Colico, Lake Como: the top of the lake seen from the boat
The last village on the eastern shore, under Monte Legnone, with two forts, Piona Abbey and the wind that fills the sails. Colico told by someone who gets there by water taxi.
At Colico, Lake Como comes to an end in the north. Or it begins there, depending on which way you come in. It is the last village on the eastern shore, and Monte Legnone rises behind it so steeply that it seems to drop straight into the water. I take my wooden Venetian water taxi up here on the long days, the ones with time for the whole lake. And every time, once we leave the central lake and the mountains of Valtellina open up ahead, someone on board stands up to get a better look.
Colico from the lake: what you see arriving by boat
Heading north from Varenna, the central lake falls behind you and the shore gets wilder. On your right, the Olgiasca peninsula closes off Piona bay, with Piona Abbey (Abbazia di Piona) among the olive trees. Then Colico appears: a low village along the shore, and four small hills rising out of the plain like islands on dry land. Locals call them the montecchi, and Colico is known as the town of the montecchi.
Across the water are Gravedona and Dongo. Up here the lake opens out, the air moves more and you feel it on your skin straight away. There are nearly always sails, kites and windsurfers.
How to get to Colico by boat
Colico has a Navigazione Laghi pier and is the northern end of the ferry line that runs all the way down to Como. The train stops here too, on the line from Lecco up into Valtellina.
With a water taxi, Colico becomes the northernmost stop of a full day on Lake Como. I bring guests here on the Full Day Dolce Far Niente when they want to see the lake from one end to the other. We decide where to land before we set off: it depends on the wind and on what you want to visit.
A short history of Colico
Colico sits where the Adda river flows into the lake, at the crossroads of Lake Como, Valtellina and Valchiavenna. A spot like that was always worth fighting over. In 1603 the Count of Fuentes, the Spanish governor of Milan, had a fort built on the Montecchio Est to keep the Grisons out. The marsh below took the name Pian di Spagna, the Spanish Plain, and still has it. Napoleon had the fort destroyed in 1796.
Three centuries later, between 1911 and 1914, a second fort went up on the Montecchio Nord, designed against a possible attack through Switzerland. It never fired a shot in the First World War. Its guns spoke only on 27 April 1945, when partisans fired on the Italian and German column heading up the opposite shore towards Switzerland, after it had left Mussolini in partisan hands at Dongo.
Things to do in Colico, Lake Como
- 01Forte Montecchio Nord
The only Italian First World War fort that still has its original guns in place: four 149 mm Schneider cannons with a range of about 14 kilometres. Entry is by guided tour only, and from the top you look over the lake, Valtellina and Valchiavenna.
- 02Forte di Fuentes
The remains of the Spanish fort on the Montecchio Est, looking out over the plain. A combined ticket covers both forts, and a loop trail links them.
- 03Piona Abbey
On the Olgiasca peninsula above the bay. A Romanesque church, a frescoed cloister with a rare calendar of the seasons, and Cistercian monks who still grow herbs and make liqueurs to their own recipes.
- 04Pian di Spagna nature reserve
Reed beds and still water between the mouths of the Adda and the Mera. An important stopover for migrating birds.
- 05The lakefront and the wind
Colico's low shoreline is one of the places on Lake Como people come to for kitesurfing, windsurfing and sailing. Even if you only watch, with the Legnone behind, the walk is worth it.
Best time to visit Colico
May to September is the liveliest stretch. My favourite months are June and September: long days, less traffic on the water, clear light on the mountains. For the forts and the abbey, always check opening times and days on the official websites before you go, as they change month by month and some visits are by booking only.
Places near Colico
Piona Abbey is a few minutes away by boat. Opposite, on the western shore, Gravedona and Dongo round off a tour of the upper lake. Heading back towards the central lake, Varenna is the right place to end the day.
