Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Como
The largest and southernmost town on the lake isn't likely to charm you. Long a
center of silk-making, this city--which traces its roots to the Gauls, and after
them, the Romans--bustles with commerce and industry. You'll probably want to
stay in one of the more peaceful settings farther up the lake, but Como amply
rewards a day's visit with some fine Renaissance churches and palaces and a lovely
lakefront promenade.
LAY OF THE LAND
Como is 78km (47 miles) northeast of Milan. One to
three trains hourly connect Milan and Como's Stazione San Giovanni on Piazzale
San Gottardo (regional trains from Milan's Piazza Garibaldi station take 55-65
min.; high-speed trains from Milan's Stazione Centrale station take 35-40 min.).
The
regional tourist office
(Piazza Cavour, 17;
%
031-269712 or 031-
3300111; www.lakecomo.org; sometimes closed Sun in winter)
dispenses a wealth
of information on hotels, restaurants, and campgrounds all around the lake.
There is also a
city tourist office
(
%
031-3371063)
in a little trailer that keeps
moving around but is always somewhere near Piazza del Duomo; currently it's
parked on Via Maestri Comacini, around the right side of the cathedral.
ACCOMMODATIONS & DINING
Como's moderately priced hotel scene is
pretty slim pickings, but I do have a few suggestions for travelers on a budget and
those who wish to splurge a bit.
€
If you're really pinching pennies, you could do worse (not much worse, mind
you) than the seven bare-bones rooms above the
Ristorante Sociale
(Via Maestri
Comacini, 8;
%
031-264042),
tucked under an arcade next to the Duomo's right
flank. Its big selling points: a prime location next door to the Duomo and dou-
ble rooms that go for just
€
40 without
private bathroom,
€
50 with. The
“
This lake exceeds any thing I
5
—which features simple
dishes at low prices; closed Mondays—
far outshines the rooms. This is where
Comaschi go to dine after a play at the
Teatro Sociale (the restaurant's walls are
plastered with playbills and signed
actor photos), where the local soccer
team celebrates its victories, and where
the local equivalent of the ladies' auxil-
iary meets to have long, voluble con-
versations while enjoying one of the
best fixed-price menus on the lake. For
€
16 you get a choice of four
primi,
four
secondi,
a side dish, and water or wine—though they usually give you both at
no extra charge. Just steer clear of the fish—it's frozen . . . rather scandalous for a
place located just 2 blocks from the fishing boats bobbing in the harbor.
restaurant
ever beheld in beauty, with the
exception of the arbutus islands of
Killarney. It is long and narrow, and
has the appearance of a mighty river,
winding among the mountains and
the forests.
”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley,
writing about Lake Como
in a letter from 1818
€€€
-
€€€€
You can get far nicer rooms—but at a much higher rate of
€
128
to
€
198 for a double—at the
Hotel Metropole Suisse
(Piazza Cavour, 19;
%
031-269444; www.hotelmetropolesuisse.com).
This massive 1892 hotel closes
5
