Villas on the water, colourful villages and mountains dropping into the lake: you only really get Lake Como from a boat. This guide compares every Lake Como boat tour (short trips from Como, classic wooden boats, Bellagio and Varenna), what it costs, the public ferry, and hour-by-hour weather with wind.
Budget option → · Como, Lombardy
Weather at 2:00 PM. Boat trips start from 09:00.
| Tour | From | Duration | What you see | Languages | Cancellation | Departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our pickVintage wooden boatGetYourGuide | €63 | 1 h | Villas of the first basin, Cernobbio, Villa d’Este | Guide IT, EN | Free up to 24 h before | Villa Margherita pier, Como |
| Motorboat, small groupGetYourGuide | €49 | 1 h (or 4 h) | First basin; Bellagio and Varenna on the long option | Guide IT, EN, FR | Free up to 24 h before | Viale Geno 12, Como |
| Wooden motorboatGetYourGuide | €55 | 1 h 15 | Villas and villages of the first basin | Audio guide in 10 languages (list not published) | Free up to 24 h before | Como, depending on the option (2 points) |
| Sightseeing boatGetYourGuide | €30 | 2 h 40 | Varenna, Bellagio, central lake | Audio guide app (languages not listed) | Free up to 24 h before | Riva dei Marmisti 26, Varenna |
| Shared motorboatGetYourGuide | €119 | 3 h | The whole Como branch up to Bellagio | Guide EN, IT | Free up to 24 h before | Como |
| Motorboat, max 8 peopleTiqets | €120 | 2 h | Villas and villages of the Como branch | Guide IT, EN | Free up to 48 h before | Lungo Lario Trieste, Como |
Our pick: the classic wooden boat from €63. It’s the Lake Como picture: an hour past the villas near Como on a vintage boat, with a guide in English, a glass of prosecco and over 500 reviews. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
From November to March many shared tours run less often: check available dates before planning your day.
1 h · guide in Italian and English · 4.6 from 546 GetYourGuide reviews
1 h or 4 h · guide in Italian, English, French · 4.8 from 258 GetYourGuide reviews
1 h 15 · 4.7 from 437 GetYourGuide reviews
2 h 40 · 4.6 from 13 GetYourGuide reviews
3 h · guide in English and Italian · minimum 4 people · 4.6 from 215 GetYourGuide reviews
2 h · starts at 9:00 · fuel €10 per person paid at the end · 4.9 from 9 Tiqets reviews
Indicative prices, checked on October 31, 2026: they may change: the final price is the one shown by the seller.
The Navigazione Laghi public ferry is the cheapest way to see the lake – tourists use it too.
The slow boat from Como to Bellagio takes about two hours and stops at every village – a sightseeing trip in itself. The autumn timetable runs until 1 November 2026, then the winter timetable starts, with fewer sailings.
The best months are May to September: highs between 23 and 30 °C and long days.
| Month | Average high | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6° | 9 |
| Feb | 8° | 8 |
| Mar | 13° | 10 |
| Apr | 17° | 12 |
| May | 23° | 13 |
| JunBest | 27° | 11 |
| JulBest | 30° | 8 |
| Aug | 29° | 9 |
| SepBest | 23° | 8 |
| Oct | 19° | 10 |
| Nov | 12° | 11 |
| Dec | 9° | 9 |
Indicative averages for Como: mean daily high and rain days (threshold not stated). Source: Weather Spark, table published on Wikipedia (“Como”); period not stated.
Perfect day
Perfect day: partly cloudy, 10 to 14 °C, no rain, wind up to 7 km/h.
| Time | Sky | Temperature | Rain | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | Cloudy | 14° | – | 5 km/h |
| 15:00 | Partly cloudy | 13° | – | 5 km/h |
| 16:00 | Partly cloudy | 12° | – | 7 km/h |
| 17:00 | Partly cloudy | 11° | – | 3 km/h |
| 18:00 | Mostly sunny | 10° | – | 1 km/h |
Good
Good: fog, 10 to 13 °C, no rain, wind up to 4 km/h.
| Time | Sky | Temperature | Rain | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Fog | 11° | – | 3 km/h |
| 10:00 | Fog | 12° | – | 3 km/h |
| 11:00 | Fog | 12° | – | 3 km/h |
| 12:00 | Fog | 13° | – | 3 km/h |
| 13:00 | Fog | 13° | – | 4 km/h |
| 14:00 | Fog | 13° | – | 3 km/h |
| 15:00 | Cloudy | 12° | – | 4 km/h |
| 16:00 | Cloudy | 12° | – | 3 km/h |
| 17:00 | Cloudy | 11° | – | 2 km/h |
| 18:00 | Partly cloudy | 10° | – | 2 km/h |
The best days for a boat trip are Tuesday, November 10. The rating only looks at rain and wind during tour hours.
Today and tomorrow are accurate hour by hour; up to day seven the trend is reliable; the last days give a rough idea. Above 30 km/h the water gets choppy and small boats may postpone departures. Updated every hour.
In the rain many small boats have no shelter, or just a canopy; public ferries have covered saloons.
By train from Milan: about an hour to Como San Giovanni or Como Lago; for Varenna, take the Lecco–Sondrio line to Varenna-Esino.
By car: parking near the lake in Como is scarce and expensive; leave the car outside the centre.
One-hour shared tours from Como cost €49 to €63. From Varenna with a stop in Bellagio from €30; the 3-hour tour from Como to Bellagio from €119. The public ferry Como–Bellagio costs €12.
The ferry is cheap and takes you to the villages, but it’s slow and crowded in summer. A boat tour is shorter, gets close to the villas and someone tells you what you’re seeing.
From the Como lakefront, between Piazza Cavour, Lungo Lario Trieste and Viale Geno. The exact pier is on your ticket.
Yes: with the 3-hour tour from Como, the 4-hour option of the prosecco tour, or the public ferry (about two hours, less by hydrofoil).
Some do, with fewer departures and often only at weekends. Public ferries also run a reduced winter timetable.
Shared tours last 1 hour to 1 hour 15; those with Bellagio and Varenna 2 h 40 to 4 hours.
Perfect day: partly cloudy, 10 to 14 °C, no rain, wind up to 7 km/h.
Saturday, November 14: Good: partly cloudy, 11 to 11 °C, no rain, wind up to 6 km/h. Sunday, November 15: Good: light rain, 9 to 9 °C, 0.5 mm, wind up to 2 km/h.
Reliable forecasts go about 10 days ahead: here you get the next 10, hour by hour (with wind) for today and tomorrow and as a trend after that. To choose the month, see the climate month by month.
Forecasts come from MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, calculated for the tour area’s coordinates and updated every hour during the day and every 3 hours at night. Tour prices and conditions are checked on the sellers’ pages, with the date.
Classic wooden boat, shared tour · from €63
Forecast by MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, calculated for the tour area’s coordinates. Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0), updated every hour. Updated: October 31, 2026.