Going to Lake Como in winter was honestly a very random decision. Especially since I am not a fan of cold weather. However I suddenly had also random plans to spend NYE in Switzerland, and my birthday was a few days later, so I thought it would be fab to spend it in Lake Como.
Despite many people warning me that many things are closed in the winter, I went anyway, and found plenty of things to do within three to four days. I was also trying to keep somewhat of a budget since it’s expensive AF there.
So here’s my top tips and then the itinerary of what I did!
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I had some insight thanks to social media of how to go about doing Lake Como in winter, but most things I found out from experience. Here’s my top tips:
Although it’s technically low season, I’d still recommend booking hotels in advance, and purchasing any villa entry tickets online. I stayed at The Palace Hotel right on the lake for around $180 per night including breakfast and I loved it.
Lake Como is actually pretty big, with the major towns and sites being around one hour apart by car.
I would recommend renting a car to get around, because the bus and boat takes three times as long to get places. The boat also can be pretty cold. I used DoYouItaly.com to find Maggiore rental company, and paid only about $5/day without any hidden fees after declining additional insurance. My Chase Sapphire Reserve card includes rental insurance, so if you don’t have that, or travel insurance, you might want to pay extra for it.
FYI you might be asked to have an International Driver’s Permit. You can easily get one online through AAA or in person, it only costs about $20.
At first I was going to splurge for a castle looking hotel atop a hill in Cernobbio, but I’m glad I didn’t because we would have needed to drive just to get anywhere. If you stay in Como City Center you can easily walk to restaurants and sites. Again the hotel I stayed at was the Palace Hotel!
I’m also glad I didn’t stay in Bellagio because it was a lot smaller with not nearly as many restaurants and cafes.
The temperature when I was there in early January was a high of around fifty degrees, and would drop to low thirties at night. There’s not much sunlight, and when there’s not, it is COLD.
Wear wool layers under your clothes, and invest in a pair of fleece-lined sheer tights. I wore these every day and highly recommend them! You can get the sheer tights on my shop!
Be prepared for limited daylight. So start your days early, because the sun will likely set by five o’clock! Como is still very pretty at night, especially the Duomo. But it is also very cold.
Expect a lot of the famous villas to be closed, and no boat tours besides expensive private ones, or technically the ferry.
The places I wanted to go to but they were closed were: Villa Erba, Villa Carlotta, and Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
To get to Lake Como in winter, the easiest route is to fly into Milan, then take an airport bus to the Milan station, then a train to Como.
As I mentioned, I came to Lake Como in winter for my birthday on January 4th. Here’s what I did there in four days!
You’ll likely arrive in Lake Como in the afternoon, and I’d suggest going to the car rental office to pick up your car first, if you’re going to be driving. Then go to the hotel to check in and drop off luggage. Depending on your energy and ambition levels, I’d recommend going to one of the many piazzas for lunch. We had pasta at Posta Bistro and absolutely loved it! There’s also a popular place called “Pasta” right next to it that seemed popular.
Then spend some time strolling through the beautiful streets of Como, and enjoying the views of the Lake. If there’s enough day light left, take the Funiculare up to Brunate for a sunset view (although it’s likely better in the early afternoon when the sun is over the lake). I didn’t actually do that because the line was always too long, but if you’re willing to wait, it looks like a fun, cheap adventure!
For a light dinner, have pizza at one of the many pizzerias! We ate in the warmth of the indoors at Platea Ristorante.
Wake up early if possible (but not too early because the sun also rises late), have breakfast, then head all the way up to Menaggio IF you want to see a small cute town. There were hardly any people there, and only a couple cafes open, but it was picturesque. However it’s an hour away from Como, just to warn you.
On the way back, I wanted to stop at the famous Grand Hotel Tremezzo and also Villa Carlotta, but they were both closed.
Luckily the also famous Villa del Balbianello was open, but you definitely need a ticket in advance for it, if you want to tour the inside of the villa. The gardens are free to see, but if you’ve never been inside a traditional, rich Italian’s villa, I’d recommend doing the tour. Especially if you like travel and historic objects.
Just to warn you: you need to park in the parking area, and then walk about 20 minutes along a hilly path to get to the villa. In Lake Como in winter the water taxi is not working, so the only way to get there is doing that walk.
Afterwards head back to Como for aperitivos! Have dinner at one of the many outdoor restaurants in front of the Duomo.
Head up along the right side of Lake Como, about one hour’s drive, to get to Bellagio. This little town is so fancy, that they named a hotel after it in Las Vegas! Except, the fanciest hotel (Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni) was also closed in winter. It’s still nice to stroll the little cobblestone streets though!
Tip: Type in “Parcheggio a pagamento Bellagio” into google maps to find where to park, and then walk from there. I typed in the panoramic viewpoint, and the map ended up taking us through the pedestrian streets which was very anxiety-inducing!.
Be sure to get a photo at the “Famous Stairway of Bellagio” (literally what it’s called on google maps), and stop in the little wine shop for a glass of vino!
If you opted not to go to Menaggio by car, you can take the ferry there from Bellagio, as well as to another small town called Verenna. But ferry times are limited, so look them up in advance and plan accordingly!
Then it’s back to Como for another night out in the only bustling town in Lake Como in Winter!
If you have time on your last day, or perhaps on Day 2, I’d highly recommend going to Villa D’Este, for at least a drink or bite to eat. Villa D’Este was by far the epitome of what I envisioned Lake Como to be.
It’s a massive, sprawling, highly decorated villa and hotel, with gorgeous gardens, and also the only floating swimming pool that I saw when I was there. It has the Green Room for drinks, or if you’d like to have lunch, you can sit in the glassed enclosed Terrazza restaurant.
You must make reservations in advance, otherwise you cannot enter through the security gate!
For more tips about Italy, check out my other posts!
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xx, Alyssa
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