What Are The Best Things To Do In Bellagio ( Lake Como’s most iconic town)

Bellagio is the postcard version of Lake Como. It’s THE town you’ll want to visit when you come to Lake Como.

When we arrived by ferry from Varenna for the first time, the view of Bellagio’s waterfront was amazing. The colored houses, villas, balconies… This is the Lake Como you dream of.

This guide covers the best things to do in Bellagio, where to eat, and where to stay, and we’ll be honest with you about the parts other guides leave out.

Bellagio sits right where the lake splits into its upside-down “Y” shape, which makes it one of the best-connected towns on the whole lake.

It’s also the busiest, and we want to be upfront about that before anything else, because most Bellagio guides only show you the postcard side.

Is Bellagio worth visiting?

Yes, and it’s still the town most people should see at least once on Lake Como.

Bellagio sits in the center of the lake, in the middle of the upside-down “Y” shape. If you want to see exactly where that puts it relative to every other town before you decide, our Map of Lake Como post has the full visual breakdown.

That’s what makes it one of the best-connected towns for hopping to Varenna and Menaggio by ferry.

That same convenience is exactly why it’s also the most crowded town on the lake.

Don’t expect to walk the lanes by yourself or get a photo without people in the background, especially in summer.

Stay here if:

• It’s your first time on Lake Como
• You want the most iconic, postcard views
• You don’t mind crowds.

Skip it if:

• You want a quiet, low-key stay. If a quieter base is the priority, Gravedona and Colico are both worth reading before you decide. They are further north, have a fraction of the crowds, and work quite well as a base if you’re planning to day-trip into Bellagio in summer.
• You’re on a tight budget (Bellagio’s restaurants and hotels are very expensive)

The best things to do in Bellagio

We’ve broken this down by what’s actually worth your time, in the order we’d do them.

The best things to do in Bellagio
🚤 Sunset boat tour	🌸 Villa Melzi Gardens	🏔️ Walk to Punta Spartivento
🏛️ Villa Serbelloni Park	🎣 Pescallo fishing village	⛪ Basilica di San Giacomo
🏘️ Wander the old town	🍝 Dinner at La Punta	🛶 Kayak or paddleboard
🍷 Enoteca Cava Turacciolo	🏖️ Lido di Bellagio	🥾 Salita Serbelloni stairway

Take a sunset boat tour

One of the best things we did in Bellagio was a sunset boat cruise on Lake Como.

It was incredible to see the villas, mountains, and towns from the water as the sun went down.

We felt like we were in a film.

PAY ATTENTION to the timing. A sunset tour in peak summertime is between 8:30 PM and 9:20 PM. Some ‘sunset tours’ take you on a cruise when the sun is still high and bright, so not at golden hour.

👉 Book your SHARED VENETIAN TAXI TOUR in advance here.

Visit Villa Melzi Gardens

Villa Melzi is the garden you want to visit when in Bellagio, and the reason is simple: it’s beautiful, it’s walkable from the centre, and if you time it right, it feels really peaceful in a town that otherwise isn’t.

The gardens stretch 800 metres along the waterfront and were built between 1808 and 1813 for Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Vice President of Napoleon’s Italian Republic.

What you’re walking through is part botanical garden, part open-air sculpture museum: a Japanese pond, century-old trees, rhododendrons and azaleas, a family chapel, and a Moorish-style temple where Franz Liszt is said to have composed his Dante Symphony.

Entry is €10 per person, children under 11 enter free, and no reservation is needed, but expect quite a few people.

We’d go early: the lakeside walk from the ferry pier to the entrance takes around 15 minutes, and the gardens are a different experience before the day-trip crowds arrive.

Spring is the best season if you want the azaleas and rhododendrons in full bloom.

Check tickets and opening hours here.

Walk to Punta Spartivento

This is the actual tip of the Bellagio peninsula, the point where Lake Como splits into its three branches toward Como, Lecco, and the central lake.

It’s flat, it’s free, and it’s a five-to ten-minute walk from the harbour, which makes it one of the easiest wins in this whole guide.

Go at golden hour if you can. It’s also right by Ristorante La Punta, so it pairs naturally with dinner.

Explore Villa Serbelloni Park

Villa Serbelloni is the harder sell of the two, and we want to be honest about that before you book.

It’s a two-hour guided walk on steep, uneven terrain; the first hour is consistently uphill, and you never actually enter the villa itself, which has been a private Rockefeller Foundation property since 1959.

What you’re paying for is the view from the top, and that view, where you can see both branches of Lake Como at the same time, is genuinely one of the best we’ve seen anywhere on the lake.

Tours run twice daily at 11 am and 3.30 pm, leaving from the Promobellagio office in the medieval tower on Piazza della Chiesa.

Maximum 30 people per group, so book ahead in summer: slots fill quickly, and tours are cancelled in bad weather without much warning.

Entry is €10 per person; children aged 7 to 13 pay €5.

Our honest take: go for the panorama and the history of the place, but not for the botanical garden. If you want to see the botanical garden, you’ll end up disappointed. If you want to see a beautiful panorama, it’s one of the best things to do in Bellagio.

Book the guided visit here.

Visit the fishing village of Pescallo

A 10 to 15 minute walk from the centre of Bellagio (uphill, with some stairs), Pescallo is an old fishing village that most day-trippers never reach.

It’s a genuinely quiet alternative to the busy harbour of Bellagio, with a small square, stone houses, and a couple of clubs renting kayaks and SUPs if you want to get on the water without joining a tour.

See it on Tripadvisor.

See the Basilica di San Giacomo

Bellagio’s main church, built between the 11th and 12th centuries, sits right in the upper part of the old town near the tourist office where you book the Villa Serbelloni tour.

It’s a quick, free stop, worth combining with a coffee in the adjoining piazza rather than a destination on its own.

See it on Tripadvisor.

Walk Bellagio’s old town

Start at Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini, the main square by the ferry pier, and walk north along the Lungolago Europa promenade before turning up into the lanes.

Get lost in the cobblestone streets, stairways, and small boutiques. This is the Bellagio you see in postcards.

The stairway most people photograph is the Salita Serbelloni, a steep, flower-lined stone staircase running up from the lakefront.

We recommend going up: the view back down over the lake is worth the two minutes of climbing.

For actual Bellagio silk, we recommend Bellagiaseta or Azalea Silk of Como specifically on the main shopping street.

Enjoy a lakeside dinner

Bellagio is perfect for a slow dinner with an Aperol Spritz and an amazing view, especially in the evening once the day crowds leave.

We recommend booking at Ristorante La Punta.

Why is La Punta one of the best restaurants in Bellagio?

• Located at the tip of Bellagio, with panoramic lake views (Feels fully surrounded by water, not just lakeside)
• Great local food with fresh ingredients
• Perfect spot for a sunset dinner

If you want the cooking rather than the view, then we recommend Ristorante Silvio.

It’s a 10 to 12 minute walk uphill from the centre, family-run, and the lake fish menu is the reason why we went.

The risotto con pesce persico (perch risotto) is the dish to order there and is the signature Lake Como dish more broadly, worth seeking out on any menu you sit down at in Bellagio.

Villa Melzi or Villa Serbelloni: which one should you do?

If we had to pick one, we’d send you to Villa Melzi first: easier to visit, genuinely beautiful at any pace, and you can do it on your own without booking a slot.

Villa Serbelloni is worth it if you want the 360-degree panorama from the top of the promontory and don’t mind committing to a two-hour guided uphill walk to get there.

If you have two days in Bellagio, do Villa Melzi on day one and Serbelloni on day two.

Rent a kayak or paddleboard

Pescallo is the easiest place to do this, away from the boat traffic near the main harbour.

Cycle or drive up to the Ghisallo

The Madonna del Ghisallo sanctuary sits 600 metres above Bellagio and is one of the most famous cycling destinations in Italy.

We haven’t visited this ourselves, but hiking friends of ours really recommended doing this!

It has been a decisive climb in both the Giro d’Italia and the Giro di Lombardia, and the small Ghisallo Cycling Museum next to the chapel houses historic bikes from Coppi, Bartali, and Merckx, among others.

Entry to the museum is €8 for adults, with reduced tickets available.

The chapel itself is free. If you don’t want to ride up, it is drivable by car along the Valassina road.

The Bellagio tourist office and local bike hire shops offer guided e-bike tours to the Ghisallo if you want to ride up without suffering the full climb alone.

Walk to the Makallè viewpoint

A lesser-known panoramic viewpoint above Bellagio, reachable on foot from the town.

It appears on local hiking and cycling route maps (including Komoot) as the Belvedere di Makallè.

Day trip to Villa del Balbianello or Villa Carlotta

Both are reachable by water taxi or ferry from Bellagio and are two of the most visited villa gardens on the whole lake.

Villa del Balbianello is famous partly as a film location, and Villa Carlotta is famous for its azalea and camellia season in spring.

Both are easily bookable via GetYourGuide if you want a guided boat tour that includes entry.

A small wine shop tucked into one of the old town’s narrow alleys, good for tasting local wines or picking up a bottle for dinner. See it on Tripadvisor.

Lido di Bellagio

Lido di Bellagio is the first result that comes up when you search for a beach in Bellagio, and we want to be upfront about why we’re not recommending it.

We met some local friends, and they told us that the beach bar has an unsafe diving platform, bad and slow service, and a nightclub atmosphere in the evenings that doesn’t match the laid-back Ibiza vibe you want to go for.

We’d rather point you somewhere better.

What we’d suggest instead:

If you just want a swim and a quiet spot with no entry fee, the San Giovanni public beach is about 15 minutes’ walk south of the ferry pier.

It’s a pebble beach, nothing fancy, but the water is clean, and it’s free.

Where to stay in Bellagio

Bellagio sells out fast in peak season, so we’d lock in a hotel before anything else.

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni (luxury pick)

The most iconic address in Bellagio, sitting right at the tip of the peninsula with its own pool, spa, and lakefront terrace.

It is a 5-star property and one of the landmark hotels on the whole lake.

Worth knowing: at this price point, you are paying as much for the address and the setting as for the room itself.

Check Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni rates here.

Hotel Belvedere (best overall stay)

• Incredible panoramic lake views
• Pool overlooking the water
• Quiet location just outside the busiest part of town

👉 Perfect if you want to actually enjoy your hotel and its views, not just sleep there.

Check availability at Hotel Belvedere.

Hotel Centrale Bellagio (best budget option)

• Central location, walkable to everything
• Comfortable and affordable for Bellagio prices
• Great base if you’re out exploring all day anyway

Worth knowing: ‘affordable for Bellagio’ is not the same as affordable by the rest of the lake’s standards.

This is the budget pick relative to the town, still not comparable to Colico or Gravedona.

If price is the main concern, it’s also worth checking whether Varenna or Menaggio works as a base for the days you want to spend in Bellagio.

If you want to go further north entirely, our guides to Gravedona and Colico cover two of the more affordable, quieter bases on the lake.

Book your stay at Hotel Centrale.

👉 INSIDER TIP: If your budget allows it, pay the extra for a lake-view room over a standard one.

Getting to and around Bellagio

Bellagio doesn’t have its own train station, so you’ll arrive either by ferry or by car.

By ferry, Bellagio connects directly to Varenna (about 20 minutes) and Menaggio.

All public ferries on Lake Como are operated by Navigazione Laghi.

There are two types worth knowing: the regular car ferries, which are slower, more scenic, and cheaper, and the hydrofoil services, which are faster, passenger-only, and more expensive.

For the short Bellagio to Varenna crossing, the car ferry is what most people use.

For longer journeys toward Como city, the hydrofoil is the way to go.

If you’re travelling from Venice as part of a wider Italy trip, we’ve covered the route and transit options in detail in our Venice to Lake Como guide.

Within Bellagio, you should take the Bellagio Express. This 25-minute electric mini-train runs through part of the town, covering the lakeside promenade, historic streets, and panoramic viewpoints with a multilingual audio guide on board.

We also recommend biking in and around Bellagio! The tour below is a great day-trip by e-bike!

👉 Want to see exactly where Bellagio sits relative to Varenna, Menaggio, and the rest of the lake before you book? Check our Map of Lake Como post.

Frequently asked questions about Bellagio

Final thoughts on visiting Bellagio

Bellagio earns its reputation as Lake Como’s most iconic town.

But go in knowing what you’re trading for those postcard views: crowds, higher prices, and less quiet than towns like Varenna or Argegno.

If that trade-off is fine with you, especially for a first Lake Como visit, Bellagio is genuinely worth basing yourself here.

Written by Laura and Alexander, a travel couple who spent time in Bellagio and across Lake Como, from the boat tours and the villa gardens to the quieter northern towns.