Lecco Guide: What To Do In This Lake Como Hiking Town?

This Lecco guide covers why this small town is worth visiting.

Lecco sits on the eastern side of Lake Como; the locals even call that part of the lake ‘Lago di Lecco’, right where the Adda River (Fiume Adda) flows out of the lake, with the mountains behind the lakefront.

If hiking matters more to you than villas and gardens, this is your town.

See exactly where Lecco sits on our Map of Lake Como.

Is Lecco worth visiting?

Yes, if you want the local, mountain-focused side of Lake Como rather than the postcard version.

Lecco is a lot more local, raw, less touristy, and far more focused on hiking than on pure tourism for the nice lakefront promenades and garden villas.

Stay here if:

• You love hiking and the outdoors.
• You want fewer tourists and lower prices.
• You prefer a lived-in local feel over a polished resort one.

Skip it if:

• The classic postcard Lake Como look is the whole point of your trip.
• You’re relying on frequent ferry connections to hop between towns each day.

The best things to do in Lecco

Everything below is doable from the town centre without a car.

We’ve ordered it roughly the way we have done it: visiting the town first, then head up the mountain, and if you have time left over, visit some culture-worthy places.

Stroll the lakefront promenade and the old town

Lecco’s lakefront is where the Città di Lecco sits with its wide promenades you can walk on and the Resegone’s ridge behind you, which you can visit.

Our favourite time is the evening passeggiata, when the whole lakefront fills with people doing slow laps before dinner.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Free, always open
• 📍 Getting there: A 10-minute walk from Lecco station to the water
• 🏛️ Detour: Visit the Torre Viscontea (Viscontea Tower) in the old town, which is the last surviving piece of Lecco’s medieval walls, a remnant of the fortified castle of the village of Lecco
• 🎭 Detour: Visit the neoclassical Teatro della Società and Parco di Villa Gomes, the city’s largest public park, which wraps a 19th-century villa built for Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes, who nicknamed it Villa Brasilia
• 💡 Tip: Visit the promenade at golden hour. You get to see the golden light on the mountains across the water, the best feeling ever!

Ride the cable car to Piani d’Erna

The Piani d’Erna cable car is Lecco’s answer to the lake’s villa gardens: five minutes up from the valley station, and you’re on a 1,375 m (4,511 ft) plateau directly under the cliffs of Monte Resegone.

We’d do the Sentiero Natura loop at the top, an easy family-friendly circuit of about 6 km (3.7 miles), and have lunch at one of the rifugi before heading down.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Round-trip reports range from 7.5 euros one way in recent years. You can find the official website of Piani d’Erna here.
• 📍 Getting there: The valley station is in Malnago above town; bus 5 from Lecco station or Piazza Manzoni runs straight there, or drive up and park for a small daily fee

Hike Monte Resegone and the trails above town

This is what genuinely sets Lecco apart: you’re not just visiting the lake, you’re at the foot of real mountains, and serious trails start from town.

Our recommendation is to think beforehand which hike you want to do, because the Resegone summit routes are proper mountain hikes with big ascents, not lakeside strolls.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Free
• 🥾 Routes: From easy lakeside and forest walks to the full Resegone climb; the cable car cuts out most of the ascent if you want the summit ridge without the full slog
• ⛰️ Easier option: Monte Barro, the regional park across the Adda at 922 m (3,025 ft), gives beautiful lake views
• 🚶 Multi-day option: The Sentiero del Viandante, the old wayfarer’s path up the eastern shore towards Varenna, starts just north of town at Abbadia Lariana

See hiking routes around Lecco

Follow The Betrothed: Villa Manzoni and Pescarenico

Lecco is the town of Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed, the novel every Italian reads at school, and following its traces is the town’s best cultural thread.

We’d pair Villa Manzoni, his childhood home and now the Museo Manzoniano (Manzonian Museum) with first editions and manuscripts, with a visit through Pescarenico, the old fishing quarter on the Adda River where part of the novel is set: this is where Fra’ Cristoforo’s Capuchin convent stood, the church the Capuchin friars founded as San Francesco in 1576, and where Lucia Mondella bids her famous farewell to the mountains.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Villa Manzoni is ticketed as part of Lecco’s civic museum network
• 📍 Getting there: Villa Manzoni is a 15-minute walk from the centre; Pescarenico sits just south along the river
• 🚣 If your timing lines up: Pescarenico’s sagra brings out the Regata dei batej, a regatta rowed in the traditional Lucie boats named after Manzoni’s heroine

Visit Palazzo delle Paure

Palazzo delle Paure, literally the “Palace of Fears“, is Lecco’s main exhibition space on Piazza XX Settembre, home to the Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery of Lecco and rotating shows alongside the Osservatorio Alpinistico Lecchese (the Lecco Mountaineering Observatory) that suits the hometown of legendary climber Riccardo Cassin.

It’s more of a one-hour rainy-day visit rather than a must-see.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Ticketed (6 euros), with combined entries across the civic museum network
• 📍 Getting there: Piazza XX Settembre, right in the centre
• 🪐 With kids: Palazzo Belgiojoso (Belgiojoso Palace) across town bundles Lecco’s Natural History Museum, Archaeological Museum, Historical Museum and the civic Planetarium of Lecco under one roof

See current exhibitions at Palazzo delle Paure

Climb the Campanile di San Nicolò

Locals call the 96 m (315 ft) bell tower of the Basilica of San Nicolò (the Basilica of Saint Nicholas) “il Matitone”, the big pencil, and it’s one of the tallest bell towers in Europe.

It has a 360-degree view over the lake and the Resegone from the balcony above the bells.

KEEP IN MIND: It’s only open a few days a week, so check it on their website!

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Guided visits only, by reservation
• 🪜 The climb: 396 steps, no lift
• 📍 Getting there: Piazza sagrato della Basilica, in the centre
• 💡 Tip: Book a late afternoon slot for the best light over the lake

Cross the Ponte Azzone Visconti

Lecco’s old bridge over the Adda River, the Ponte Azzone Visconti (the Visconti Bridge), has stood since the 1300s, built by Azzone Visconti, the lord of Milan, to link the two banks of the only river that flows out of the lake.

We’d walk it at sunset and shoot back towards town, with the bridge arches in the foreground and the mountains behind.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Free
• 📍 Getting there: A 10-minute walk south of the centre, towards Pescarenico
• 🌊 Downstream: Just south, the Adda widens into Lago di Garlate and then Lago di Olginate, with a flat cycle path along the water

Swim at the lakeside beaches

Lecco has a handful of grassy lakeside spots where locals swim in summer, and they’re free.

We’d bring a takeaway and make an afternoon of it rather than expecting Riviera-style beach clubs.

Summary:

• 💰 Cost: Free public areas; paid lidos exist in season
• 📍 Where: Local favourites include the lakefront parks north and south of the centre
• 💡 Tip: Water shoes help; most entry points are pebbly

Getting to and around Lecco

• 🚆 From Milan: Direct trains to Lecco’s stazione ferroviaria (railway station) take around 40 minutes, which makes Lecco one of the cheapest and easiest bases on the lake to reach
• 🚆 Up the eastern shore: The same train line continues north to Varenna and Colico, so the prettiest towns of the eastern branch are easy day trips without a car
• ⛴️ Ferries, the honest part: Connections to and from Lecco are more limited than the Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio golden triangle; outside peak season you may need to train to Varenna first and catch a ferry from there
• 🚗 By car: Useful for the trailheads, but the town itself is walkable, and parking near the lakefront is paid
• 🗺️ Orientation: See where Lecco sits relative to the rest of the lake on our Map of Lake Como

Lecco guide: final thoughts

Lecco isn’t the Lake Como of postcards, but it has its charm and most of all, it has amazing hikes.

It’s the mountain-and-hiking base, the budget-friendly option, and the most local-feeling town on the lake, the right call if that’s the trip you’re after rather than villa-hopping.

Just plan your ferry connections with that trade-off in mind, and let the train do the work up the eastern shore.

If you’re still planning the rest of your trip, start with our full guide to the best things to do in Lake Como.

Written by Laura and Alexander, a travel couple with first-hand experience exploring Italy and Lake Como, from the boat tours to the Lake Como towns.