Mistakes to Avoid when visiting Como

I've written a lot about Lake Como already and I almost thought about moving on. But there are a few more things that would have been 'good to know' about Como, before I left. So here they are - for all you over planners (like me).

Don't stay too far away
I covered this  in my 'Where to Stay in Lake Como' post, but I just want to reiterate that the area is huge and transportation can be somewhat difficult. If you have a limited time in the area, base yourself centrally, and in the places you want to see, otherwise you'll spend half your time trying to get to your destinations.

With that said, if it's your first time, I would not bother stay in Como (day trip there instead - it's still a lovely town worth seeing if you've got the time). But it's way too far, if you plan on visiting the other hot spots. I highly recommend Varenna or Bellagio (and I explain why in my other post).

Last Minute Planning
Lake Como is such a major tourist hotspot, it's in no way a hidden gem. Therefore it's going to get busy and book out quickly (especially in the peak months). I would at least book accommodation and try to book your 'must do' experiences too. That way, you won't miss out. Of course, leave some room for spontaneity, but this way, you can do everything on your bucket list.

Just on that, if you absolutely must visit for example, Villa Balbianello, then it's good to look up its opening times. Some villas are closed on certain days and some close early in the afternoon. Weirdly, we found places were more likely closed on Mondays in Italy - so don't just assume it's going to be open.

IMPORTANT: Getting to Nesso Gorge and Ponte Della Civera
This was something I put absolutely no thought into before I went - I just thought we'd figure it out when we got there. BUT it ended up meaning we didn't go. In the end, it was too difficult and too expensive to do it the way I wanted to - and we ended up not going at all.

My idea was to hire a boat or go on a tour, that drops you off at the spot for a half an hour swim and photo opportunity. I figured that would be easy to find. I was wrong. It was doable, but it would have cost us an arm and a leg to hire a boat all day just to visit one waterfall - it was simply too far away and I hadn't factored that into the equation. We couldn't just do a 2-3 hour tour to visit it, because most of that time was taken up just getting there. So, it ended up in the too hard basket.

So if this is a MUST DO on your bucket list, do a bit of research. There are some slightly less offensively priced tours a little bit further down the lake - but they're still not cheap. I've attached an itinerary for one. You could bus it to Lezzeno from Bellagio (15 minutes) - and then hire a boat for an hour or two from there. But whatever you do, just plan for it and know your budget.

Lezzeno Boat Hire is just a small way away from Nesso, so you can cut down on costs and hire for just an hour or two. It will cost you 150Euro for 2 hours, compared to a full day hire, which is around 380Euro (excluding fuel).

If we were to do it that way, we would have had to train from Bellano to Varenna, get a ferry to Bellagio, then a bus to Lezzeno and then hire a boat from there. We made the call that was FAR too much travel and muck around, for not much reward. However, if you base yourself out of Bellagio, that wouldn't been nearly as difficult and way more doable. Just do your research beforehand and know how you want to go about it.