​One of my day trips from Milan was to Lake Como. The guide book says it’s undervisited in comparison to the 2 other lakes near here; however, I have only heard of this one….
I took an early train, just because my hostel mates woke me up (see Milan post) early. The train is about an hour and costs 4.80 one way.
I had a hard time finding the tourist office and just about given up hope when I came across it at the Duomo. The woman was super helpful.
I walked around the small town of Como- seeing old walls and some markets, but I also learned that Volta is a scientist who founded the electric battery and that he was from Como. His house is marked and there are statues of him throughout as well as a temple! You have to pay for the temple and so I didn’t go inside.

At 11.15 I took the ferry. Lake Cómo has many small towns around the water front. This is where George Clooney lives and no, I don’t know where nor did I want to see him, but anyways, you can take the ferry to the different towns. I opted to do the day pass for the towns near Como city. It was 8.90 euros.

But I only got off and walked around 3. I think it was a good day as I didn’t have to worry about tickets and I think it was cheaper in the end.

The towns were the same, but different. Some had charming streets, others had great lake views, etc.

I didn’t get back to Como until about 3pm as in 2 of the towns I spent an hour each and the last town due to ferry schedules I spent only 30 mins.

Upon returning, I quickly went along the shore to this villa that the tourist office said was free. It was free because it was going to be closed for weeks for restoration and that was the free day to make it up to the public. It was nice- standard villa/mansion. Glad it was free.

The ferry day ticket I got stopped at these small towns: Tavernola, Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Torno, and Urio, in this order. I didn´t walk around the first or the last.
I then headed to the Duomo as it closed at 16.30. It was lovely inside.
My next stop was finding a cafe to sit for a bit, have a drink, use the restroom and wifi. I found this charming bar and had a glass of wine. It was amazing as as soon as I ordered tons of people came in. This also happened in Turin, please see that post.
The bartenders were curious about me, but after a few minutes they had to serve the others (asking me questions about my trip and where I was from etc).
Overall, I spent 7 hours there. It was a relaxing place, for sure.