Lake Como

Itinerary

Flew from Manchester 6.35am and land at to Milan Malpensa at 8.45am
Walked to train station inside the airport and got a train ticket to Como Lago (£10.10) takes 1 hour and 18 minutes with 1 change at Saronno. You can get your ticket from the machine on the platform, don't forget to get your ticket validated in the yellow machines on the platform
After getting off the train I enjoyed a stroll around Como and then headed towards the Funicular, I paid around €4.70 (return) to get to the top to a place called Brunate
Once at the top I walked to 'Fonte Pissarottino' as I had read online that there is a great viewing spot
I carried on walking around, it was incredibly quiet as it was January and I practically had the whole town to myself.

I used the funicular to get to the bottom and headed into the main town of Como again, I was on the hunt for a ferry to take me to Argeno.
Argegno is a small comune on the shore of Lake Como however I had read that there was a really impressive cable car there that I wanted to check out.
I looked online and found a stunning hotel called Villa Belvedere so I booked a room and then went to find a ferry.
The ferry from Como to Argegno take approx 21 minutes on one of the faster ferries.
Take the ferry around sunset to make the journey even more magical.
Once in Argegno I checked into my hotel, I asked nicely for an upgrade as it was quiet and they said yes! I had a beautiful lake view room for only £56
The picture above is the view from the top of the funicular.

I headed to the cable car early doors around 9am as I wanted it to be quiet but I didn't need to worry, as it's January everything is super quiet
I got my ticket for €5 and headed on the very steep incline to the top, the commune at the top is called Pigra
The views at the top are absolutely stunning and it is well worth visiting Argegno for this alone in my opinion. I wanted to take a picture at the top and so the picture you see above is what it looks like when you set your phone to timer and drop your phone off a ledge... (solo traveller problems)
After the cable car I went to find another ferry to take me to Bellagio, the ferry takes appox 22 mins on the faster ferry and costs around £4
Once in Bellagio I had no set plans, I just wanted to wander around the cobbled streets and take it all in.
After a few hours I decided to get the ferry across to Varenna and take a walk on the 'Greenway' this crossing takes approx 15-20 mins and costs between £2-£4 depending which ferry you take.

Once in Varenna I leisurely strolled around and headed to the beginning of the 'Greenway of the Patriachs' which is a 6km walk through some of the beautiful hamlets, it takes 2 hours but I didn't do it all due to time restraints.
Once in Varenna you're on the east side of the lake and back on the main trainline which makes it super easy and cheap to get back into Milan so try and make Varenna your last stop before heading back to the airport.
After a full day perusing the villages and towns of Lake Como I jumped on a direct fast train into Milano Centrale which takes just over an hour and costs around £6

Once back in Milan I headed over to the Duomo to take a look around, in all honesty Milan is not one of my favourite cities so I was just using this as a gateway back to the airport on Sunday morning.
I stayed in a low cost hotel near the train station for ease and then in the morning I jumped on a train to the airport which cost around £11 and takes 50 minutes.
One weekend in Italy complete!