Lake Como

A cardinal's villa on a wooded promontory at Lenno, with a loggia over the water and an explorer's museum inside. Reached by boat from Lenno or a lakeside footpath; run by FAI, and the gardens and house are ticketed separately.

Open daily 10am to 7pm with last tickets at 6pm. Canova, Hayez and Thorvaldsen inside; outside, a fourteen-acre botanic garden whose azaleas and rhododendrons peak in late April and May.

The village at the fork of the two arms, all stepped alleys and silk shops. The crush runs from about eleven to four while the day boats are in; before and after it is a different place.

Seven minutes up a steep track to a balcony village above Como, with the whole southern arm below and a walk on to the Volta lighthouse.

The quiet side: a lakeside walkway pinned to the cliff, the Villa Monastero gardens strung along the water, and a castle on the ridge above.

Como San Giovanni is about forty minutes from Milano Centrale on the Swiss line. Varenna-Esino, on the eastern branch out of Centrale, takes roughly an hour and drops you at the central lake and the car ferry.

Navigazione Laghi runs the public boats. The Varenna-Bellagio-Menaggio-Cadenabbia car ferry shuttles across the middle of the lake all day and is the only sensible way between those towns.

The SS340 and SS583 are narrow, walled and frequently jammed, and Bellagio parking is minimal and expensive. If you do drive, park once and use the ferries for everything else.

May and June for the gardens in flower, and September for warm water and thinner crowds.

November to March is cheapest, with several villas and reduced ferry timetables.

July and August, plus every wedding weekend, when Bellagio and Varenna are shoulder to shoulder.

Train from Milan to Varenna, then straight onto the ferry for the crossing to Bellagio with the mountains opening up either side.

Walk up through Bellagio's stepped lanes and out to Punta Spartivento, where the two arms of the lake separate.

Eat in Bellagio away from the ferry dock, or cross to Tremezzina and eat by the water at Lenno.

Villa del Balbianello or Villa Carlotta, both on the western shore and both reachable by boat rather than by road.

Back to Varenna for an aperitivo on the Passeggiata degli Innamorati as the light goes off the far shore.

Forty minutes over the Swiss border by train from Como San Giovanni. Take a passport, and note it is a different currency and a considerably higher one.

An hour and a half away by train via Milan or Lecco, for the walled Città Alta above the plain and a town that is not organised around the lake trade.