By James Whitfield · Last updated: July 2026 · 22 min read

In This Guide

The fastest and least expensive way from Milan to Lake Como is the train: Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni is 47 km, takes about 40 minutes, and costs €5.20 in second class, with roughly 17 departures a day. If you are one or two people travelling in daylight to Como or Varenna, that is the right answer, and nothing else comes close on price or simplicity.

Where it stops being the right answer is specific and worth knowing before you plan: arriving at an airport with suitcases, travelling as a group of three or more, landing after the last useful train, or heading for one of the four lakeside villages that has no railway station at all. This guide covers every route, every departure station, all three Milan airports, the last trains back, and what the whole trip costs end to end for one, two and four travellers.

Quick Facts: Milan to Lake Como (2026)

Question Short Answer
Fastest route from central Milan Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni, 47 km, about 40 minutes
Standard second-class fare €5.20 Centrale to Como San Giovanni; €4.80 Cadorna to Como Lago
Best gateway for Bellagio and Menaggio Varenna-Esino, 72 km, about 65 minutes, €7.40, then a ferry
Last train from Milano Centrale 21:43 to Como San Giovanni; 21:20 to Varenna-Esino
From Malpensa No direct train. Malpensa Express €15, 51 min to Centrale or 37 min to Cadorna, then a second train
Malpensa to Como by road Roughly 50 km, about an hour
Towns with no railway station Bellagio, Menaggio, Tremezzina, Cernobbio
Como to Bellagio by boat €24.00 adult excursion ticket, €12.00 child aged 4-11 (Navigazione Laghi)

Sources: Trenord line data and Navigazione Laghi tariffs, 2026.

What is the fastest way from Milan to Lake Como?

From central Milan, the train wins outright. Trenord publishes the Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni line at 47 km and about 40 minutes, with around 17 trips a day running almost hourly, first departure 06:43 and last departure 21:43. The second-class fare is €5.20. No road option beats that on a normal weekday, because the A9 into Como funnels into the same few streets everyone else is using.

That is the honest headline, and it is worth stating before anything else: for one or two people going to Como in daylight, take the train.

The complication is that "Lake Como" is not one place. It is a 50 km inverted Y with three arms, and only four points on it have a railway station. Ask "what is the fastest way from Milan to Lake Como" and the true answer is a question back: which town, and what are you carrying?

Destination Fastest public route from Milan Rail time Rail fare
Como (city) Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni, direct About 40 min €5.20
Como (waterfront) Milano Cadorna to Como Lago, direct Direct line €4.80
Varenna Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino, direct About 65 min €7.40
Lecco Milano Centrale, on the Varenna line Under 65 min Below the Varenna fare
Bellagio Train to Varenna, then ferry 65 min plus crossing €7.40 plus ferry
Menaggio Train to Varenna, then ferry 65 min plus crossing €7.40 plus ferry
Tremezzina Train to Varenna or Como, then ferry or bus Varies by connection €7.40 or €5.20 plus onward leg
Cernobbio Train to Como, then short boat or bus hop 40 min plus hop €5.20 plus onward leg

Read that table twice and the shape of the trip appears. Four of the eight destinations need a second mode of transport after the train, and three of those four are the ones people have actually seen in photographs.

Which Milan station should you leave from?

Milan has two departure stations for Lake Como and they serve different lines, different fares and different arrival points. Picking the wrong one is the most common planning error on this route, and it is not recoverable once you are on the platform.

Milano Centrale is the one to default to. It is the departure point for both the Como San Giovanni line (€5.20, about 40 minutes) and the Varenna-Esino line (€7.40, about 65 minutes, around 16 trips a day). If you want the mid-lake, Centrale is the only sensible choice, because Varenna is the mid-lake gateway and nothing else runs there.

Milano Cadorna is the terminus of the Ferrovie Nord line, and it goes somewhere Centrale does not: Como Lago, the station on the waterfront. The fare is €4.80, the lowest of the three, and the line runs later in both directions than the Centrale services do. From Milan the first train is 05:43 and the last is 22:43; coming back from Como Lago the first is 05:16 and the last is 22:16.

That last-departure difference is the reason to care. If you are having dinner in Como and want the longest possible evening, you want to be leaving from Como Lago, not Como San Giovanni.

Milano Porta Garibaldi is not a Lake Como departure station in the way the other two are, but it matters if you are coming from the airport. It is a stop on the Malpensa Express route to Centrale, along with Bovisa, Saronno and Busto Arsizio, so it is a useful point to change onto the metro if your hotel is in the north of the city. For the lake itself, plan around Centrale and Cadorna.

One practical note on getting between the two: Centrale and Cadorna are both on the metro, and the hop takes a few minutes. If you are moving with luggage and would rather not, a car across central Milan is straightforward, though the city's ride-hailing market works differently from what most visitors expect, as our guide to Uber in Milan and the alternatives sets out.

Como San Giovanni or Como Lago? Why the station matters more than the town

Como has two stations, roughly a kilometre apart, and the difference is a walk with your bags at the end of a journey.

Como San Giovanni is the main-line station, served from Milano Centrale and on the international line to Switzerland. It sits above the town on the western side, which means a downhill walk of around fifteen minutes to reach the waterfront and the ferry piers, and an uphill walk back at the end of the day. With a suitcase, that walk is the part of the trip people remember.

Como Lago is the Ferrovie Nord terminus, served from Milano Cadorna, and it is a short and level walk to the piers, on the order of five minutes. If your plan involves a boat, Como Lago is the station you want, and the fare is lower.

So the station choice is really a chain that starts in Milan. Ferry onward, or staying near the waterfront? Leave from Cadorna and arrive at Como Lago. Continuing north by train, or connecting to Switzerland? Leave from Centrale and arrive at Como San Giovanni. Neither station is wrong. Choosing without knowing the difference is what goes wrong.

If you are booking a car instead, the station question disappears entirely, because a transfer drops you at your accommodation rather than at whichever of the two stations your line happens to end at. That is worth more in Como than it sounds, because the historic centre is a restricted-traffic zone and hotel access varies street by street.

Which Lake Como town should you actually go to?

This is the decision that determines everything else about the journey, and most people make it from photographs rather than from a map. Here is each town by the numbers that matter: how far, how long, and what the last leg involves.

Como

Como is 47 km from Milano Centrale, about 40 minutes by train at €5.20, and it is the only town on the lake you can reach with no connection, no ferry and no bus. That is why it takes the majority of day-trippers.

It is also a real city rather than a village, with a marble cathedral, a working silk industry, arcaded streets and enough restaurants that you are not eating from a set tourist menu. The funicular up to Brunate gives you the classic view down the lake's southwestern arm. What Como does not give you is the postcard: the narrow steep-sided mid-lake with the villas is 30 km north of here.

Go to Como if you have one day, if you are travelling with people who tire of transport, or if you want a town that functions in November as well as July.

Varenna

Varenna is 72 km from Milano Centrale, about 65 minutes on the direct train at €7.40, with around 16 departures a day and a station a few minutes' walk above the ferry pier. That combination - direct train, short walk, ferry terminal - is what makes it the gateway to the mid-lake rather than merely another village.

It is small, vertical and pastel, built onto the eastern shore in a way that makes the whole place a staircase. The lakefront walkway, the Villa Monastero gardens and a handful of waterside restaurants are essentially the entire town, and that is the appeal.

The practical case for Varenna over Como is financial as well as scenic. From Varenna, crossing to Bellagio is a short mid-lake hop. From Como, the boat to Bellagio is a €24.00 adult excursion ticket down the length of the lake.

Same destination, very different afternoon.

Varenna waterfront on the eastern shore of Lake Como where the train from Milan arrives

Bellagio

Bellagio has no railway station.

You arrive by boat from Varenna on one of the shortest crossings on the lake, or you arrive by road. From Malpensa that road is roughly 79 km and about 1h35 - not the 40 to 60 minutes some sources claim, because the SS583 lakeside road is narrow, single-lane in places and slow behind traffic.

That road figure is worth fixing in your mind, because the drive looks short on a map and is not. The lakeside road tracks every inlet and headland of the shore, and in July and August it carries coaches, cyclists and delivery vans on the same tarmac.

Bellagio itself sits on the point where the lake's two southern arms divide, which is why the photographs work. Stone stepped alleys climb from the waterfront, the Villa Melzi gardens run along the shore, and the ferry piers put you within reach of Varenna, Menaggio and Tremezzina in minutes.

The public route from a Milan airport to Bellagio is four legs with your luggage: airport train, change in Milan, train to Varenna, ferry across. It is entirely doable at 11:00 on a Tuesday in May.

It is a different proposition at 21:00 in November with two suitcases and a child.

Menaggio

Menaggio has no station either, and sits on the western shore directly opposite Varenna, reached by the car ferry across the mid-lake or by lakeside bus from Como. From Milan, the fastest public route is Centrale to Varenna in about 65 minutes, then the crossing.

It is flatter and more workaday than Bellagio, with a proper square, a lakeside promenade and a lido. Walkers use it as a base because the Via dei Monti Lariani trailheads start nearby, and it is the jumping-off point for Switzerland, with the road climbing over to Lugano.

If Bellagio's crowds put you off, Menaggio is the same lake at a lower temperature.

Tremezzina

Tremezzina has no station and no single centre - it is a comune formed from Tremezzo, Lenno, Mezzegra and Ossuccio along the western shore, reached by ferry from Varenna or Bellagio, or by lakeside road and bus from Como. Budget the same 65-minute train to Varenna plus a crossing.

This stretch is where the great villas are. Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo and Villa del Balbianello on the wooded promontory at Lenno are the two most visited houses on the lake, and Balbianello in particular is reached on foot or by water taxi rather than by driving to the door.

Because Tremezzina is a string of hamlets rather than a town, check exactly which one your accommodation is in before you plan the last leg. The ferry stops are not all in the same place, and the distances between them are longer than the map suggests. A booking that says "Tremezzina" and a pier that says "Lenno" can be a twenty-minute walk apart with your bags, along a road with no pavement in places, which is the kind of detail that turns a smooth arrival into a bad first hour.

Cernobbio

Cernobbio has no station of its own, but it is the first village north of Como on the western shore, close enough that reaching it is an extension of the Como arrival rather than a separate journey: train to Como, then a short boat hop or a few minutes by road.

It is the grand end of the lake, anchored by Villa d'Este and a run of nineteenth-century gardens, with a small piazza on the water that stays pleasant in the evening after the Como day crowds have gone home.

For an arrival with luggage, Cernobbio is one of the strongest arguments for a car.

You are close to Como and yet the last leg is exactly the kind of short, awkward, timetable-dependent hop that makes a two-hour journey feel like four.

Lecco

Lecco has its own station, on the same Milano Centrale line that continues to Varenna-Esino. It sits nearer than Varenna's 72 km, is reached in less than the 65 minutes Varenna takes and costs less than the €7.40 Varenna fare, at the foot of the lake's south-eastern arm.

It gets a fraction of the visitors, and the reason is that it does not look like the brochure. Lecco is a working town under sheer limestone peaks, with the Grigne and Resegone rising straight out of the water. Climbers and hikers know it well. It is also Manzoni's town, the setting of "The Betrothed", which Italian visitors care about far more than foreign ones do.

Consider Lecco if you want mountains rather than villas, or if you are visiting in high summer and want a lakeside dinner without a queue.

Getting from Milan's airports to Lake Como

None of Milan's three airports has a direct rail link to Lake Como. Every public route runs through the city first, which is what turns a straightforward journey into a multi-leg one, and it is the single biggest reason arriving travellers end up in a car.

Malpensa (MXP)

There is no train from Milan Malpensa to Lake Como. The airport is roughly 50 km from Como by road and about an hour by car, and every rail plan runs through the city first. The Malpensa Express runs 146 trips a day between 04:27 and 00:20, reaching Milano Centrale in 51 minutes or Milano Cadorna in 37 minutes, at €15 one way, €25 return, or €36 for a Malpensa Family ticket covering two adults and two children aged 4 to 17.

The 37-minute Cadorna figure is the one most guides miss. If you are heading for Como Lago and the waterfront, the Cadorna line is both faster from the airport and cheaper on the second leg, and it runs via Saronno with stops at Bovisa and Busto Arsizio. The Centrale line takes 51 minutes and stops at Porta Garibaldi, Bovisa, Saronno and Busto Arsizio, with the :25 service adding Rescaldina, Castellanza and Ferno-Lonate Pozzolo.

Malpensa handled 31.2 million passengers in 2025, its first year above 30 million and up around 9% on 2024, according to airport operator SEA. Most of those arrivals reach the lake on exactly the route above, and most of them do it with luggage.

By road it is one leg instead of three, and the numbers depend on where you are going: roughly 50 km and about an hour to Como, roughly 79 km and about 1h35 to Bellagio. The Malpensa to Lake Como route page shows what carriers are currently offering on the corridor. For the city rather than the lake, our Milan airport transfers guide covers the Malpensa, Linate and city-centre options in detail.

Linate (LIN)

Nothing runs from Linate to the lake directly. It is the closest of the three airports to central Milan, which changes the shape of the trip rather than its length: you are into the city quickly, and then you still need the full train journey north from Centrale or Cadorna on top.

In practice that makes Linate the most forgiving airport for a public-transport plan, because the first leg is short and frequent, and the least compelling for a road transfer if you are travelling light in the middle of the day. Land at Linate at midday with a backpack and you can be on a Como train inside the hour.

Land at Linate at 21:30 and the arithmetic reverses, because the 21:43 from Centrale is not a train you can rely on catching.

Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGY)

Bergamo has no useful rail connection towards Lake Como and is the furthest of the three airports from it, so the standard public plan is a bus or train into Milan and then the entire Milan journey on top of that. It is a low-cost carrier base, so a great many lake-bound travellers land there specifically because the flight was cheap.

The trap is assuming that the flight saving survives the ground leg. For one person it usually does. For a group of four with luggage heading to a village on the mid-lake, the extra hours and extra fares can eat the difference before you reach the water.

Bergamo is also the airport where a road transfer changes the day most, because it removes both the transit into Milan and the change between stations.

What the whole Milan to Lake Como trip actually costs

Every source prices individual legs. Almost nobody adds them up, which is why travellers arrive expecting a €5.20 trip and pay considerably more once the airport train, the second train and the ferry are counted.

Here is the end-to-end arithmetic for three common journeys. Train fares are Trenord's published 2026 second-class fares; the ferry figure is approximate and should be checked against the current tariff.

Journey 1: central Milan to Como town, one way

Travellers Private transfer Train (Centrale to Como San Giovanni)
1 One vehicle, one fixed price €5.20
2 Same price €10.40
3 Same price €15.60
4 Same price €20.80

On this journey the train is simply the better buy, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Four people travelling from central Milan to Como for €20.80 in 40 minutes is a hard number to argue with.

Journey 2: central Milan to Bellagio, one way

Travellers Private transfer Train to Varenna plus ferry
1 One vehicle, one fixed price About €12.90 (€7.40 rail, about €5.50 ferry)
2 Same price About €25.80
3 Same price About €38.70
4 Same price About €51.60

The gap is narrowing, and the journey has become two legs with a timetable in the middle. Miss the ferry connection and the saving costs you an hour on a pier.

Journey 3: Malpensa to Bellagio, one way

Travellers Private transfer Malpensa Express plus train plus ferry
1 One vehicle, one fixed price, door to door About €27.90 (€15 airport rail, €7.40 rail, about €5.50 ferry)
2 Same price About €55.80
3 Same price About €83.70
4 Same price About €111.60

That last row is where the whole question turns. Four adults from Malpensa to Bellagio pay around €111.60 in fares and spend most of a morning on four legs with their bags; two adults and two children can use the €36 Malpensa Family ticket for the airport leg and bring it down, but the shape of the journey does not change.

We are not going to invent a transfer price to sit next to those numbers. Published quotes for a "Milan to Lake Como" transfer currently range from around €130 to over €300, and not one of them says whether it means the city or the airport, or Como town or Bellagio. Those are journeys of different lengths on different roads, so a single figure for all of them is meaningless. Current live offers for the corridor are on the Malpensa to Lake Como route page, priced by vehicle and by actual destination.

What you can take from the tables is the shape rather than the exact crossover. Rail cost scales per person and vehicle cost does not, so the more of you there are, the closer the two get - and the further your destination is from a station, the faster that happens.

When the train stops making sense

There are five situations where the train plan breaks, and they are specific enough to check against your own booking before you commit.

1. You land after the last useful train. The last departure from Milano Centrale is 21:43 to Como San Giovanni and 21:20 to Varenna-Esino. Work backwards from those: Malpensa to Centrale is 51 minutes on the Malpensa Express, plus the walk from the gate, plus baggage reclaim. Land at Malpensa much after 20:00 and the connection is gone. The Cadorna line to Como Lago runs later, with a last departure at 22:43, but that only helps if Como itself is your destination. Our Milan airport transfers guide has the late-arrival options for the airport leg itself.

2. You are going somewhere with no station. Bellagio, Menaggio, Tremezzina and Cernobbio all require a ferry or a bus after the train, and both stop running well before the trains do. Arriving at Varenna at 21:00 with a Bellagio hotel booking is a problem, not an inconvenience.

3. There are three or more of you. Rail fares stack per head; a vehicle is one price regardless. At four travellers from Malpensa to the mid-lake you are looking at around €111.60 in fares before anyone has carried a bag up a Varenna staircase.

4. You have real luggage. The public route from an airport to Bellagio is four legs, and at each junction you are moving suitcases between a train, a station concourse, another train and a boat. Como San Giovanni adds a fifteen-minute walk down to the water on top of that.

5. You are leaving early for a flight home. This one catches people out, because the ferries do not start early. If you are in Bellagio or Menaggio with a morning departure from Malpensa, the first boat may leave after you needed to be on the road. That is a road journey by definition, and the Lake Como to Malpensa route page covers the return direction.

Outside those five, take the train.

Ferries, buses and the last leg

Lake Como passenger ferry approaching Bellagio on its promontory between the two southern arms

Lake Como's boats are run by Navigazione Laghi, and for the mid-lake they are less a scenic extra than the actual transport network. Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio and the Tremezzina shore are linked by frequent crossings that are quicker and considerably more pleasant than driving the lakeside road between them.

Fares split into two very different categories, and this is where money is won or lost. A short mid-lake hop such as Varenna to Bellagio is inexpensive, reported at about €5.50 one way for 2026. A full-length excursion from Como down to Bellagio is a different product entirely at €24.00 for an adult and €12.00 for a child aged 4 to 11, or €29.50 and €14.80 via Bellano. A mid-lake day pass is reported at around €17.50 and pays for itself if you are hopping between three towns.

Check the current tariff page before you travel. Ferry pricing on the lake moves year to year, and the mid-lake fares in particular have risen recently.

Frequency and last departures are seasonal, and this is the detail worth planning around rather than guessing at. In high season, mid-lake crossings run roughly every 20 to 30 minutes; in winter the timetable thins out substantially. Reported first and last boats from Bellagio run from around 07:30 to around 20:00 in season, but treat that as a rough shape, not a schedule - consult the current Navigazione Laghi timetable for the dates you are travelling, because the last boat is the constraint that decides whether your evening works.

On land, ASF Autolinee runs the lakeside bus network from Como, including the C30, C110, C130 and D110 lines, and these are how you reach the western-shore villages without a boat. They are slower than the ferries and subject to the same narrow road, but they run when the boats do not.

For the final mile from a pier or a bus stop to your accommodation, be realistic about the ground. These are villages built on slopes, with stepped alleys instead of streets, and wheeled suitcases and stone staircases are a poor combination.

When is the best time to visit Lake Como?

May, June and September are the strongest months: the gardens are open, the ferries are on full timetables, and the lakeside towns are busy without being saturated. July and August bring the heat, the coach traffic on the SS583 and the longest ferry queues.

The lake is genuinely busy.

Como province recorded about 4.8 million overnight stays in 2023, and the Como and Lecco areas together account for roughly 6 million, around 85% of them from foreign visitors, according to the Camera di Commercio Como-Lecco. Almost all of that lands on a shoreline you can drive end to end in an afternoon.

Winter is the quiet counter-argument. Como city works year round, with the cathedral, the shops and the funicular all operating, and the train from Milan is unaffected by season. What changes is the mid-lake, where ferry timetables thin, some villas close and Bellagio in February is a very different town from Bellagio in July.

Season What to expect Planning note
April to June Gardens at their best, full ferry timetables, warm but not crowded Book accommodation and vehicles early; this is peak demand for both
July to August Hot, busy, heavy traffic on the lakeside road Ferries beat road transport between mid-lake towns by a wide margin
September to October Warm water, thinning crowds, villas still open early in the period The best-value window of the year
November to March Quiet, reduced ferry service, some attractions closed Base yourself in Como or Varenna where the trains still run

Book Your Milan to Lake Como Transfer

If your journey is one of the five where the train stops working - an airport arrival with bags, three or more travellers, a late landing, a village with no station, or an early departure home - compare offers from verified carriers on the TransferBnB Malpensa to Lake Como route page and pick the one that fits your group and luggage. Prices are shown by vehicle and by actual destination, because Como town and Bellagio are not the same drive.

For the return leg, including early-morning departures before the first ferries, see the Lake Como to Malpensa route page. If you are staying in the city first, the Malpensa to Milan city centre route page covers that leg separately. Your carrier keeps an eye on your flight, so a delayed arrival does not leave you paying for a vehicle that has gone.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get from Milan to Lake Como?

About 40 minutes from Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni, a 47 km run that Trenord operates roughly 17 times a day. Varenna-Esino, 72 km up the eastern shore, takes about 65 minutes. Villages with no station add a ferry or a bus on top, so allow two hours door to door for Bellagio and Menaggio.

Is there a direct train from Milan to Lake Como?

Yes, several. Milano Centrale runs direct to Como San Giovanni in about 40 minutes for €5.20, and direct to Varenna-Esino in about 65 minutes for €7.40. Milano Cadorna runs its own direct line to Como Lago, the station right by the waterfront, at €4.80. No changes are needed on any of the three.

What is the last train back from Lake Como to Milan?

Plan around the last departures out of Milano Centrale: 21:43 to Como San Giovanni and 21:20 to Varenna-Esino. Coming back, the Como Lago to Milano Cadorna line runs later, with a last departure of 22:16 from Como Lago. If you are on the mid-lake, the ferry timetable ends well before the trains do.

Should I go to Como or Varenna?

Como if you want a city with cafes, a cathedral and shops, and the shortest journey from Milan. Varenna if you want the postcard lake and easy access to Bellagio and Menaggio. Varenna costs €2.20 more and takes about 25 minutes longer, but the ferry from Varenna to Bellagio is a fraction of the €24.00 excursion fare from Como.

How do I get from Malpensa to Lake Como?

There is no direct train. The public route is the Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale (51 minutes, €15) or Milano Cadorna (37 minutes), then a second train north to Como or Varenna. By road, Malpensa to Como is roughly 50 km and about an hour; Bellagio is roughly 79 km and about 1h35 because the lakeside road is slow.

Is Lake Como worth a day trip from Milan?

Yes, if you pick one town and stay there. Como works comfortably as a day trip at 40 minutes each way. Varenna works too. Trying to see Bellagio, Menaggio and Tremezzina in one day means most of the day on boats. Come back for two or three nights if you want the mid-lake properly.

Do I need a car at Lake Como?

No, and a car is often a liability. The SS583 lakeside road is narrow, slow and busy in summer, and parking in Bellagio, Varenna and Cernobbio is limited and expensive. Ferries connect the mid-lake towns far more pleasantly. Use a car or a transfer for the airport legs and boats for everything in between.

When should I book a Lake Como transfer?

As soon as your flight is confirmed for anything between May and September, and for any arrival landing after about 20:00 in any season. Late arrivals and the no-station villages are when vehicle availability tightens first. For a midweek daytime run to Como town, a few days ahead is usually enough.

Sources and Data

  • Trenord, Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni line data and fares, 2026.
  • Trenord, Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino line data and fares, 2026.
  • Trenord, Milano Cadorna to Como Lago line data and fares, 2026.
  • Trenord, Malpensa Express times, fares, stops and service levels, 2026.
  • Navigazione Laghi, Lake Como tickets and timetables, 2026.
  • SEA Aeroporti di Milano, Malpensa passenger traffic figures, 2025.
  • Camera di Commercio Como-Lecco, overnight stay and visitor origin statistics, 2023.
  • TransferBnB marketplace listings, Milan and Lake Como corridor, 2026.