Lake Como has a reputation for celebrity villas and luxury hotels, but it is possible to visit well without spending a fortune. The lake rewards walking, public boats and simple food, and many of its best experiences are free. This guide shows where to save and where a little extra is worth it.
Choose your base carefully
Hotels directly on the lake villages are the most expensive. Como town is the cheapest sensible base, with train links from Milan, ferries to the rest of the lake and a range of hotels, and in the off season many lake hotels close anyway. Albergo Terminus on Lungo Lario Trieste includes a free breakfast buffet and is two minutes from Como Nord Lago station, which makes it one of the better-value lakefront choices, and Palace Hotel shows a free continental breakfast, which also saves money. Compare rates that include breakfast against those that do not, because paying for breakfast every day adds up.
Use the free sights
Some of the lake’s best experiences cost nothing. Walking Bellagio’s old town, the lakeside paths of Varenna and the lanes of Menaggio is free, and so are the lakefront promenade in Como and the park of Villa Olmo, whose grounds are open daily without a ticket. Add the walks above Menaggio, including the circular route through Croce, Loveno and Nobiallo, and you can fill several days without paying for a single entrance. Save the paid villas for the one or two that you most want to see.
Choose paid sights wisely
Villa del Balbianello, Villa Carlotta and Villa Monastero charge for entry, and each is worth it for the right visitor, but you do not need to see all three. Pick the one that matches your taste: Balbianello for the view and the film-set loggia, Carlotta for the botanical garden and Monastero for a long lakeside garden walk that stays open in winter. Garden-only tickets are cheaper than combined house and garden tickets where they are offered, and youth and reduced rates apply at some villas, so ask at the ticket office.
Ferries, buses and passes
Boats are the best transport and cheaper than a taxi or a rental car. A central lake day ticket covers Menaggio, Varenna, Bellagio, Cadenabbia, Tremezzo and Lenno, and is good value if you plan to hop between several of them, but if you only cross once or twice, single tickets cost less. Buses such as the C10 and C110 along the west shore are cheaper than boats for short hops, and the train between Como, Lecco and Varenna is cheap and fast. Avoid renting a car, since parking in the villages is scarce and expensive, and avoid taxi boats unless you split the cost between several people.
Eat smart
Lunch is cheaper than dinner, and many restaurants offer a fixed-price menu at midday. Walk a street or two back from the lakefront, where prices drop. Take coffee standing at the bar, buy picnic food from a bakery and a delicatessen and eat on a bench with a view, and use aperitivo as a light evening meal, since many bars include generous snacks with a drink. Tap water in Italy is safe to drink, so bring a refillable bottle. Check the cover charge and service charge on menus before you order.
Do the experiences that give the most for the money
A guided kayak tour from Bellagio, with a high rating from many reviews, gives about an hour and a half on the water at a modest price compared with a private boat. A small-group cooking class in Como gives you a meal as well as an activity. A shared boat tour is far cheaper than a private cruise, and a self-drive boat rental split between five people can be better value than it first appears. Skip the private cruises with a skipper, which are the most expensive way to see the lake.
Choose the right season
Prices are highest from June to August and lowest in the winter months, and the shoulder seasons of April, May, September and October offer the best balance of price, weather and open attractions. In winter you will find cheaper rooms in Como, but fewer villas and boats, so decide whether lower prices or more open sights matter more to you.
A sample budget day
Take a morning train or bus to the lake, walk the old town of Bellagio, picnic on the lakefront, take a ferry to Varenna and walk the Lovers’ Walk, and finish with an aperitivo on the harbour. Nothing in that day requires an entrance ticket, and the only cost is the boat fare and a modest lunch.
