Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & Spa, by R Collection Hotels

Como sits at the southwestern tip of its namesake lake, where Alpine foothills meet the Lombardy plain and the water stretches north in a dramatic Y-shape between steep, forested slopes. The city's centre holds layers of history: the marble-striped Duomo, begun in the 14th century and completed under Renaissance patronage; the Romanesque Basilica of Sant'Abbondio with its twin bell towers; the medieval Broletto with its bands of white, grey, and red stone. Narrow cobbled lanes open onto lakefront promenades where plane trees shade cafés and the 18th-century Villa Olmo commands a sweep of lawn down to the water. The Tempio Voltiano, a neoclassical temple built in 1927, honours Alessandro Volta, the physicist who invented the electric battery here in 1799.

The Loveno neighbourhood rises into the hills above the city, where villas hide behind iron gates and gardens cascade in terraces of wisteria and oleander. Como's position made it a crossroads for Roman legions, silk traders, and Grand Tour travellers; today it remains a gateway to the lake's western shore, where ferries depart for Bellagio and Varenna. The promenade hums with the low rumble of hydrofoils and the clatter of aperitivo glasses.

Lugano Airport lies 26 kilometres north across the Swiss border, a 30-minute drive through mountain tunnels. Milan's Malpensa and Bergamo's Il Caravaggio airports are both under an hour by car, threading through Brianza hill towns and lakeside villages.

The lake defines the rhythm here. Rent a wooden motoscafo from one of the marinas and navigate the western shore yourself, or take the public ferry to Varenna, three kilometres across the water, where Villa Monastero's terraced gardens descend in a riot of azaleas and palms. Bellagio's harbour sits less than four kilometres southeast, its cobbled Salita Serbelloni climbing steeply past gelaterie and linen shops. The Cascata di Tobi tumbles through a forested ravine two kilometres from the property, accessible by a shaded hiking trail that follows the stream through chestnut groves.

Book a table at Villa Elena in Bergamo's Città Alta, 47 kilometres south, where chef Andrea Salvatore Ribaldone works with two Michelin stars in a restored hillside residence overlooking the Po plain. Closer to Como, Ecco in Ascona (two stars, 38 kilometres north) showcases Reto Brändli's precise, seasonal work in the Giardino hotel's dining room. In Como itself, markets fill Piazza San Fedele on Saturday mornings with wheels of Taleggio, cured bresaola, and bundles of sage. The Giovio Musaeum, founded in 1537, holds Renaissance portraits and illuminated manuscripts collected by the physician Paolo Giovio.

Late spring and early autumn frame the best weather: May through June and September into early October, when daytime temperatures reach the low to mid-20s and the lake reflects a soft, shifting light. Mornings begin cool enough for a wool sweater, afternoons warm into shirtsleeves. The waterfront fills with tables, ferries run full schedules, and the mountains hold their green.

July and August push into the high 20s, the air thick and still on windless afternoons, though evenings cool quickly once the sun drops behind the western ridge. Rain comes heaviest in spring and autumn, when storms sweep down from the Alps and clouds hang low over the water, turning the lake pewter-grey.

Winter is quiet and sharp, temperatures hovering just above freezing, the peaks dusted white. Fog settles over the lake some mornings, muffling the sound of boats and leaving the gardens dripping. Fewer visitors mean the city returns to itself: locals fill the caffès, the Duomo's interior glows dim and hushed, and the light slants low and golden through the afternoon.