My wife and I are starting our month long trip to Italy with a 5 day stay in Bergamo, starting June 19. We are interested in planning a day trip to Lake Como using the train and possibly a boat as well. We would like some feedback on which towns along the eastern coast of Lake Como might be most worthy of our time. Right now we have focused our research on Varenna but want to be open to other possibilities. We'd like to spend a day in a town that has great views both of the lakes and the mountains, interesting options for coffee and lunch and dinner, opportunities for a moderate "hike" (i.e. walk on a path) and a visit to gardens that are open for viewing. Local museums or church would be considered for a quick visit if they had something of particular interest.
Varenna has the advantage of a good train connection. We've thought about taking the train to Lecco, and then the boat on to Varenna, and making the return trip entirely by train. But we are wondering if we should be considering Bellagio instead, or one of the other small towns along the eastern edge of the lake. Bellagio doesn't have as good of a train connection from Bergamo, but we could use the boat for part of the trip and enjoy the scenery.
