Holidays to Lake Como

There are daily non-stop flights from UK airports to Milan – Como Town is then an hour-long train journey.

• Currency: Euro 
• Time difference: GMT +1 
• Flight from UK: Around 2 hours 15 minutes 
• Visa: Visa not required for UK passport holders 
• Language: Italian 
• Regional drink: Italian wine from the north of the country 
• Regional dish: Missoltini (salted, dried and fried freshwater fish)

Lake Como Activities

The best way to explore the Y-shaped Lake Como is by ferry; take one of the local water taxis to any of the main villages from Bellagio to Varenna and Menaggio or hire your own boat, while warm summer months provide perfect conditions for swimming, paragliding and windsurfing. Away from the lake itself you can hike between Colonno to Griante along the Greenway Walk or take the funicular from Como Town up 1,600 feet to Brunate. We recommend combining Lake Como with a few days in Milan – shop, climb the Duomo and visit Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’.

Lake Como Food & Drink

It’ll come as no surprise that cuisine from Lake Como focuses on freshly-caught lake fish. A traditional dish served in lakeside restaurants and bistros is missoltini – freshwater agoni fish are salted, dried and the put in wooden containers before being fried. While risotto and pasta are (as elsewhere in Italy) found on the menu, polenta is popular with different variations served up including polenta taragna (made from buckwheat) and polenta uncial seasoned with butter, garlic and cheese. As part of the Lombardy region of Italy, you’ll also find hearty meat-based dishes from pork and savoy cabbage to a ragout of veal shine bone served on rice and peas.

Lake Como Attractions

With the Alps as a backdrop and picturesque lakeside towns dotting the shoreline, Lake Como’s top attraction is its stunning location. Perched along its banks are impressive villas – while many are the homes of the rich and famous a few remain open to the public including Villa Balbianello where Casino Royale was filmed, Villa Monastero a former monastery with stunning gardens and the 17th century Villa Carlotta. In Como Town stands the Gothic Duomo di Como with its ancient tapestries and Renaissance paintings and the Education Silk Museum dedicated to the history of silk making, a product made in Como since the 1500s.