Top 10 things to do in Italy
The experiences worth building a trip around.
Lake Como has been making people weak at the knees since the Roman Empire. The villas are grander, the water is stiller and the mountains are more dramatic than you ever imagined.
Let's help you plan
4.9/5 (921 reviews)

A hideaway for poets, aristocrats and a few Hollywood movers and shakers, Lake Como is dramatic, theatrical and very, very beautiful. Its narrow, branching Y-shape creates steep wooded slopes that drop sharply into intensely blue water, the towns — Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio — carefully dotted in between. There’s a real hint of the Roman here, and the neoclassical estates and tiered wedding-cake gardens that cling to the shore are no less fabulous than they were centuries ago. The five-star hotels are numerous and legendary, and as much a part of Como as the scenery, especially when you’re on the terrace, spritz in hand. But the best way to admire the cinematic landscape is undoubtedly from the water, cruising on a traditional, Venetian-style vessel or an elegant Riva boat before arriving back to land for sunset.
Start with a recommended trip or create one from scratch
Get advice and suggestions to make this your perfect trip.
or call us on: +1 (646) 542 0667
For a proper introduction to Como, it’s all about the water. First up, take a Venetian-style wooden motorboat and weave between the lake's grandest villas. Villa del Balbianello of Star Wars and Bond fame is the showstopper but Villa Melzi's lakeside gardens at Bellagio certainly isn’t far behind. Time it right and you'll catch the lake at golden hour, made even better with a glass of prosecco in hand. On land, wander Bellagio's stone alleys, Como's cathedral square, or take the wheel of a vintage Italian sports car and spin along the lakeside roads… Pure dolce vita. Slow things down with a home-cooked meal of lake specialties with a local family, or ramp them back up with canyoning, a kayaking expedition along the shoreline, or a seaplane flight over the shimming water, the Alps rising beyond.
The serene atmosphere and stunning landscapes provide the perfect backdrop for relaxation – and the exquisite, wedding-cake villas and blooming gardens certainly don’t harm either!
For a quieter experience, head to the lesser-known towns of Cernobbio and Torno, or get into the great outdoors in the Grigne mountains, which offer thrilling hikes and panoramic views of the lake.
While the lake is well served by public transport (on land and water), the schedules can be infrequent and are worth checking in advance before planning your day.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Wet Season
Wet Season
Wet Season
Dry Season
Dry Season
Dry Season
Dry Season
Dry Season
Dry Season
Dry Season
Wet Season
Wet Season
Why travel with Timbuktu?
We've been crafting one-of-a-kind journeys since 2014 — over 2,500 trips across 40+ countries, each one built from scratch around your interests and dreams.
Our team only recommends places they've slept in, eaten in, and happily keep going back to. Condé Nast Traveler named 11 of them Top Travel Specialists in 2026, and Travel+Leisure made three A-List Advisors.
Travel+Leisure's readers voted us the World's No.1 Tour Operator in 2024 and No.2 in 2025 — the travel industry's biggest readers' award, judged by people who actually travel.
$50 from every booking goes to female empowerment, tech education, and conservation projects across the countries we love. We have donated $78,000 so far – and it's going up!
Your travel specialist is with you the whole way, dreaming up the trip, building the itinerary, checking you in, and answering the 2am question from the other side of the world..
We are rated 4.9 out of 5 from 921 verified Feefo reviews. And these are the words of people who actually went, not us talking about ourselves.