Lake Como: Quiet Luxury & the Italy Nobody Warns You About
While the world pictures celebrity yachts and summer crowds, we arrived in late September to find the real Lake Como — still water, open terraces, and a tomahawk steak cooked over an open flame.
Lake Como has a reputation problem — or rather, a reputation that belongs to a different season entirely. In summer it is crowded, expensive, and better photographed than experienced. In late September, it is something else. The water is still, the Alps rise behind the lakeside towns, and the pace slows to something that feels genuinely earned. You don’t have to be an A-lister to enjoy it. You just have to arrive at the right time.
This is Part 2 of the Second European Rail Odyssey. We arrived from Milan on a late afternoon train, checked into the Sheraton Lake Como, and spent two nights exploring one of Italy’s most mythologized destinations on our own terms. We also ate very well. This is that story.
The Train from Milan
The regional train from Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni takes just under an hour — an easy, unhurried hop that barely registers as travel. The shift happens in the last fifteen minutes, when the urban density of Milan’s outskirts gives way to glimpses of deep blue water between the hills. By the time the lake comes fully into view, the city feels very far away.
We had booked a taxi from the station rather than attempting the walk with luggage. This is the right call. The hotel sits on Via per Cernobbio, about a kilometre and a half from the station along a lakeside road that is scenic on foot but less charming when you are dragging bags uphill. The taxi takes five minutes and costs almost nothing. Take the taxi.
The walk from Como San Giovanni station to the Sheraton Lake Como is scenic but hilly with narrow footpaths — manageable without luggage, a genuine challenge with bags. Taxis queue outside the station and the fare is short. Alternatively, the ferry stops near the hotel and runs on a published schedule. Both beat the walk if you’re loaded down.
The Sheraton Lake Como
The Sheraton Lake Como is a different animal entirely from the Diana Majestic in Milan. Where the Diana was compact and ornate — a city hotel in the old European tradition — the Sheraton Lake Como is sprawling and modern, set within an 11,000 square metre private park with a pool, solarium, and grounds that spill toward the lake. The architecture is clean and contemporary, the rooms genuinely large by European standards, and the terraces — we had a private one with room for two full sun loungers and space to walk around — face the mountains and grounds rather than the road.
We spent a considerable amount of time in the premium lounge, which has that particular quality of a well-designed hotel common space: cozy chairs, good light, and no particular pressure to be anywhere else. On the first afternoon, still unwinding from Milan, we settled into armchairs near the bar and stayed there longer than we planned.
The view from our room — pool, grounds, and the Alps beyond
Our private terrace — room for two loungers and the whole of the Alps
On the Property
Three restaurants, two bars, a full spa with indoor pool, and an outdoor heated pool. The Kitchen Restaurant holds a Michelin star. Ristorante Kincho serves poolside in warmer months (seasonal — confirm ahead). The Gusto restaurant and Bar Fresco operate year-round. The spa is complimentary for hotel guests. Rooms are furnished with Made in Italy pieces throughout.
Evening One: Kincho & the Tomahawk
We had decided before we even arrived that the first evening was for the hotel. After Milan — the late nights, the bar incident, two and a half days on our feet — we wanted nothing more strenuous than dinner on the grounds and an early night. Ristorante Kincho, the hotel’s outdoor restaurant set by the pool, had us immediately.
Everything at Kincho is cooked in a wood oven on an open flame. We ordered the Tomahawk to share — a decision that required no discussion. It arrived on a salt slab, sliced tableside by the waiter, and served with warm naan, baked potatoes, sautéed vegetables, and three house-made sauces. The temperature was perfect. The meat was genuinely tender in a way that the cut can sometimes promise and fail to deliver. It did not fail.
We paired it with a 2017 Sherazade Nero d’Avola from the Sicilian vineyard Donnafugata — bright enough not to overwhelm, structured enough to hold up to the richness of the cut. It was, in the way that only genuinely well-matched wine and food can be, exactly right.
“The lake was still, the mountains dark behind it, and there was a tomahawk on a salt slab between us. Some evenings simply cannot be improved upon.”
Ristorante Kincho, Sheraton Lake Como — September 2019Kincho is seasonal and typically closes in the colder months. If you’re visiting outside the May–October window, confirm availability before you plan around it. The year-round alternative on property is the Kitchen Restaurant, which holds a Michelin star and is worth the visit in its own right — we’ll be trying it on a future trip.
Day Two: The Ferry, the Town & the Walk Back
The ferry approaching — our ride into Como town
Lake Como in late September is the definition of quiet luxury — and you don’t need a villa to access it. The second morning we took the ferry from near the hotel into the town of Como itself. Gliding along the lake in the open air, with the water still and the Alps providing a backdrop that neither photographs nor words quite capture — it was the kind of experience that justifies the entire trip.
The Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Our first stop in town was the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta — Como’s magnificent duomo, which took nearly three centuries to complete and shows it in the best possible way. The facade layers Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements with the kind of confidence that only accumulates over hundreds of years. Inside, it is cool and hushed and genuinely beautiful. We spent a quiet half hour in there, largely to ourselves.
Lunch at Posta Design Hotel
Lunch on the terrace — caprese, a crepe, and no particular hurry
For lunch we found a terrace table at the Posta Design Hotel — a caprese salad and a crepe, nothing elaborate, eaten slowly in the sun with the town moving quietly around us. It is the kind of lunch that only works in Italy, where the ingredients do everything and the setting does the rest. It was a nice break to get our bearings and recharge while reflecting on the trip so far.
Villa Olmo & the Road Back
The Biscione above the gates of Villa Olmo — Milan’s serpent follows us north
After lunch we made our way back toward the ferry — and found the queue to leave Como stretching far longer than we had patience for. We took the bus instead, which turned out to be the better decision. After just a few stops we got off at Villa Olmo, a neoclassical villa with beautifully manicured lawns, formal gardens, and statuary that belongs in a museum. It is open to the public and free to enter. Most visitors to Como never find it.
It was here that we spotted the Biscione — the Visconti serpent from Mauricio’s tattoo, from the Galleria floor, from Milan’s heraldry — carved above the villa gates. Of course it was here. The symbol of the Visconti dynasty appears wherever the old Milanese aristocracy left its mark, and Lake Como was their summer refuge. It was a small, satisfying reminder that history in this part of Italy is not confined to museums.
From Villa Olmo we continued along the lakeside toward the hotel. Further along the road, the terrace of Hotel Villa Flori caught our attention — a beautiful old lakeside property with a terrace that hangs directly over the water. We stopped, as one must. We ordered drinks and sat watching boats cross the lake and local fishermen working the near shore. Nobody was in a hurry. Nobody was performing for anyone else. It was one of those moments that arrives without warning and earns itself completely.
The ferry back from Como town can have a long queue, especially on weekends or in shoulder season. The bus is a perfectly good alternative and drops you right at Villa Olmo — which means you get an unplanned stop at one of the lake’s most beautiful properties for free. From there, walk the rest of the way back along the lake and stop at Hotel Villa Flori for a drink on the terrace. This is exactly what Lake Como is for.
Evening Two: The Filet
We returned to Kincho for the second night without any debate. When we arrived at the hotel from our walk we could already smell the wood smoke. Some decisions are not decisions. The evening’s choice was the filet — charred on the outside, cool red at the center, and sliced through like warm butter. Served again with baked potatoes and roasted vegetables, paired this time with a Sella & Mosca Tanca Farra Alghero 2014 — a heavier wine than the previous night’s Nero d’Avola, and a beautiful complement to the richer cut.
Two nights, two meals, no regrets. If you find yourself at the Sheraton Lake Como and Kincho is open, go. If it is not open, the Michelin-starred Kitchen Restaurant on the same property is there for exactly that reason. Either way, you will not be leaving disappointed.
On the Romantic Destinations List
Lake Como appears on our Top 5 Most Romantic Destinations list — and the off-season version is a large part of why. The summer crowds transform it into something entirely different. Arrive in late September or October and you have a strong claim to the most quietly romantic place in northern Italy.
The Ferry Schedule & Off-Season Tip
One thing many visitors overlook: the Lake Como ferry service runs year-round, though on a reduced winter schedule. In late September we had no trouble using it. The boats connect Como town with Bellagio, Varenna, Tremezzo, and the smaller lakeside stops — and ferry-hopping between them without fighting for elbow room in the off-season is one of the genuinely underrated pleasures of the lake.
The winter ferry schedule is reduced but operational. Grab a seat in the warm cabin and ferry-hop between Bellagio and Varenna without fighting for elbow room. Check the official schedule before you go — timetables change seasonally.
The Train to Lucerne
On the morning of September 30th, we checked out of the Sheraton and made our way to Como San Giovanni station for the EuroCity 358 departure toward Switzerland. The routing takes you north through the Italian lake district, crosses the Swiss border, and climbs through the Gotthard before descending into Lucerne. It is one of the great train journeys in Europe and it is also just a scheduled service — which is part of what makes rail travel in this part of the world so quietly extraordinary.
The journey takes approximately two hours and fifty minutes. We sat by the window and watched Italy become Switzerland, which happens gradually and then all at once. By the time the turrets of the Chapel Bridge appeared through the train window, we had crossed an invisible line into a different country, a different currency, and a different chapter entirely.
The EuroCity 358 from Como San Giovanni to Lucerne via the Gotthard is one of the most scenic rail routes in Europe. Sit on the right side of the train heading north for the best mountain views through the Gotthard section. Book in advance — it fills up, especially in autumn.
Next Stop: Lucerne
The EuroCity 358 climbs through the heart of the Swiss Alps, trading lakeside palms for mountain peaks. Join us as we cross the Gotthard into the city that stopped us cold.
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