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Before going to Milan, I'd heard that it was really easy to get to Lake Como via train and that it would be well worth the visit. I'd done a tiny bit of research, but we didn't actually get round to booking anything, so I just assumed we wouldn't go and I'd save it until the next time we were in the area.
On the Saturday of our trip, the weather was unbearably hot in Milan. We'd bought tickets for the hop on hop off bus and planned a full tourist day. We were going to sit on the bus for a full journey, then go back around to Piazza del Duomo and spend some time enjoying the square before a cathedral visit. As we were sitting on the bus chatting, someone (I can't remember who now!) mentioned that they'd like to go to Lake Como. We all agreed that we'd have liked to have seen it too but thought we were a bit too disorganised to get it sorted during that weekend. We'd already planned our day that day and we were travelling home the following day so it felt like it might be stressful to leave Milan and go further afield. We started googling though, and like we thought it was really easy to get to Lake Como by train. It just so happened that the bus we were on would take us straight to Milan central station too. So why not just go straight away? We could come back to Piazza del Duomo tomorrow, it would still be there! So we did it.
We spent the rest of the bus journey reading blog posts and articles on the best way to get to Lake Como and decided that Como itself looked like the simplest place to get to. We headed straight into the station, bought tickets on one of the machines and we were ready to go! The tickets cost £8 return per person and it took around 40 minutes to get to Como S. Giovanni station, which was then only a 5 minute walk to Como itself. There was a bit of panic when we realised our train was due to leave in 5 minutes and we were nowhere near the platform, but we made it. Once we got off the train it was obvious which way to walk - just follow everybody else. Even if we'd have had nobody to follow I'm pretty sure we'd have found our way, just straight down the big flight of stairs, past the hand sculpture and you're nearly there.
I always think the spontaneous trips are the best and this was no exception, we had a lovely day wandering around Como. The views were beautiful and there was a bit of a breeze after the stifling heat of Milan. We had a lovely lunch in the square (pizza and Aperol Spritz for me) and had cocktails looking out over the lake a bit later in the day. By the time we needed to head back to the station we were all exhausted and suffering with achy feet! The journey back was comfortable and quick and we were all appreciative of the air conditioned train. Before we knew it we were back in Milan, ready to head back to the hotel and change for a night out in the city. I’d definitely recommend a trip to Como if you’re staying in Milan. It’s so easy to do on your own and more than worth it for the stunning views and the break from the city.
Laura went to Milan in July 2022 with friends.
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