Lake Como

[curlyfries81]

What's the quickest / best way to get to Lake Como and would you fly to Malpensa or Linate? We are not looking to hire a car at all.

Also, which town would you stay at? Bellagio seems the obvious choice, though I don't doubt it's the most expensive and "busy" option. 

Any advice and suggestions appreciated. 

[smurfchops]

There is a big hotel in Tremezzo.  

[Buenchico]

The airport you choose to fly into might be dictated by your starting point in the UK.  (e.g. a particular destination airport might have good connections to Lake Como but not have any flights operating to it from airports close to your home).

Similarly, your choice of resort might well be dictated by which of them have got good public transport links to a suitable destination airport.

The closest airport to Lake Como is actually Bergamo.  easyJet currently flies there from Gatwick but the service is scheduled to end on 5 January.  Ryanair has flights from Belfast International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle.  

Bus No 1 runs from Bergamo Airport to Bergamo Rail Station every 30 minutes, taking around 15 minutes to get there.  However there are no rail services to anywhere on the western branch of Lake Como except to the City of Como, on the southwestern tip of the lake.  The fastest trains from Bergamo to Como S. Giovanni take about 1h 45m, with a change at Milano Centrale.

(Alternatively, you could use any one of the four bus services from Bergamo Airport that run to Milano Centrale for the first part of your journey: https://www.milanbergamoairport.it/en/bus/ )

So perhaps Como might be a good base for your holiday?
https://www.visitcomo.eu/en

 

Access to the eastern side of the lake is possibly easier from Bergamo though.  Trains from Bergamo to Lecco, for example, typically take around 1h 15 mins, with a change at Ponte S. Pietro.  (Connections are available at Lecco for Varenna-Esino, with a journey time of 22 minutes).

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

https://www.eccolecco.it/en/visit-lecco/

https://varennaturismo.com/en/

 

Malpensa Airport has flights from Heathrow with BA, with easyJet offering services from Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester.  Ryanair operates to Malpensa from Stansted, with Wizz having flights from Gatwick.

The Malpensa Express train service runs from Malpensa Airport to Milano Centrale station every 30 minutes, taking 54 minutes for the journey.  You could then travel on to stations around Lake Como, as above.

 

BA has flights to Linate from Heathrow (and from London City, on seasonal basis).  easyJet flies there from Gatwick.  ITA fly from London City.  There are no other flights from the UK.  So Linate is only a sensible option if your starting point is fairly close to London.

Although there are trains from Linate Airport into Milan, they don't run to Milano Centrale, making connections for the Lake Como stations difficult.  However there are two bus companies running services to Milano Centrale, with a 25 minute journey time on each of them.

 

[curlyfries81]

Thank you, Buenchico, you certainly know your stuff. I am impressed and very grateful for such useful information.