Northern Italy Day 3: Lake Como (Lenno, Bellagio, Varenna)

After a delicious breakfast at our hotel, we got a round-trip (with stops) ticket to Lenno and back, for about €15. 

• Tip: If possible, get tickets in advance online here, to avoid standing in line for 20+ minutes (I waited too late and they were sold out). Tickets can be purchased online about a week in advance and are valid for anytime on the day you buy them for -- i.e., not for a specific boat/time. 
• Tip: The ferry website (same link) also has all the schedules on it, which is very useful for getting around.

The trip took about 45-60 minutes, and we then wandered around the lakefront in Lenno, got a coffee, peeked inside a church (Chiesa Santo Stefano) with a crypt, and had lunch. 

After lunch, we took a (packed) ferry to Bellagio, which takes about half an hour. Bellagio is a very popular town at the apex of the "legs" of Lake Como. It has a lot of fancy stores and an enormous amount of tourists, especially in the afternoon! Some say it is the most beautiful town on the lake. If you do want to explore the town, I definitely recommend going in the morning and/or staying there (instead of Varenna).

We had booked a one-hour small group tour (about 12 people) on a beautiful wooden boat - private tours are extremely expensive (~$1,000), whereas the group tour was €55 per person.  The company we booked with, Bellagio Water Limousines, also offers a 2.5-hour tour that drops you off at Villa Balbianello in Lenno, which people say is an extremely unique and beautiful property (though we didn't have time to go). 

After our tour, we found a cute cafe on the water in Bellagio for a drink and a snack, and then took another packed ferry from Bellagio back to Varenna (15-30 minutes). Because we were a bit tired and it was pouring rain, we had dinner in a restaurant near our hotel, which was ok. I had read good things about the restaurant La Vista at Albergo Milano, but unfortunately it was fully booked both nights we were at Lake Como. During our after-dinner balcony drink, there were even some random fireworks!

Bottom line: Lake Como was beautiful - and we barely explored any of it in two days. If I could do it over again, I would definitely spend longer here, maybe staying a night or two in several different towns on different parts of the lake.