Como

Begun Gothic, given a Renaissance front and only in the 18th century topped with its copper dome, the building spanned over three centuries. Statues of the two Plinys, Roman writers born here, flank the main door, pagans where saints usually stand.

A funicular laid in 1894 climbs from the lakeside station to the hilltop village of Brunate in minutes. Walk on to the Volta lighthouse for the lake, the Alps and, when clear, the plain towards Milan. Weekend afternoons bring long queues to ride down.

Alessandro Volta, who invented the battery, was a Como man, so in 1927 a round temple to him went up by the lake. His instruments and early batteries are on show inside. The volt takes its name from him.

An 18th-century Neoclassical villa where the lakeside walk runs out, its front garden stepping down to the water. Anyone may wander the garden, while the building opens only for exhibitions. From the centre it is roughly 20 minutes on foot along the shore.

Giuseppe Terragni's white box, finished in 1936, counts as the masterpiece of Italian Rationalism, and architecture students come just to see it. It stands right behind the cathedral, so the two sit side by side. Government offices fill it; visitors stay out.

A village on the point where the lake splits three ways, so boats reach it from every direction. Stepped lanes climb steeply from the shore to the church, shops on both sides. From Como the slow boat takes over two hours, the hydrofoil about half that.

A villa with terraces and a loggia on a wooded point off Lenno, where Star Wars Episode II and Casino Royale were filmed. You arrive by water taxi from Lenno or along a woodland path. The house itself is seen only on guided tours.

A lakeside villa at Tremezzo with marble sculpture by Canova inside. Hundreds of azaleas and rhododendrons fill the sloping garden, so from late April into early May the hill turns pink and red. The boat landing is right at the gate.

A village on the eastern shore, where a waterside walk called the Lovers' Path runs beneath the houses. Vezio Castle above surveys all three arms of the lake, and at the south end flows the Fiumelatte, just over 250m long and called Italy's shortest river.

Boats linking the shore villages are the public transport, and the water beats the road. In the central basin between Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio short crossings run often, and a day pass lets you hop on and off as you please. Hydrofoils cost extra.

A neoclassical villa of the early 1800s on the shore south of Bellagio. Only the gardens open, and they close for winter. A Japanese corner sets maples round a pond, and azaleas smother the paths in April and May. It is a lakeside stroll from Bellagio's pier.

Lake Como's only island. Como's army razed its village and churches in 1169, leaving church ruins in the woods. Small boats cross from Sala Comacina opposite. The island's old inn serves one set menu, ending with a ritual of setting fire to the coffee.

An 11th-century Romanesque church with twin bell towers rising side by side. Outside it is plain stone; inside, 14th-century frescoes of Christ's life fill the apse behind the altar. Set beside university buildings, it sees few tourists.

Como long supplied Europe's finest silk, and this museum walks you through looms, dye vats and printing blocks gathered from shuttered mills. Hand-carved wooden pattern blocks fill an entire wall. Shops in town still sell silk scarves at mill prices.

Built in 1192 into the southern walls, this 40m gate tower is the biggest of Como's gates. Solid stone outside, it opens toward town in tiers of arches you can see right into. A walk from here traces the surviving walls round the old centre.

A walking route of just over 10km on the west shore, from Colonno to Griante, threading between villages and villas. There is little climbing, and markers set in the path keep you on track. At the end, a lakeside bus or a boat brings you back.

In the heart of Nesso on the east shore, two streams meet and plunge through a narrow cleft. A long steep stair from the road drops to the Civera bridge, an arch over the falls. Come once a downpour has passed to see the torrent at its fullest.