10 Best Things to Do in Como

Duomo di Como – or the Como Cathedral – is the icon of the town and one of the most important religious structures in the whole of Lombardy. The cathedral crowns its namesake square, the Piazza del Duomo, and can be reached on foot from virtually anywhere in the centre.

Startlingly, this amazing building took over 370 years to complete. That explains the montage of styles that are now evidenced in the architecture – there's everything from pure Gothic in the main façade to flamboyant Rococo in the cupolas. Inside, the highlight is the string of tapestries, which were woven in the 1500s in Tuscany and Belgium.

The Villa Olmo is a prime example of the sort of stately villa architecture that Como is famed for. It sits on a plinth on the western banks just outside of town, where it's surrounded by gorgeous ornamental gardens that bloom with rhododendrons and tulips come the spring months.

If you can get past the highly elaborate Neoclassical exterior, then you'll be greeted with even more wonders within. There are a series of halls dotted with relief murals and dangling golden chandeliers. There's also a complete theatre house that dates from the 1880s. Sometimes, the whole complex will be shut off to accommodate a jet-setter wedding – try not to peer through the fence if you can help it.

Tempio Voltiano is a shrine to the great Italian pioneer Alessandro Volta, who is credited with inventing the battery back at the turn of the 19th century. Science buffs simply can't miss this spot as it really stands out. It has the colonnaded frontispiece of an ancient temple and towers over the main Lungolago di Como promenade right on the side of the lake.

There are 2 main sections to the collection within. The first showcases early examples of batteries, known as voltaic piles. The second is more about the scientist's own personal life. That part also contains a series of prestigious awards that he won throughout his life.

The Parco Regionale Spina Verde curves around the Italian-Swiss border immediately to the west of Como town. It's a top place to go for a taste of the wild alpine nature that abounds in this region. You can even hike there from the centre – a series of paths link from the downtown core into the woods, taking about 1.5 hours to complete.

Along with 13 individually marked rambling routes, the Parco Regionale Spina Verde contains the summit of Monte Croce and the lookout point of Respaù. It's also home to a number of cultural and historical attractions, including the medieval Castello Baradello and the WWII trenches that carve through Monte Sasso.

The Lungolago Mafalda di Savoia is an L-shaped walkway that links up manicured parks and cafe-dotted boulevards along the water's edge of Lake Como. It's reachable on foot from everywhere in the town. No trip to Como could possibly be complete without a stroll along the famous lakeside promenade.

At a basic level, the Lungolago Mafalda di Savoia is a fantastic location for a midday picnic in the company of the ducks and the bobbing boats. But it's also packed with points of interest. At one end, there's the Tempio Voltiano, a grand Neoclassical exhibit space dedicated to electrical science. At the other, there's Lungo Lario Trento, a bustling street that's fringed by gelato outlets.

The Broletto di Como transports you into the thick of the medieval heart of the town. It's wedged onto the side of the grand Piazza del Duomo and the snaking shopping strip of Via Vittorio Emanuele II. Strangely for a secular municipal building of the Middle Ages, it's actually connected at the hip to the cathedral itself.

The frontispieces reveal a medley of Renaissance and Gothic design styles. They herald a building that has a story that goes back all the way to 1215. Over the years, it's been used as a playhouse and an office. Today, it's reserved for special art exhibits.

Castello Baradello has been a fixture of the Como skyline for several centuries, perched high on a hill some 430 metres above the town. It was erected in the 1200s by Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, but sits on the site of an even older ancient fortification.

The citadel is noticeable for its square-cut Byzantine-style tower. That sprouts from a rotunda of bulwarks where visitors get sweeping views of the lakeside and the town promenades below. You can push on up above the tower to the vantage point of Respaù, where there are archaeological dig sites and even better views of Lake Como unfolding to the north.

The Chilometro della Conoscenza offers a wonderful place to escape the bustle of Como's town centre. Pulling you north along the western side of Como's leg of the lake, it's a set of manicured gardens that have about 600 metres' worth of strolling space through pretty blooms of stone pines and beds of pink-tinged rhododendrons.

The whole park is interspersed with a smattering of public artworks and picnic spots. There's also a Pétanque court right by the water's edge. The views looking over to Monte Boletto on the far side of the lake can hardly be beaten as a backdrop for a lunchtime sojourn.

Monte Boletto rises on the eastern flank of Como town. It's one of the highest peaks in the immediate vicinity, offering a real challenge for would-be adventurers looking to get away from it all. The trek up can be done in both summer and winter, but crampons and thermals will be needed if there's snow on the ground.

The main path starts in the small hamlet of Brunate, on the western slope of the peak. From there, it clambers on ancient donkey paths through lush pastures before topping out onto a ridge. That's where the views begin – they look north all the way to Laglio and Nesso further up the lake. In all, the loop is about 12 km.

Museo della Seta di Como is all about chronicling the long tradition of silk making that made Como an industrial powerhouse back in the 1400s and 1500s. The museum is housed in a modern building on the south side of the town, away from the medieval core but just a few minutes' walk from the Como Borghi train station.

On your visit, you’ll get to see centuries-old looms that were used to spin the prized silk cloth, along with the dyeing and patterning machinery that added the finishing touches to the product. The museum also tells the tale of the coming of the silkworm to Como and how it became such a central part of the town's economy.