Lake Como in November: Weather, What’s Open and What to Do

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November is the month most people skip, and the month I get asked about most by people who already booked a flight and are starting to worry. The short answer is that the lake is still here, still beautiful, and about a tenth as busy. The longer answer is that a lot of things close, and if you turn up expecting a July itinerary you will have a bad week.

I live near Como and spend a lot of November out here with a camera, so this is what to actually expect.

The weather in November

Average high	11°C / 53°F
Average low	5°C / 42°F
Average rainfall	about 98mm
Rainy days	about 11
Sunshine	about 4 hours a day

That is a jumper and a rain jacket, not a coat and gloves. The water keeps the lakeside towns slightly milder than the hills behind them, so Como and Bellagio stay a degree or two warmer than the villages above.

What the averages do not tell you is the fog. November is when it sits on the water. Plenty of mornings start grey with the far shore completely invisible, then open up by midday. It is worth knowing before you look out of the window on your first morning and write the trip off.

Here is the part that is actually useful: when the fog settles in the valleys, the peaks above it stay in sunshine. If you wake up to grey, going up is often how you find the sun. The funicular to Brunate takes seven minutes and gets you above a lot of it.

The other thing to plan around is the light. At the start of November the sun is up around 07:05 and sets around 17:08. By mid-month it is dark before 17:00. You get roughly ten hours of daylight at the start of the month and closer to nine by the end, so put your sightseeing in the morning and early afternoon and treat the evening as dinner time.

Which villas are open in November

This is the question that decides whether November works for you, because the villas and their gardens are the main ticketed attraction on the lake. Three of the four big ones are still open in some form. One is not.

Villa	Town	November 2026	Hours
Villa Monastero	Varenna	Open, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays	10:00 to 17:00
Villa del Balbianello	Lenno, Tremezzina	Open, closed Mondays and Wednesdays unless a holiday. Booking required	10:00 to 17:00
Villa Carlotta	Tremezzo	Daily until 8 Nov, then weekends only	10:00 to 18:00, then 10:00 to 16:00
Villa Melzi	Bellagio	Closed, season ended 1 November	–

Villa Monastero in Varenna is the most reliable one in November. The house museum and the botanical garden are both open every day including public holidays, from 10:00 to 17:00, and both are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Last entry is shortly before closing, so do not arrive at 16:50. The garden runs for almost two kilometres along the shore and it is at its best in autumn colour.

Villa del Balbianello stays open through November on reduced winter hours, 10:00 to 17:00, with last entry to the park at 16:00 and the last guided tour of the villa interior at 15:00. It is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays that are not public holidays. Booking is required, and that matters more than it sounds: the interior is guided-tour only, the groups are small, and if you arrive without a booking in low season you may find nobody to sell you a ticket. In December it drops to selected dates only, so November is your last easy window.

Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo is the one to get the dates right on. It is open daily until Sunday 8 November, 10:00 to 18:00 with the last ticket at 17:00. After that it switches to weekends only: 14 and 15, 21 and 22, 28 and 29 November, 10:00 to 16:00 with the last ticket at 15:30. If your trip falls on a Tuesday in the second half of the month, it is shut. On closed days it can still be visited by arrangement if you email the villa in advance.

Villa Melzi in Bellagio closed for the season on 1 November. There is no point walking down to Loppia to check. It reopens in spring.

Ferries and getting around

The ferries do run in November, but on a different and much thinner timetable. The winter timetable came into force on 2 November 2026 and runs until 14 March 2027. Unlike summer, it is published as one combined timetable covering the boats, the car ferries and the fast services together, which makes it easier to read and much shorter.

Do not plan a November day around a connection you saw on a summer timetable. The long Como to Colico run and the fast services are both cut back, and some of the small piers get fewer stops or none. Check the current PDF on the official Navigazione Laghi site for the exact day you are travelling.

Three things were in effect as this went up, all worth checking before you rely on them:

• The Faggeto Lario stop has been suspended since 5 October 2026, with no restart date announced.
• There is a load restriction on the car ferries because of low water in the lake, in place since August 2026.
• The car service at the Menaggio ferry pier is affected by structural works, per a notice dated 27 October 2026. If you are moving a car across the middle of the lake, confirm this one directly.

The Como to Brunate funicular runs all year, so that is the one piece of transport you can count on. Current hours are in that guide, since they shift with the season. Worth noting that the lighthouse at the top, the Faro Voltiano, has been closed since March 2026, so go up for the views from the village rather than the tower.

Trains and buses run normal year-round timetables, and in November they are often the faster way between towns anyway. Driving is genuinely easier than in summer, and parking in Como stops being a competitive sport. The ZTL rules still apply, so read up before you drive into the old town.

Crowds and prices

This is the quiet. Bellagio and Varenna are places you can walk through without queueing for a photo, and the ferries have seats. If the thing that puts you off Lake Como is the crowds, November solves it completely.

Hotel prices are at their lowest of the year, and the lakefront places that are impossible to book in June are available and cheaper. The trade-off is that a lot of hotels and restaurants close for the season from early November, particularly in the smaller villages and on the mid-lake. Book ahead, and check that the specific place is open rather than assuming.

Is November a good time to visit Lake Como?

It depends entirely on what you came for, so here is the honest version.

November works if you have been before and want the lake to yourself, you are travelling on a budget, you care about photography and the light, you want to eat well without booking three weeks ahead, or you are coming in the last ten days for the Christmas markets.

November does not work if you want to swim, you had your heart set on a boat tour, you want to sit outside with a drink in the evening, or you are relying on everything being open.

And the thing I would want someone to tell me: if this is your one trip to Italy and you have never seen Lake Como, and your dates are flexible, May or September give you a noticeably better version of the same place. Our guide to the best months to visit Lake Como goes through the full year. If your dates are fixed and November is what you have, it is still worth coming. Just come for the quiet rather than the postcard.

What to do in November

The villas above are the obvious starting point. Beyond those:

• Go up. This is the month for it. The funicular to Brunate, or the walk up to Castello Baradello above Como, which takes about 40 minutes on foot from the old town and is free. On a foggy morning you climb out of the grey into sunshine.
• Walk. The Greenway on the western shore and the lakefront paths are at their best with nobody on them and the trees turning. Bring shoes with grip, the stone gets slick.
• Como old town. The Duomo, the Tempio Voltiano and the city museums are all indoor, all open, and all a reasonable plan for a wet afternoon. Our guide to what to see in Como has the short list.
• Eat. November is the good season for the food here. Polenta, slow braises, chestnuts, lake fish. This is the opposite of the summer problem where everywhere is full. The aperitivo at Bar Touring works year-round.
• Football. Como 1907 play at the Stadio Sinigaglia, right on the water, and late November is the busiest home run of the season: three games in nine days, including a Champions League night. Dates in the events section below. See our Como 1907 ticket guide for how to actually get seats.
• Christmas markets, from 21 November. See the events below.

What not to plan: swimming, most boat tours, and long days at altitude. The high trails can have snow and cloud by late November.

What to pack

• Layers. You will be warm walking uphill and cold standing on a ferry deck in the same hour.
• A proper waterproof jacket, not a showerproof one. Eleven wet days is a lot.
• Shoes with grip. Wet cobbles and wet stone steps are the main hazard here in November.
• A small umbrella.
• Something warm for the evening, because it gets dark before 17:00 and the temperature drops with it.

Leave the swimwear at home unless your hotel has a pool it heats.

Frequently asked questions

Is Lake Como worth visiting in November?
Yes, if you want it quiet and cheap and you accept that some things are closed. It is the wrong month for a first visit if you have flexible dates, and the right month if crowds are what put you off.

What is the weather like at Lake Como in November?
Highs around 11°C (53°F) and lows around 5°C (42°F), with about 98mm of rain spread over roughly 11 days and about 4 hours of sun a day. Expect fog on the water in the mornings.

Do the ferries run in November?
Yes, on the winter timetable, which started on 2 November 2026 and runs to 14 March 2027. There are far fewer sailings than in summer and some piers are skipped, so check the official timetable for your travel day.

Are the villas open in November?
Villa Monastero in Varenna and Villa del Balbianello are open with closure days midweek. Villa Carlotta is daily until 8 November then weekends only. Villa Melzi in Bellagio is closed for the season.

Is it cold at Lake Como in November?
Cool rather than cold. Daytime is usually between 8°C and 13°C. It is jacket weather, not winter-coat weather, but the evenings are colder and much darker than people expect.

Can you swim in Lake Como in November?
Not realistically. The air is around 11°C and the lake has been cooling since September. Lidos are shut for the season.

When in November is the best time to go?
The last ten days. The Christmas markets open on 21 November, Villa Carlotta opens for its final weekends of the season, and Como 1907 have three home games between 21 and 29 November. The first half of the month is calmer but there is noticeably less on.

Does the Como to Brunate funicular run in November?
Yes, it runs all year. Hours shift with the season, so check our funicular guide for the current timetable. The lighthouse at the top has been closed since March 2026.

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