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Published: 1/8/2024
How To Spend One Day in Como, Italy
This one-day itinerary for Como more than fills a day in this extremely accessible gateway to the Italian lake district. Although often ignored by guidebooks and bloggers and bypassed by visitors in favor of more popular Milan day trip options like Varenna and Bellagio, there are so many reasons to spend a day in Como City, Italy.
Located on the southwestern tip of Lake Como, you can reach Como in less than an hour from Milan. With a rich history that predates the Romans, breathtaking scenery, and a lively historic city centre, I highly recommend spending at least one night in Como. In fact, the biggest regret of our entire Lombardy/Ticino trip in November 2023 was not spending two nights in Como.
In this post, I’ll outline the best things to do with in 24 hours in Como. We’ll cover what to do, where to stay, favorite restaurants, unique activity ideas, and more. I’ll also convince you why Como is worth visiting, including a bit of the city’s history and what makes it so special.
One note: As I was preparing for this trip, I found it difficult to find things to do in Como when you’re talking about the city in particular. Because Como is also the name of the province the city is located in as well as the lake the city is located on, things get confusing fast . . . especially for search engines.
Out of an abundance of clarity, let me assure you that this post is about how to spend one day in Como City, Italy. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in luck!
One Day in Como Itinerary
What This One Day in Como Itinerary Includes:
- Explore the Lake Como waterfront
- Take the funicular to Brunate
- Hike to Faro Voltiano
- Lunch at Osteria del Gallo
- Saint Mary Assunta Cathedral
- Take a boat ride or go shopping
- Aperitivos at Hemingway
Let’s dive right into what to do in Como for one day. The historic city centre of Como is very small – only about a square kilometer. While it’s easy to fill 24 hours in Como, you will be spending a fair amount of time outside of the actual city and covering some miles.
Make sure to wear comfortable shoes. Between the cobblestones of Como and uphill climbs, your feet will thank you tonight!
Spend a little time by the waterfront
Como’s waterfront near the ferry terminal was undergoing a major renovation during our November 2023 visit. However, when you’re not dodging cranes and construction workers, a stroll on the Lake Como promenade is a lovely way to get your morning sunlight in. You can watch boats and sea planes busily ferrying passengers around the lake, as well as sailboats and pleasure crafts heading out for the day.
There are several waterfront attractions in Como including the Life Electric sculpture and Volta Temple. Both of these impressive structures celebrate the achievements of Como’s favorite native son, Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery. You’ll also find green spaces like Giardini a Lago and a World War II memorial.
Take the funicular to Brunate
Brunate is a village located about 2/3rds of the way up Como’s eastern flanking hill. You can hike up to the town, but I think it’s way more fun (not to mention a lot easier) to take the funicular. The ride only takes 10 minutes, but you’ll enjoy fantastic view of Como, the Alps, and Monte Rosa.
Maybe it was just the particular train that we got on, but we shared the ride with so many friendly locals. They went out of their way to make sure I got good pictures and explained the vistas in front of us.
Hike to Faro Voltiano
There are some restaurants, churches, and souvenir shops in Brunate, but we decided to make the trek to Faro Voltiano and think you should too. Faro Voltiano is, yes, a lighthouse monument erected in honor of our friend, Alessandro Volta! Once you understand that lighthouse wasn’t designed with boat navigation in mind, it makes a little more sense why it’s at the top of a nearly 3000’ hill. At night, the lighthouse’s beacon rotates between red, white, and green beams.
You’ll find jeeps waiting right at the Brunate funicular station which you can hire to drive up to the lighthouse. Even though our calves were still protesting from our hike down Monte Bre in Lugano a couple days before, we opted to make the just under 1-mile hike. The paved path to the lighthouse is well signed. It took us about 25 minutes to make the trek with about 650’ in elevation gain.
While the lighthouse wasn’t open when we visited (when it is, you can pay €2 to climb another 143 steps to its platform), we still thought the huffing and puffing was well worth it. The views of Lake Como and the Alps are spectacular.
Lunch at Osteria del Gallo
Take the funicular back down the hill to find lunch in Como’s historic centre. Osteria del Gallo is tucked deep within Como’s maze of narrow, medieval streets, but it is not be missed. We loved it so much, we actually went twice.
While we lucked out without reservations both times we visited, it does behoove you to plan ahead if you want to dine here. One server we spoke with recommended either making reservations or coming after the lunch rush. (They also serve dinner.)
The menu changes every day. Expect homey, regional cuisine like pork shank, missoltini fish, meat loaf, and pasta. They also have an extensive wine selection and operate as an off-sale liquor store. (If you’re looking for a bottle of wine to take home, this is a great stop.) Their table wine is also a lovely addition to your meal.
We thought they might be cash only, but we are happy to report that they do accept credit cards.
Saint Mary Assunta Cathedral
After lunch, head over to Como’s most striking architectural landmark: the Duomo. Construction of marble Romanesque style cathedral began in the late 1300s and continued for nearly 400 years.
If you’ve been around a cathedral or two in your day, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about Como’s Duomo, but it’s worth ducking inside. You can either have a quiet moment in one of the chapels or follow the clearly laid out visitor route through the sanctuary.
Be sure to check out the cathedral’s impressive collection of 16th and 17th century tapestries. There is a decent amount interpretative information inside, including a timeline of the building of the cathedral. Do remember that photos aren’t allowed inside.
Take a boat ride or go shopping
Who wants to go to lakeside town and just look at a lake? Well, to be perfectly honest both Ashley and I live on lakes and we were content just gazing upon Lake Como. But don’t follow our lame examples. There’s a whole 56 square mile lake out there! Get on it this afternoon!
There isn’t a shortage of options for chartering or renting a boat in Como. But personally, if I were to embark on Lake Como from Como, I’d use their public passenger ferry boat. We had a very similar experience on Lake Lugano in Switzerland. It was so fun to bop from town to town by boat!
Boats run about every hour out of Como and it will take you approximately 40 minutes to get to one of the popular Lake Como towns like Bellagio. If you’re confused by the schedule, it’s best to just to ask the ticket attendant. Another great Lake Como town is Varenna – which also happens to be Rick Steves’ favorite Lake Como destination.
Once you arrive at the town of your choice, take a couple hours to explore, then hop back on the boat and return to Como.
If you prefer to stick around Como for the afternoon, I recommend checking out the robust shopping scene in the historic centre. Since Como’s Christmas Market was open during our visit, we whiled away a couple hours sipping vin brule, sampling cheese, and picking out holiday gifts.
Don’t like shopping or boats? You could hit up some of Como’s museums instead such as their four municipal museums: Museo Giovio (archaeology) Museo Garibaldi (history) Pinacoteca Civica (art) and Tempio Voltiano – the museum you’ve been waiting, all about our boy, Alessandro Volta.
Aperitivos at Hemingway
To close out your day in Como, you can’t do better than popping into the charming and atmospheric Hemingway cocktail bar. Their champagne cocktails are not to be missed. We had such a lovely time, we stayed for a second drink.
As a bonus, their complimentary aperitivo tray, which included sandwiches and savory pastries, was so hardy, we called it dinner. (Full disclosure, we did round out our meal with some gelato at the hotel – as is any Italian tourist’s God-given right.)
FYI: the entrance is located off the alley. Try to snag a seat in their cozy solarium if you can.
Other activities for a day in Como
While I think the one day itinerary for Como I laid out above will keep you busy all day long, here are a few other Como activities you could try to squeeze in.
Sunset wine tasting – we really wanted to do this tour, but there was no availability for our dates.
Self-guided walking tours – Lake Como Travel has put together all sort of fun, topic-specific tours of Como. The next time I’m in town, I definitely want to do their Volta tour!
Sea plane ride – I definitely didn’t associate Lake Como with float planes until we visited. We saw so many sea planes taking off from the Aero Club on Como’s waterfront. Although it’s a little spendy, I think a sea plane tour of Lake Como would be the best way to see all of Lake Como.
Tour Villa Olmo – When you take the funicular up to Brunate, you can’t miss the view of the massive yellow-hued Villa Olmo on Como’s shoreline. The city of Como primarily uses the estate as an event center, but it is open to the public (and free) if you want to poke your head inside or tour the impressive gardens.
Teatro Sociale – If we hadn’t already had a fabulous time at the ballet at La Scala in Milan, I would have definitely bought tickets for whatever concert, opera, or theatre event was showing at Como’s gorgeous 18th century theatre.
Como’s Christmas Market
If you happen to visit during the Como Christmas Market, you’ll want to make the market a focal point of your visit. The market is spread over three squares in the historic city centre: Piazza Verdi, Piazza Cavour, and Piazza Volta.
Check out Piazza Verdi after dark. When we strolled by in the late afternoon, there was just a lone carousel in the square, but I think they do amazing light projections against the cathedral and other buildings at night. I’m so bummed we didn’t realize this happened, but it was very difficult to find up-to-date information about the market anywhere online.
There’s skating in Piazza Cavour, the large square near the waterfront. The ice was pretty rough and as per usual, the rental skates were oh so dull. Still, there’s definitely something magical about swirling around an ice rink in Italy on a mild winter night.
The square you’ll probably spend the most time is Piazza Volta. (Volta?! You don’t say . . .) That’s where you’ll find about two dozen vendor booths. Offerings range from baked goods, candy, and a whole lot of cheese. While most of the booths offered food items, there were a few booths selling gifts like woolen goods, lavender, and Christmas decorations.
I highly recommend the mulled wine from the Moretti wine booth. I’ve had some pretty gnarly mulled wine in my day and this stuff was the best. The hot chocolate from Stringhetto was also divine.
Helpful Como Visitor Information
Where To Stay in Como, Italy
We spent one very pleasant night at the Albergo Terminus Hotel. This four-star hotel conveniently located right on the waterfront offers a spa, restaurant, and boutique as well as a variety of rooms ranging from single rooms to deluxe suites.
While the shared spaces in the hotel felt a little dark and cramped (the building was originally built as a spa), we had a beautiful suite with a massive bathroom, comfortable sitting area, and a great view overlook Piazza Cavour.
Perhaps the biggest selling point for the Albergo Terminus Hotel is their absolutely gorgeous breakfast spread. I’m a big fan of European breakfasts and this one did not disappoint. We enjoyed our breakfast in the hotel’s outdoor terrace which had been screened for the winter and decorated with fairy lights. The spread of pastries, quiche, cereal, fruit, veggies, juices, and more was superb.
Albergo Terminus also offers a car service to Milan Malpensa Airport. While this service is a little spendy, since Como was last stop on our trip, we had some serious regret that we didn’t take them up on this offer. If we had, we could have spent a second night in their fine establishment instead of an underwhelming final Italian night at an airport hotel.
If Albergo Terminus doesn’t sound like right fit for you, check out these other Como hotels for your stay.
Is Como worth visiting?
General travel advice is usually to bypass Como City in favor of one of the smaller, more quaint towns farther up Lake Como. In fact, in a cursory glance through Milan’s tour offerings you’ll see a ton of day trip options to more famous Lake Como towns like Bellagio, but little mention of Como, even though most Lake Como day trips actually include a stop there.
Yet of all the cities and towns you could visit on Lake Como, Como City is your easiest option. Simply hop on a train at Milan Centrale and you’ll be walking the narrow, cobblestone streets of Como in less than hour. The town offers excellent shopping, great dining, museums, Roman ruins (if you look hard enough), lake access, and so much more.
Initially we ended up in Como because it was the only city near Milan with a Christmas market up and running during our late November trip. Based on the information I could find online about Como beforehand, I assumed there wouldn’t be much to do beyond the Christmas market. It turns out I was very wrong.
While I assumed this town would be a total snooze after a week of fast-paced Milan and luxurious Lugano, I really can’t recommend Como enough. It ended up being my favorite stop on the trip. My biggest regret of the entire (fabulous) trip is that we only spent one night here.
When To Visit Como
It is worth noting that our extremely pleasant experience in Como was probably greatly influenced by the fact that we visited during low season. The town becomes absolutely inundated with tourists from late May until the end of September. Locals usually recommend visiting in April or October. However, we thought late November was pretty great.
How much time in Como?
While I strongly urge you to add Como City to your Lombardy itinerary, the truth is you really only need about 36 hours here.
An overnight stay in Como City puts you a perfect position to explore the lake. You can easily take a boat to visit other towns and villas along the lake’s shore and then return to Como at night to enjoy the walkable city’s many restaurants and shops.
I actually recommend spending two nights in Como so you can spend a full 24 hours in town. Arrive in the afternoon so you can get exploring first thing the next morning, then enjoy a second relaxing evening in town. (Also, if you take me up on my lodging recommendation, you’re going to want to eat that breakfast twice!)
Brief Intro to Como
Lake Como has always attracted tourists. In Roman times, folks came here to relax and soak up the lake vibes, just like they do now. In fact, you can find some Roman bath ruins underneath a car park along Viale Lecco.
If you’re wondering how Como ended up so flat when all the other towns around the lake are built into the steep shoreline, it’s because Julius Caesar had a swamp drained so the once-hillside town could be moved to nice level ground. (Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you’ve got to be impressed by those Romans’ industriousness.) Como’s long been the administrative center for the area.
As was typical for Roman towns and cities, Caesar also had the city’s new location walled. While you’ll still see many old gates (like Porta Torre) and walls around the historic city center, these date back to medieval times. The Middle Ages are also when Como’s impressive Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta was started.
Because the small city center only has a population of about 5000, Como feels much smaller than it actually is. With a population of 84,000, it’s the largest town on the shores of Lake Como. Back in its manufacturing heydays in the late 20th century, the population crested around 100,000.
One of the city’s most famous native sons is Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery. You’ll find a city square named for the inventor as well as other homages including a temple by the waterfront, a lighthouse (yep) in the hilltop near Brunate, and a museum.
Getting To Como
You have three main options for getting to Como: train, coach, or car. (I suppose technically you could arrive via boat, but this seems unlikely unless you’re arriving from the north via Austria or Liechtenstein.) Como is a stop on Milan to Zurich train which runs about 8 times a day.
Direct train from Milan Italy to Como: 40 minutes
Direct Train from Lugano, Switzerland: 30 minutes
If you’re booking tickets to Como on Italia Rail, you’ll notice that there are multiple train stations in Como. For this Como itinerary, you want to get out at Como San Giovanni. This train station is the closest to the lake and adjacent to the historic city centre.
Drivetimes to Como City, Italy
Milan to Como: 50 minutes
Turin to Como: 2 hours
Venice to Como: 3 hours
Zurich, Switzerland to Como: 3 hours
Munich, Germany to Como: 6 hours
Coach options:
It’s hard to imagine a cheaper or easier way to get around Italy than train, but if you’re working with a tight budget, you can take a bus to Como. Flixbus (continental Europe’s Megabus) can get you to Como whether you’re coming from the north or south. A Flixbus ticket from Milan will likely cost you right around €5.
(FYI: Flixbus says they can get you to Como in 30 minutes from Milan, but I suspect that’s because you’re leaving from the northern edge of the city.)
You can use local bus service to get around Lake Como as well.
Luggage storage in Como
Since many, many people pass through on their way to day trips further up the lake, Como is well accustomed to being the dumping grounds for tourists’ luggage. You’ll find plenty of Nannybag options as well as Bounce and Bag & Go.
Just don’t forget the most obvious solution for luggage storage: your hotel. Happily our hotel didn’t hesitate to store our bags for us. It was so nice to know our bags were safe and secure in their bag storage room while we spent a full day exploring before catching an afternoon train out of town.
Conclusion: One Perfect Day in Como
I hope I’ve convinced you to visit Como City, Italy. This was such a highlight of our trip to Milan and the Italian lakes district! Whether you opt to just day trip from Milan or stay a couple nights, Como will be an unforgettable part of your Italy itinerary.
Steeped in history, surrounded by breathtaking scenery, and easily accessed from Milan, it’s hard to imagine a better place than Como to enjoy the very best of the Italian lake district. With excellent restaurants, fun excursions, museums, and shopping opportunities, you can fashion a day in Como to suit just about any travel style.
If you visit, be sure to drop me a line and let me know all about your day in Como!
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If you liked my 1 Day Lake Como itinerary, check out my other Italy posts!
