.
To visit:
1. Town center and lake promenade
2. The old town and the shopping
3. Villa Mylius Vigoni
4. Lido of Menaggio and boat tours
The municipality of Nesso has very ancient origins. It was destroyed several times by rival Como and subsequent wars between Medici and Sforza, until it became property of the Casnedi family.
Today there are the remains of the fortifications, the beautiful church of St. Peter and Paul, the one-century with baroque reconstructions, the church of Santa Maria a Vico, in Romanesque style with Renaissance frescoes, and the church of San Martino, in Careno, of the proto-romanic period.On the road that leads from Como to Bellagio there is the gorge of Nesso, a natural gorge where the rivers Tuf and Nosè meet in a spectacular waterfall.
To visit:
1. Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo
2. Nesso gorge and Ponte della Civera
3. Strada Regia and Careno
4. Baches and boat tours around Nesso
www.lakecomotravel.com/nesso/
www.comoanditslake.com/nesso.htm
Tremezzo is a well known municipality located on the western shore of Lake Como, a few kilometers from Menaggio and Como. It is part of the new municipality of Tremezzina since 2014 which also includes the municipalities of Lenno, Mezzegra and Ossuccio.
The town is the tourist resort most loved by many famous people and is famous for the high concentration of historic villas and luxury hotels: Villa Carlotta, Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Villa del Balbianello, Villa Carlia, Villa Sola Cabiati…. and also, of course, villa Bertoni!
Tremezzo is at the center of the important walk in the green, called greenway, which leads from Colonno to Griante, full of suggestive views and breathtaking views. Also it is a short walk from the Isola Comacina with its beautiful church of Sant’Eufemia.
To visit:
1. Villa Carlotta
2. Villa del Balbianello
3. Ossuccio and Isola Comacina
4. Greenways
5. Lido di Cadenabbia – Tremezzo
6. Boat tours around Tremezzina
www.lakecomotravel.com/tremezzina/
www.comoanditslake.com/tremezzo.htm
Varenna is a beautiful and calm village on the eastern shore of Como Lake, north of Bellagio. The fishing village was born in Celtic times and then was fortified by the Romans. First overseen by the Lombards who built the famous Vezio tower, in the middle ages it sided with Milan against Como and Barbarossa and was heavily attacked in 1126, together with the inhabitants of the Comacina Island who found a safe haven in Varenna. The church of San Giovanni Battista of the X / XI century is one of the oldest of the Lario and the prepositural church of S. Giorgio, from the XII century, preserves important period furnishings, in addition to the two seventeenth-century churches of S. Marta and of S. Maria delle Grazie both facing the beautiful main square. Coming from Lecco you meet Villa Monastero, an ancient Cistercian convent, today home to a museum house, a convention center and a very interesting botanical garden full of essences. Further on is Villa Cipressi, a 16th century building that houses the “Luigi Scanagatta” Ornithological Museum, with rare collections of birds. The Vezio Castle and its tower dominate the whole landscape from above: houses, villas and gardens and a perfectly preserved village with small alleys and breathtaking views. A visit also deserves the village of Fiumelatte which takes its name from a small river only 250 meters that runs only for six months a year and that was also studied by Leonardo da Vinci.
To visit:
1. Church of S. Giorgio and Riva Grande
2. Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi
3. Castle of Vezio
4. Fiumelatte and Sentiero del Viandante
5. Lido di Varenna
6. Boat tours around Varenna
Isola Comacina is located on the Como Lake branch, about 100 meters from the coast, in Ossuccio, and is the only island on the lake. About 600 meters long and only 200 wide, the Comacina comprises a total area of 6 hectares, with typically Mediterranean vegetation. The island offers a naturalistic panorama of rare beauty also towards the Sacred Mount of Ossuccio, Unesco heritage, and a set of very interesting monuments: the complex of the SS. Faustino and Giovita attributed to the mastery of local artists of the twelfth century, and the seventeenth-century church of S. Giovanni Battista with frescoes and stuccos dating from 1800 to 1900.
Also known are the three artists’ houses built by architect Pietro Lingeri in a rationalist style in 1940, with reference to the model of Le Corbusier’s holiday home. To get to the Comacina Island you can take the public boat or the taxi boat from Ossuccio near the church of Santa Maria Maddalena, taking the tickets directly on board.