Last Updated on November 4, 2026
Most people ride the train from Milan to Lake Como for the views. Food lovers have a better reason to go. The lake has a kitchen of its own, and it is not the saffron risotto and veal cutlet cooking of the city. Here the menu follows the water: perch, whitefish and shad from the lake, polenta from the valleys, a lot of butter and sage, and an olive oil pressed from trees on the shore, which surprises almost everyone this far north of the Mediterranean.
If you read our post about eating our way through northern Italy, you already know that Lombardy cooks with butter and loves anything golden. This route takes that idea to the lake: Como in the morning, a fast boat to Menaggio for lunch, the short ferry to Varenna for the afternoon and a direct train back to Milan, with a short list of what to order in each place.
The dishes to look for
- Risotto con pesce persico. The lake’s signature first course: a plain risotto finished with butter and Parmigiano, topped with perch fillets fried in butter and sage. If you order one thing all day, make it this.
- Missoltini. Shad (agone) salted, dried in the sun and pressed into tins with bay leaves, then grilled and served with polenta. Salty, intense and very old-fashioned, and listed on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste.
- Lavarello. Lake whitefish, grilled, cooked in butter, or served in carpione: fried first, then left to marinate with vinegar and onions.
- Polenta uncia. Polenta layered with local cheese and butter browned with garlic and sage. Mountain food, and exactly what you want on a cold, misty day.
- Miascia. A thrifty cake of stale bread soaked in milk with apples, pears, raisins and pine nuts. Look for it in bakeries and at the end of trattoria menus.
- Pizzoccheri. Buckwheat ribbons baked with potatoes, cabbage and cheese. They come from the Valtellina, just north of the lake, and turn up on menus around Menaggio.
To drink, ask for a glass from the Terre Lariane label, the wine designation for the Como and Lecco provinces. And taste the oil: the Lake Como shore is the Lario sub-zone of the Laghi Lombardi DOP. If there is a cheese board, Taleggio is also made in the Valsassina, the valley that climbs from the eastern shore.
Morning in Como: coffee, a walk, then up to Brunate
Start in the old town around the cathedral with an espresso and a brioche at the bar, standing up like everyone else. Then walk down to the water. The lakefront promenade is lined with old iron lamps and granite posts, and on a misty November morning the hills across the water disappear and reappear as the cloud moves.
If you would rather eat in Como and skip the boat lunch, two addresses are worth knowing. Osteria del Gallo on Via Vitani is an old-school osteria with Lombard home cooking (closed Sundays), and Ristorante Sociale on Via Rodari, a few steps from the cathedral, is a small family place that locals use (closed Tuesdays). For gelato on the water, Gelateria Lariana is on Lungo Lario Trento.
Couples often give this first hour to photos rather than food, because the light along the Como shore is soft in the morning and the promenade is quieter. Local photographers, milanphotographer.com among them, tend to start a photoshoot on Lake Como here for the same reason, and the funicular station is a short walk away when you are done.
The funicular climbs from Piazza De Gasperi to Brunate in seven minutes, and the view from the top takes in the whole first basin of the lake and the roofs of Como. Capolinea Bistrot, next to the upper station, cooks Como dishes and lake fish (closed Wednesdays). One warning for November: the funicular is closed for maintenance from 9 to 27 November 2026. If your trip falls in those dates, give Brunate a miss and spend the time on the lakefront instead.
Lunch in Menaggio
The fast boat from Como drops you in Menaggio in about an hour, just in time for lunch. Menaggio is the kind of lake shore town that made our list of reasons to visit Lombardy: a promenade, a piazza full of café tables and a mountain backdrop.
Il Vapore on Piazza Tommaso Grossi is the place for pizzoccheri and lake whitefish cooked in butter. Osteria Il Pozzo on Piazza Garibaldi is a small, home-style spot with lake fish and fair prices. After lunch, have a coffee at Caffè Centrale or Café del Pèss, both facing Piazza Garibaldi, and pick up something sweet for the ferry at Pasticceria Aste on Via Lusardi.
Lunch service on the lake usually runs from about noon to 2 p.m., and kitchens close on time. Many lake restaurants take a winter break, so call ahead or check the listing the day before.
Afternoon and aperitivo in Varenna
The ferry from Menaggio crosses to Varenna in 15 minutes, and it is one of the best quarter-hours of the day: the boat cuts straight across the middle of the lake, with the mountains closing in on both sides.
Varenna is small enough to explore on foot in an afternoon. Its lanes climb steeply from the harbour between pastel houses, stone arches open straight onto the water, and there is always a step to sit on with a gelato. Riva Gelateria has gluten-free cones, and Bar Il Molo, right on the little harbor, is where to order a spritz as the light goes. In November, sunset comes around 5 p.m., so plan the aperitivo early.
For dinner, Hosteria del Platano on Via Statale is listed in the Michelin Guide and cooks with fish from the lake; it serves dinner from 7 p.m. but is closed on Tuesdays and serves only lunch on Sundays. Osteria Quatro Pass on Via XX Settembre is small and popular, with lake fish on the menu, so book a table. If missoltini with polenta is on a menu tonight and you have not tried it yet, this is the moment.
When you are done, walk up to Varenna-Esino station for the hour-long train back to Milano Centrale.
How to plan a Lake Como day trip from Milan in November
Going in the order above matters in the colder months. Boats thin out from November, and the last fast boats back to Como leave in the late afternoon, while trains from Varenna run into the evening.
| Leg | How | Journey time | Good to know |
| Milan to Como | Trenord from Milano Cadorna to Como Nord Lago, or from Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni | About 1 hour from Cadorna, about 40 minutes from Centrale | Como Nord Lago sits right by the lakefront |
| Como to Brunate | Funicular from Piazza De Gasperi | 7 minutes | Closed 9 to 27 November 2026 for maintenance, reopens 28 November |
| Como to Menaggio | Fast boat (servizio rapido, with a supplement) | About 1 hour | Winter departures: 12:15 Monday to Saturday, 11:10 on Sundays and holidays |
| Menaggio to Varenna | Ferry | 15 minutes | Every 30 to 45 minutes until early evening, €5.50 one way |
| Varenna to Milan | Trenord from Varenna-Esino to Milano Centrale | About 1 hour | Direct, roughly hourly |
The winter timetable runs from 2 November 2026 to 14 March 2027. Buy boat tickets at the pier before you board, check the last train in the Trenord app before you sit down to dinner, and look for sciopero (strike) notices the day before, since Italian transport strikes are announced in advance.
Before you go
- Check opening days. Lake restaurants often close one day a week and some close for a few weeks in winter. A quick call the day before saves a cold walk.
- Expect a cover charge. A small coperto per person on the bill is normal in Italy, not a tourist trap.
- Carry layers. Boats are breezy even on a mild day, and Varenna’s lanes are steep and slippery when wet. Flat shoes help.
FAQ
Can you see Como, Menaggio and Varenna in one day from Milan? Yes, if you follow the order above. In winter the fast boat decides the day, so build everything around the Como to Menaggio departure.
Where should I eat risotto with perch? Almost every trattoria on the lake serves it. Order it in Menaggio or Varenna, where lake fish is the focus of the menu, and ask if the perch is local.
Is a Lake Como day trip worth it in November? For food, yes. The menus lean on polenta and other cold-weather dishes, the towns are quieter, and you get a table without booking weeks ahead. Just check the funicular closure and the winter boat times first.
