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Morning

There are two major museums in this itinerary, so start off early at the Castello Sforzesco when it opens at 9:30am. Work your way up to San Sempliciano around 11am, then make your way southeast to the church of San Marco.

Continue up Via San Marco to have lunch at one of Milan’s great simple trattorie, Latteria San Marco (see Latteria), then head back down the street, cross Via Pontaccio, and plunge into the vast art collections of the Pinacoteca di Brera.

Afternoon

If you’re an art fan, you’ll probably spend the rest of the afternoon at the Pinacoteca, ready for a passeggiata and dinner when you emerge near closing time. But if it doesn’t grab you, knock off after 90 minutes and you’ll have time to continue east along Via Fatebenefratelli to Piazza Cavour.

If it’s between Friday and Sunday, you can turn up Via Manin to pop inside the Palazzo Dugnani ; otherwise, skirt the Giardini Pubblici on Via Palestro to peruse the modern art inside the Villa Reale, then the dinosaur skeletons and wonderfully outdated 19th-century dioramas inside the Museo di Storia Naturale .

Finally, to round off a full and busy day, head for your dinner reservations at La Terrazza .

Morning

To cruise the lake you can buy point-to-point tickets, or peruse the single-ticket cruises that visit several towns and may include villa admissions. This itinerary assumes you have already checked out Como’s sights before spending the night in Bellagio.

Begin the next day with a cappuccino at Bellagio’s Caffè Rossi across from the dock before boarding the 10:30am boat to Villa Carlotta, where you have an hour to visit the collection of art and lush gardens of the lake’s greatest villa.

Catch the ferry down to Isola Comacina to dig into a sumptuous feast at the Locanda (see Locanda dell’Isola Comacina, Ossuccio). After a second helping of their “spiked” coffee, you’ll have a bit of time to work off the meal by exploring the island’s overgrown church ruins before grabbing the boat back up the lake to Varenna.

Mid-afternoon

Continue walking off the big lunch by climbing up to the romantic, panoramic Castello di Vezio above town, then descend and pop into Varenna’s little churches. Poke around the gardens of Villa Monastero, then finally head down to the lakefront arcade for a short stroll then a meal by the water at the splendid Vecchia Varenna (see Vecchia Varenna, Varenna).

Unless you decide to spend a relaxing night in quiet and little visited Varenna, make sure you finish dinner before 9pm, when the last ferry leaves for Bellagio.