Coach & Minibus Hire in Italy

Lake Como by Minibus: Town, Villas and Boats

Como rewards a small group that mixes road and water. The town is compact, the lake boats leave from its front step, and a minibus with a driver fills the gaps in between: the airport run, the villas on the western shore and the hill road to Bellagio.

Arriving in the walled town

The old town inside the walls is a limited-traffic zone, and tourist buses may drive in only to bring guests to hotels inside it or right beside it. That includes your minibus: in Italy, anything with more than nine seats, the driver's included, counts as a bus. The authorisation is requested online, with the number plate and proof of the hotel transfer.

With that authorisation the route is fixed, and the one place to stop is Piazza Cavour by the lake pier. Bags and passengers come off quickly, never for more than 15 minutes. Piazza Roma has been closed to such stops since 2023.

Executive Sprinter minibus, exterior
Executive Sprinter minibus, exterior

While you wander the old town

Once everyone is on foot, the vehicle moves out. Longer waits happen beside the stadium in Piazza Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, or in Via Regina Teodolinda near Sant'Abbondio's basilica. Settle on one pick-up place before you set off.

Inside the walls, nothing is far: the Duomo, the narrow lanes, the funicular up to Brunate for a view across the water, and the Tempio Voltiano on the lakefront.

Flying in to Como

Stops worth making in Como

  • Tempio Voltiano — Museum to Alessandro Volta on the lakefront
  • Villa Carlotta (Tremezzina) — Lakeside villa with museum and botanical gardens on the western shore
  • Bellagio — Village at the point between the two southern arms of the lake; most groups arrive by boat from Como or from Tremezzo, Cadenabbia, Menaggio or Varenna
  • Funicolare Como-Brunate — Funicular railway from the lakefront to Brunate, with views over the lake
  • Lake Como boat services — Public boats and hydrofoils from the Como pier at Piazza Cavour to Cernobbio, Tremezzo, Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna
  • Duomo di Como and the walled old town — Cathedral and pedestrian old town (città murata); coaches stop outside the old town

Easy pickup points

  • Lecco and Varenna (eastern arm)
  • Bellagio
  • Tremezzina and Menaggio (western shore)
  • Cernobbio
  • Como old town (città murata) and the lakefront

Bellagio over the hills, or by boat

Along the shore, the SP583 to Bellagio bars anything over 10.5 m in length. Big vehicles climb through the Valassina and over the Ghisallo pass instead, a route of some 40 km that takes roughly an hour. The operator plans the road for the exact vehicle you book.

Plenty of groups simply take the boat. From the pier at Piazza Cavour, public boats and hydrofoils call at Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio, Tremezzo and Cernobbio.

Villas, and a day across the border

Villa Erba at Cernobbio is barely a quarter of an hour away, Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo about 55 minutes and Menaggio a little over an hour. Roads on both shores are narrow, with few places to pull in, which is where a smaller vehicle earns its keep.

Lugano lies about 33 km away in Switzerland. Everyone brings a passport or identity card for the customs border, and the vehicle has to comply with Swiss requirements for cross-border trips.

What travellers ask us

Which airport is best for a group staying in Como?

Malpensa is the nearest: 52 km or so from Piazza Duomo, an hour's drive in normal traffic. Linate is about 56 km and Bergamo about 81 km, so allow around 1 h 35 min from there.

Can the minibus drop us at a hotel inside the walls?

Yes, provided the hotel sits inside the limited-traffic zone or right next to it, and the vehicle holds the online authorisation. Stops are allowed only in Piazza Cavour, for 15 minutes at most.

Are the trains any help on a Como day?

Como San Giovanni, above the old town, is on the main line to Milan and Switzerland, and Como Nord Lago on the lakefront ends the line from Milano Cadorna.

More trips we arrange

Other vehicles with a driver