How crowded Bellagio is now? We will be in Bellagio at the beginning of June and hoping it will not be the same situation we had last year when we stayed in Sorrento where it was almost impossible to get tickets to the ferries and they were completely packed.
Is it difficult to get tickets to the next ferry? Or we should plan ahead and get return tickets at same time we buy tickets in the morning?
Any guidance is appreciated!
D
Where are you starting from or where would you like to arrive? However I went this weekend and the situation was terrible. I don't know if it was due to the French and German holidays but there were impressive queues to take the ferries and things were no better in Varenna where even the train station was clogged. Definitely get your tickets as soon as possible and also get the return ones, you will avoid the queue at the ticket office but not the crowds to get on the boat. The queues are very messy also because there is not much space to handle so many people. Be careful to get in the correct queue, arm yourself with patience even towards the staff because they are a bit exhausted and you may receive dry and rude answers.
I know, I haven't described an ideal day, but if you prepare for the most catastrophic scenario, then you can enjoy the lake without getting nervous.
Thanks, we are staying in Bellagio, and were hoping to explore a lake for a day. Looks like we are in trouble...
You won't be in trouble, you'll see that you'll still be able to plan something, I'm based on what I see during the weekend, reading the other topic during the week the situation seems much calmer. That said, how will you get to Bellagio and how many days will you stay? Unfortunately, using the boats will be quite stressful, given the waiting time you will have to reduce the stages. During the day I recommend you only do one round trip by boat and go early to the ticket office to get your tickets. You could also rent a boat and do half a day on the lake and see the villas of the middle lake in complete tranquility. There certainly won't be the peaceful atmosphere that characterized the lake, but with some attention and awareness of what the situation will be like I'm sure you will be able to appreciate the place even in these conditions.
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10 helpful votes Dimka, sure, there are lots of people on the way, it is high season. But nevertheless, you can enjoy the lake. D D gave you good suggestions. I want to add:
You can go by ferry (car-ferries also take pedestrians) and take the train from Varenna up and down the eastern cost. There you can hike up to the Vezio Castle or visit the Gorge of Bellano. Or some of the other towns on that side of the lake. You can go by ferry to Menaggio.
But: avoid doing this things on Sunday. Sunday is the worst day, because people from the nearby cities will come to the lake.
And: don't drive, esp. not around Bellagio. You'll see, the roads there are absolutely narrow and winding.
Thank you for all suggestions! Thankfully, we are arriving to Bellagio on Monday and leaving on Thursday, so at least we are not there on weekends. we are arriving by car and in the other tread I am exploring my options how to get to Bellagio - looks like car ferry is the the best one (not sure if I should be using Varenna or Cadenabbia though). I was also told (in the other tread) that I can by day pass for ferries, so I have flexibility with the time. This way I can explore multiple towns/villas in a day.
We also booked an hour private boat ride to explore the lake.
Our trip in on June 3rd and we just hoping for a decent weather (I see it is being raining a lot lately) and manageable crowd ;-)
