Como, Bellagio & Varenna: Small Group from Milan with Boat Cruise
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Milan, Italy
- 10 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Lake Como is one of Italy’s most stunning destinations, but visitors unfamiliar with the area risk missing the best spots. Enjoy an in-depth, intimate introduction to the lake and its surrounding towns during this small-group, full-day tour from Milan. A boat cruise is included, plus get-down stops in Bellagio and Varenna, with a return train to Milan.
- Get assistance and information from a guide for the duration of the tour
- Enjoy a personalized experience within a group capped at 12 people
- Grab a traditional local lunch during free time in Bellagio (own expense)
- All transportation tickets are included: ferry, train, subway, and cruise
What's Included
- ❌ NO BIG GROUPS ➡️ SMALL GROUP ONLY ✅ 14 PEOPLE MAX
- Visit Como, Bellagio & Varenna. Enjoy a balanced mix of free time and tour
- Train tickets (first class), ferry, subway & boat skip-the-line tickets are included in the cost
- Professional local expert English-speaking guide to make your experience informative & entertaining
- Priority skip-the-line access for boat cruise & guaranteed prebooked seats on the ferry to Bellagio
- Lake Como boat cruise is included in the cost with guaranteed seats & reserved skip-the-line access
- LunchStop by a lakeside restaurant in Bellagio to enjoy authentic Italian cuisine. Your guide will suggest you a couple of wonderful lake-view restaurants. Lunch cost is not included in the tour.
- Last Supper Leonardo Da Vinci museum visit is not included in this activity
- Arrive 5 minutes before to the meeting point for the check-in. The group will leave immediately.
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
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End point
- Milan CentralPiazza Duca d'Aosta, 1, 20124 Milano MI, Italy
The tour will end in the Central Station of Milan.
Itinerary
1
Milan
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Como
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Lake Como
1 hour 40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Villa Olmo (Pass By)
Cernobbio (Pass By)
Lake Como (Pass By)
Torno (Pass By)
Villa Erba (Pass By)
Villa Carlotta (Pass By)
Villa Del Balbianello (Pass By)
4
Bellagio
1 hour 50 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Bellagio
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Varenna
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
Stazione Centrale
55 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- All time for transportation (train, ferry, subway, etc) is already included in the tour duration.
- The tour programme & schedule can change for operations reasons (eg train strike, bad weather, force majeure, technical issues of the boat, etc)
- At the end of the tour the group will normally take the train from Varenna to return to Milan, but if you wish you can stay in Varenna to spend more time there and take on of the next trains/buses by yourself (we will provide the tickets - this must be comunicated before 13:00 on the day of the tour)
- During the summer period, there is a small beach in Varenna if you want to swim a little
- The tour is always confirmed in case of rain. Tour duration is approx. 10 hours (the tours ends in Milan Central Station).
- In the winter time (November-mid March) the tour starts 1 hour earlier (7:45 AM meeting point in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and 8:10 meeting point in Central Station), while summer time (April-October) the tour starts 1 hour later (8:40 AM meeting point in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and 9:10 meeting point in Central Station).
- It is possible to cancel free of charge only up to 24 hours before the tour, after that term it is not possible to cancel free of charge or modify the booking (for any reason). No-shows are non refunded. In order to cancel the booking, you need to do it from your account, please do not text us or call us to cancel the bookings - it can only be done by you personally from your account
- If you wish to visit Last Supper on the day of the tour, please book it separately in the early morning or late eveving.
- Bring an ID (passport, ID or driving license - an original, not a photo), this can be requested by train company
- If you wish to visit Villa Cipressi (Gates of Heaven) or Villa Monastero during your free time in Varenna, you can buy the ticket directly there in the villa
- Not suitable for travelers with mobility impairments
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
This is one of the best tours we have been on in Italy. The guide was fantastic. The scenery was spectacular. I would highly recommend this tour to everyone. We saw so many things on this tour, including stops in several towns on the lake and learned about all the Villas and famous sites. We had plenty of free time in each of the stops so we’re able to do a little shopping and walk around the towns. This tour is a must if you want a comprehensive experience of Lake Como.
Reviews
4.9
based on 1,602 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
I wasn’t prepared for just how beautiful everything would be. Everywhere I looked, there was another amazing view. Since I had my camera with me, I got to take some incredible pictures.
Alessandro was amazing and made sure we got the best seats, which definitely helped with the photos. All the places we visited—Lake Como, Bellagio, and Varenna—were absolutely beautiful.
Definitely a trip worth making.
Salvatore was a great guide and very versed in the history of Italy. It was nice that we had priority boarding.
An excellent choice to visit this beautiful part of Italy for a one-day getaway from Milan. Our guide Mrs Elma spoke excellent English and was very helpful and pleasant. I would propose to extend the trip for one hour more in Varenna, as the allocated time was too short to enjoy a nice aperitivo watching the beautiful sunset.
This is a beautiful, relaxing excursion. It is a long train and ferry ride, so I probably would not recommend it for small kids. But, the scenery is stunning; Nicola - our guide - did a good job saying enough but not too much; and the stops were picturesque. You will have to walk a lot and climb a lot of stairs in the city stops. The train ride back is long and very crowded. For us, this wias a great way to spend the day in a postcard pretty place!
Our full day tour was fantastic. The train from Milan to Como was great with our guide giving us an overview of the day as we travelled in the 1st class carriage. Alessandro, our guide, was terrific with commentary all along the way including on the 2 hour boat cruise on the way to Bellagio. We had plenty of free time in Bellagio which we put to good use. He always managed to get us the best seats & had good advice for everywhere we went. Doing the train both ways was a bonus compared to spending much longer on a bus.
Professional and informative - very courtesy - well organized - avoided long lines - laughed at my jokes
Our tour guide Elma, (or Elba) was AMAZING! She was extremely friendly and was very informative. She also helped us get in line early to get on the ferry & secure upper left outdoor seats for the best views during the tour. Great communication prior to the event. Super easy meet-up location.
If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would. THANK YOU!!!!
Alessandro is a great tour guide. He is very attentive to every tour member's need. He made the whole tour a very enjoyable experience. The tour covers the major highlighs of Como City, Bellagio and Varenna. It is a brief introduction of each village plus a 2 hours boat tour. That was all it had time to cover.
Amato was an excellent guide, very informative and enthusiastic.
Highly recommend this tour and guide
Elma was the model tour guide. She was sincerely kind and interested in us. She shepherded a group of 16 through complex travel situations and etc and made sure we had the best seats and best views and best referrals. She was outstanding and could not commend her more. The tour would have met our expectations without that so I think it was well priced and well done. Having Elma as she guide made it legendary.
This excursion is very well planned out and Angela is a top notch tour director. She easily got our group from point A to point B and all points in between. Her knowledge of the area and stories she shared were much appreciated and enjoyed by all. I would highly recommend this tour.
Very informative, fun, all the logistics are very well thought out. Beautiful scenery. Itinerary is perfectly balanced. 😊
Great day out. Very well organised and tour guide Alessandro was very informative. Highly recommend.
Angela was absolutely fantastic and we had the best day with her. She kept helping our group to get the best tables, the fastest exists - she is so efficient and really cares about every single group's good time. We had a blast on a really long day! Definitely recommend this tour.
Beautiful views, but I didn’t realize we would be on a ferry that fits 700 people. Each stop felt a little short, but the tour guide was knowledgeable and a really easy way to see the main parts without the hassle
Angela was a great guide with lots of interesting information. She made sure to get us the best seats and gave great recommendations for food and drinks. Other than the train not having assigned seating and mediocre air-conditioning the boat ride was excellent and the time at Bellagio and Varenna was wonderful.
Elma was wonderful.
1st Train cancelled…don’t worry…we’ll take another train…2nd train also cancelled…don’t worry…Elma has everything under control…
3rd train…yes…we’re headed to Como
Thank you Elma for having great perseverance & for being a great guide. Beautiful day on Lake Como.
Lovely small group tour including trains and a boat cruise. Lots of celebrity/historical facts with Mrs. Monica. Lake Cuomo is gorgeous. Going with this operator gets you first on first off the boat. You need this for seating on the boat.
A good overall taste of como and alessandro was an attentive guide but ……It’s not what we expected. Just on a ferry and a car ferry. The only difference was we got on and off first but still had to queue for a long time. No time to explore. Don’t take the lunch option in Bellagio as the food was awful and very over priced. Overall wouldn’t recommend.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Hello, we do not understand what exactly you did not like. Our tour is the only day trip from Milan that you will find online that includes 3 best locations of Lake Como - Como, Bellagio, Varenna, in a small group and without commuting by bus for 4 hours like other tour operators. You did not ''queue for a long time'' - you entered the boat 15 minutes after reaching the docks, which is a normal time for registration and boat access. You had a priority access to the boats, as promised, and skipped the line before hundreds of people, thanks to our special agreement with Lake Como navigation system, and were one of the first to get on the boat and get amazing seats with the best view. We see that you really liked your guide, you got the priority seats and priority access everywhere, including boat and train; you enjoyed a small group tour by paying just 140€ (instead of 120€ like other tour operators who organize groups of 50 people in 1 bus with 1 (ONE) guide, and you will spend in their tours almost 4 hours stuck in a crowded bus commuting in Lake Como (must be a ''nice'' experience on a holiday, isn't it?). Does not happen on our tour, as you take a very fast train and we buy first class tickets. If you find there is a better tour for this price online, please send us the link and we will refund you the price difference. However, as we see from more than 99% of our reviews (which are all 5 star) / with more than 1000 reviews online, most people really like our tour. Regarding the restaurants suggested, normally we receive great feedback about them, we are sorry you did not enjoy it and will share this info with our guides, if you can send us the name of the restaurant. Best regards, Memento Italy
This is a fairly physical tour with a lot of walking up steep hills on pebbled steps. I didn’t think about that so some of our group had to stay near the dock and could not experience Varenna.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Hello, there are no ''steep hills'' to be walked in this tour. During the tour you visit 3 towns - Bellagio, Como and Varenna, all of them are in Lake Como which is a mountainous area in the middle of the Alps. Obviously in this area not all towns are 100% flat surface; however what you wrote about Varenna it not correct - the distance from the docks of Varenna to the center of Varenna is 100% flat, and it is just 10 minutes of walking, which is a normal and reasonable distance to walk to visit a town. In Bellagio and Como it is the same - in Bellagio all area near the water is 100% flat, while to see more of Bellagio you will walk 50 meters on the stairs - again, a totally reasonable amount. Out of 10 hours of the tour duration, you will spend 2.5 hours sitting on the boat and 100 minutes sitting on the train.
Best regards
Marco
We had such an amazing experience on our Lake Como tour with Katia! I went with my two sisters, and it was truly such a beautiful and memorable day. Katia was so sweet, welcoming, and personable, and she made the experience feel so special from beginning to end.
Lake Como was absolutely stunning, and having Katia as our guide made the day even better. She was knowledgeable, attentive, and made sure we had a wonderful time. We loved every minute of the experience and would definitely recommend this tour, especially if you’re visiting Lake Como! 🤍🇮🇹
Wonderful cruise around the lake. Stops at Bellagio and Varenna were just enough time in each. Our guide, Monica was excellent.
We had an amazing time. Barbara was a great tour guide. We definitely will do another Viator tour. This was my first one and I was pleased.
The boat ride on lake cuomo was definitely beautiful and scenic. However the time allotted to spend in Bellagio and Varenna was definitely not enough and rushed. The return trip was a nightmare as we were rushing to get the train and our group were all standing the entire hour+ ride in an extremely hot "first class car" on the regional train
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Hello, thank you for your review. Our small group tour is the only one you will find that allows to visit 3 most beautiful towns in one day, one of which (Varenna) cannot be reached by bus because they are not allowed there, only by train, for which we booked first class train tickets. Lake Como is a very, very big area and it takes time to move around between 3 different cities. During the summer period, in Como City you stay between 10:20 and 12:00 (approx. 90 minutes), in Bellagio from 14:00 till 16:00 (approx. 2 hours), and in Varenna rom 16:20 till 17:30 (approx. 1 hour), then coming back to Milan Central Statiion at approximately 19:00. As you can see, the tour duration is already 10 hours (from 9:00 till 19:00 approximately), which is necessary to visit 3 beautiful towns. Tour duration of 11 or 12 hours would be tiring for most people. If you wish to spend more time in Bellagio or Varenna, you will be back at Milan at 22:00 or 23:00, which is too later for most people, while finishing at 19:00 in Milan is a reasonable time. Our tour also allows to spend more time in Varenna if you wish - the guide will provide you updated train tickets so you can stay there more and take by yourself one of the next trains. Your guide offered you this option but you did not accept it - why then you write that there was little time in Varenna if you did not want to stay there more?
Best regards,
Memento Italy
It was a wonderful day trip well planned and organized. I was able to see the whole view of lake como. Mr. Alessandro the guide was very informative Extremely nice and caring always made sure he has the whole group. I think he was the best I ever experienced a day trip with.
The trip itself was worth it I enjoyed the whole day.
Lake Como is breathtaking and the guide made sure we always have the seats to get the best view. Highly recommend it.
You realy, have to do it, one of the best tours ever ,very complet and relax with good data of all places visit
Angela was a wonderful tour guide. Everything was seamless on our wonderful day! She recommended a wonderful restaurant for lunch and made reservations for us. I would recommend this tour to visit such a beautiful place.
We had a great day out, but full day, to see beautiful Lake Como and visit a few of its towns. Bring walking shoes, hat and water for the towns, and snacks for the train and boat. Angela made the transportation so easy and helped everyone find the right lunch spot, whether it was a restaurant with a view or a panini in the park.
We had the pleasure of having Angela as our tour guide. She was perfect in just the right way - she told us exactly where to go when boarding the boat so we had a shaded area on the top level. She shared all the history of the surrounding areas. We had free time in Bellagio to walk around, shop and get lunch. We stayed together for the walk around Varenna and Angela took us to a chuch dating back to 1100 and a small beach where we could tip our toes. This was well worth the trip of seeing Lake Como in a day.
Alessandro did a great job on this day long trip to Lake Como. He made sure we navigated alll of the stops properly and gave us a lot of good information. We would recommend this tour!
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