Lezzeno Lake Como: the Blue Grotto, 17 hamlets and the shore seen from the water
Seven kilometres of shoreline between Nesso and Bellagio, a grotto you can only reach by boat, and villages that only make sense from the lake. Here is how it looks from my water taxi.
Lezzeno, Lake Como, eastern shore: seventeen hamlets strung along roughly seven kilometres of the Como branch, between Nesso and Bellagio. Drive through and you barely notice it. Come by boat and you notice everything: houses right on the water, pale limestone cliffs, and a Blue Grotto you can only reach from the lake.
Lezzeno, Lake Como: getting there by boat
Coming up from the south, past Nesso, the shore turns steep and the villages shrink to small clusters of houses clinging to the water's edge. These are Lezzeno's hamlets, one after another: Cavagnola, Calvasino, Pescaù, Rozzo, Sossana and the rest. It is one of the longest municipalities on the lake, and from the water you see why.
Lezzeno has its own Navigazione Laghi ferry stop on the Como to Bellagio line, so public boats call here too. A water taxi is a different experience: we slow down wherever you like, ease in towards the rocks, cut the engine in front of a facade that catches your eye. Always check the latest ferry timetable on the official Navigazione Laghi website before you set off.
Lezzeno's Blue Grotto and the Sassi Grosgalli
The stretch I look forward to most on this run is the Sassi Grosgalli: pale limestone walls dropping straight into the lake, close to the Ponte del Diavolo. Paolo Giovio was already writing about them in the 1500s. At their foot lies the Grotta dei Bulberi, also called Grotta dei Carpi or simply the Blue Grotto.
You can only get there by water. It is known for the colours sunlight throws inside, bouncing between the surface and the rock. The name comes from a local legend about the bulberi, huge fish nobody could ever catch, said to hide in there. On a flat calm day we edge in slowly, and the boat usually goes quiet.
A short history of Lezzeno
A Roman inscription from the 1st or 2nd century shows people lived here even then. In the Middle Ages Lezzeno looked across to Isola Comacina on the opposite shore, and the Rozzo tower was used to send signals for its defence. In the 1800s the village found its way into Italy's Risorgimento: local tradition says Silvio Pellico spent his last night before his arrest at the Il Governo inn in Rozzo.
Later the lake became a livelihood: boatyards, master boatbuilders, and a water-skiing tradition that put the village on the map well beyond Italy. The boating history museum at the Molinari boatyard keeps that story alive.
What to see in Lezzeno
- 01The Blue Grotto (Grotta dei Bulberi)
Beneath the Sassi Grosgalli and reachable only by boat. The main reason to stop here on a water taxi tour.
- 02Church of Santi Quirico e Giulitta
The baroque parish church on Piazza Roma, a few steps from the water. Next door, the Oratory of Santa Maria has 17th-century stucco work.
- 03Sanctuary of the Madonna dei Ceppi
A small 15th-century church halfway up the slope, in the hamlet of Cendraro. Inside is a marble Madonna and Child from the same century. You walk up on the trail.
- 04The Rozzo tower
What remains of the medieval signal tower linked to the defence of Isola Comacina.
- 05Strada Regia and the Bosco di Maddi
Trail 401 links the upper hamlets. In the Bosco di Maddi woods you will find life-size wooden statues of local wildlife, a hit with kids.
Best time to visit Lezzeno
The grotto needs light. The best days run from late spring to early autumn, May to September, when the sun is high and the lake is often calm in the morning. In winter this shore gets very little sun; locals know it well, and you notice it straight away from the water.
Spring and September have one extra advantage: fewer boats around, so we can take our time near the rocks.
Places near Lezzeno
Everything is close from Lezzeno. To the south is Nesso and its gorge; to the north, a few minutes by boat, Bellagio and the gardens of Villa Melzi. Across the water lie Isola Comacina and Tremezzo. Lezzeno fits neatly into our Grand Tour, which brings all of this together in one trip.
