A Day at Lake Como and Lake Lugano

I am going to be completely honest for a second. Lake Como is kind of the reason I went to Milan. Basically my entire trip was planned around water, except for maybe Rome and Pisa. I grew up on a lake, so I have always felt myself drawn to water. Sometimes I even do it unintentionally, like I did on this trip. Our first three stops were Venice, Milan for Lake Como, and Cinque Terre. I do like being near the water. Anyway instead of taking the train to Lake Como like I saw horror stories of on TikTok, I decided to book a tour instead. It was on sale for about $50 and it would take us to a couple towns on Lake Como with a ferry ride and then to Lake Lugano in Switzerland. I love Switzerland so of course I was all for it. Also then I could just relax and not have to worry about transportation.

We had to get up pretty early because of my mess up which made us a bit further from the train station than hoped for. We ended up just paying for the metro again to save our steps and some time. We ended up getting there right on time. The tour started at 8, but we needed to be 20 minutes early. This also gave us time to stop at a little stand near the bus to get some food. I got a croissant of course and my new Italian obsession, melon. Then we met our guide and found our spot on the bus. This was a very important decision because we would be spending a lot of time there. While I am used to having a window seat as someone who loves to stare out the window listening to music, I had to be ok not having one because Sam needed it for motion sickness reasons.

It was about an hour drive until we arrived in Como. We were supposed to have an hour here which sounded like enough time but in reality was not. It was about a 15 minute into the main part of the town, which means it was another 15 minutes back, so that left us with about 30 minutes to actually explore. We went inside the Cathedral of Como, which took a good portion of that time and then I wanted to go to an ATM because I didn’t have any cash and I wasn’t sure what the other small towns would be like. I have since decided that was an unnecessary stop and a complete waste of my time in Como. Then with the rest of our time we went to a cafe to get a coffee so we could use the bathroom and that took longer than needed because they were really busy and I had a hard time figuring out how to order and pay. So from the hour in Como, I really learned a lot. It was a nice walk in and out of the city though. All the buildings are so colorful and there is definitely a kind of joy in air there.

From there we had about 30 minutes in the bus until we got to Argegno. This bus ride was probably the most beautiful part of the entire tour of Lake Como. Leaving Como we took the scenic route along the lake and suddenly the expanse of the water was to our right. The sun shone on it just right so it looked like it was sparking. Then there are the green hills surrounding the lake that no picture can capture of the magnificence of. I wasn’t on the right side of the bus, so my video isn’t great, but you are just going to have to trust me one how great it was. (Also we did see George Clooney’s villa on this part of the tour.)

In Argegno we had about 10 to 15 minutes to ourselves while we waited for the ferry. I walked along the water a little bit, trying to get some good pictures. It was a small town so there really wasn’t much of the town to see. I also get nervous about missing things so I wanted to stay where I could see others in our group. Then we boarded our ferry and were on out way to Bellagio.

On the boat we were free to go where we wanted. Sam sat in the inside at a table, but I wanted to be outside where I could see the water and feel the wind on my face. I am a boat girl. That is what happens when you grow up on a lake in Minnesota. We had little radios with an earpiece so we could hear our guide as he explained the buildings and the towns along the way. We had about an hour on the boat and I loved it.

I will admit, sometimes I wasn’t paying attention to my radio. I just wanted to enjoy being on THE Lake Como in Italy. I remember a conversation I had with Sam that day. How could some people just be ok with not seeing stuff like this. Like I am literally looking at the Italian Alps!

When we arrived in Bellagio, we had about 2 hours to explore. Sam and I split up to do our own thing, so I just wandered. I found myself in the main square after going up some steps. There was a little market going on that was full of locals selling their crafts. I bought a gold bracelet with some beaded daisies to go with my charm bracelet I had bought in Venice. I feel like bracelets can’t be worn alone, so now it has a pal. I bought a painted magnet from another vendor. I also wanted to buy a post card from another but she was all out. She said to come back at 4, but I was going to be in Switzerland at 4.

All of this was right outside the church, Basilica di San Giacomo. It was much smaller than many of the others I had visited in Italy, but I liked it. It was peaceful. Afterwards I headed across the square to the cafe Maryjo for a focaccia stop. I took it to go as alway and then went to eat it down by the water. It took awhile to find a place to eat. I love taking food to go in Italy because there is always benches everywhere to sit and eat at, but Bellagio definitely got hit with the tourists, so spots were limited. I eventually found something near the water.

I decided then to walk around the water a little bit. Bellagio was very cute and I got some nice pictures of the town, but I was in search of the little hidden gems that you see people post on TikTok and Instagram. I wanted to find the hedges and the bridges and the little waterfalls. I don’t think I went to the right villages for that. I think that is why in the end I liked Lake Como, but it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, which was a little bit of a let down. I was expecting more gardens and cobblestone photo opps, but I don’t think you find those in the very touristy towns. And I know that travel isn’t just about getting pictures, but I think because these were the pictures I saw of Lake Como, I had the impression that this is what it looked like around the lake. Instead it just felt like little touristy towns situated on a lake that people come to for a lake day in the summer and not a place full of hidden gems.

I didn’t mind it though. I had an amazing view of the mountains and the lake from the look out spot I went to. It wasn’t even a 10 minute walk from the town and was on the point so there were a few different angles of the water. If I had more time (or should I say if I knew I’d have more time), I would have also gone to explore in the other direction as well. Apparently Sam found some nice views that way.

For the rest of my time I walked around the town once more, but this time stopping into the little shops that I was interested in checking out. There was this cute lemon one that you could literally smell lemon from walking by, so I needed to check it out. I also bought a scarf at another store. The towns on Lake Como are known for making silk scarves. I didn’t get silk, because I am cheap, but I still wanted to participate in the act of buying a scarf so I got a cute fake one for 10 euros. I also wanted to track down a post card, but hardly anywhere sold them so I ended up buying a print and deciding I would write Lake Como or Bellagio on it later.

We had a certain time we needed to meet at the docs for the ferry and we were all there. As we were waiting for the ferry though, it started to drizzle a bit. I immediately pulled out my umbrella. I was not going to have a repeat of the day before. Then we found out our ferry was canceled and we would have to take the next which would be in another half hour. Nobody really went that far, so I didn’t feel like I could go explore in the other direction, so I did some more picture taking and just took in the scenery on a bench with Sam. Its great to explore, but sometimes you just have to sit and take it all in. That’s always the best time for reflection. I think this is when we had our chat about traveling and how we could never understand why some people don’t do it. I would never be content in just one place for the rest of my life, but if you never travel, you never really know what you are missing.

Then we boarded our ferry, which was also a ferry for cars which I thought was super cool, because I had never been on one of those before. It was only about a 10 minute ride though, because we were just crossing the lake to where our bus was waiting to take us to Lugano.

It was about another hour on the bus before we would get to our final destination. While most people fell asleep, I put on my Italian music and stared out the window. It was beautiful. Everything was so green and bright. Even the water had a tint of green making it more turquoise than the lakes at home in Minnesota.

When we arrived in Lugano, we only had another hour. Our guide gave us a few choices on how to spend that hour: you could go into city center, rent a paddle boat to go on the water, or walk along the water in the park. I went with the third option. I felt like in the last couple stops I did a lot of town exploring and not enough water appreciation. I would have loved to go on the boat, but I think that would have been really hard alone, so I got a gelato and walked through the park. I am glad I went with this option because I got to see the locals enjoying life. I can’t explain exactly what it was, but Lugano felt like the happiest place on earth. I could have stayed here forever! It feels like one of those places where it could just be summer forever. The views of the lake and mountains was unreal. It is unlike anywhere I had ever been before. It was so unfamiliar, yet like I knew exactly what this place was.

I really wish we had more time here. I only had enough time to dip my toes in the water, but I could have spent multiple beach days here. I did want to see a little bit of the city so in my last 10 to 15 minutes I walked around a little close to our meeting point. I went to a souvenir shop to get a postcard. I didn’t have any Swiss Francs, so I could only pay with card, but the shop had a minimum 5 franc policy to pay with card, which obviously a postcard was not that much, so I grabbed some bars of swiss chocolate. I should have maybe checked the price of the chocolate first before grabbing it, because when I got a notification on my phone from my bank, I had spent $20. Oops.

We met at the fountain across from the main dock. Everyone was there right on time at 5. But do you know who was not right on time? Our bus. We ended up waiting close to half an hour, which is totally ok, but I just wish we knew when the bus was going to show up, so that I could have explored a little bit more. Oh well. This was just another soaking it in moment.

We hopped on the bus and had about 1 1/2 hours back to Milan. A lot of the drive was in Switzerland since we took a different way back, so I was happy for a little bit more time seeing the Swiss side of Lake Lugano. Eventually we were back in Italy and got one last glimpse at Lake Como. I will say I didn’t in any way dislike Lake Como, but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. That is why I try not to have expectations when traveling, because it never is what you expect in the end. I think that is why I liked Lake Lugano so much, because I didn’t have any expectations, so I could enjoy it for what it was. So in the end I would probably say I liked Lake Lugano more than Lake Como, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over Lake Como. I would definitely come back to Lake Como on my own and explore more of the smaller villages and spend a few nights there so I could enjoy the water as well.

The Lombardy region of Italy surprised me in many ways. From an eventful evening in Milan to a day trip to its famous lake, it is a place to a remember. It is gorgeous with its mountains and villas, and I will say that the sun does seem to shine a little bit brighter here.

That is a wrap on my time in Milan and Lake Como. Stay tuned for my next and favorite destination: Cinque Terre!