Lake Como Walking

This escorted walking holiday with Explore Worldwide sets off from Gravedona, a small town on Lake Como’s northwest shore. After meeting at Milan Malpensa Airport, you travel by coach to a lakeside hotel that will be your base for the week. Expect walks from high viewpoints above the lake to quiet villages where chestnut groves and vineyards grow on alpine slopes.

Highlights include a six-hour hike to Livo, where the boundary between the African and European tectonic plates cuts through the hillside, and a ferry crossing to Bellagio, with its cobbled streets and formal gardens. The hotel’s lakeside pool offers a welcome chance to cool off after a day on foot.

The week also allows solo exploration on a free day, with options to visit Villa Carlotta’s gardens or Como town’s historic centre. Daily ascents reach up to around 550 metres, making this comfortably challenging rather than strenuous. It finishes with a day around Rezzonico castle and Dongo, known for its links to Italy’s complex wartime history.

New to Italy? Our Italy guide has the practical essentials: money, plugs, visas and when to go.