Pianello del Lario

On the quiet western shore of Lake Como, Pianello del Lario offers what the busier mid-lake towns cannot: an unguarded stretch of lakeside life, a museum of antique boats of genuine international importance, and hill hamlets where the religious history of the valley is written in stone. It suits travellers who like their Como slow, green and boat-shaped.

Why visit

Most visitors skim Lake Como’s centre and never reach Pianello, which is precisely its appeal. The village sits where the shore widens into open promenades and small beaches, with the mountains folding behind it into hamlets such as Calozzo. Its great draw is the Larian Boat Museum, one of the most serious collections of historic lake craft anywhere in Europe, housed in a former nineteenth-century silk mill right on the water. Add the memory of Don Luigi Guanella and Blessed Chiara Bosatta, whose work began here in the 1880s, and you have a destination that rewards a full day rather than a photo stop.

Character and history

Pianello has always lived with its back to the mountain and its face to the lake. The old via Regina, the Roman road that threaded the western shore, still runs through the village as the lakefront road, and for centuries it carried goods, pilgrims and boat-builders north towards the Valtellina and across to the eastern shore. Fishing, silk farming and the timber trade shaped the local economy; the filanda where silkworm cocoons were once processed is now the museum, which tells you how completely the village has turned its industrial past into cultural capital.

The parish of San Martino in Calozzo also gave the lake one of its most consequential priests. Don Luigi Guanella served as parish administrator in Pianello from 1881 to 1890, and it was here, alongside the Bosatta sisters Dina — the Blessed Chiara — and Marcellina, that the foundations of his congregations were laid. The Guanellian presence remains tangible: a residence for elderly people occupies the Bosatta family home, and the parish rooms where Guanella lived and studied survive on the church square. Pianello today is a small, lived-in community of around a thousand residents, fringed by campgrounds and holiday flats that give it a relaxed summer pulse without resort theatrics.

What to see

The anchor is the Larian Boat Museum, whose halls gather hundreds of historic boats spanning workboats, racing craft, engines and onboard fittings. Highlights include a 1923 gondola lariana, a Venetian gondola from Villa Balbianello, and the hydrofoil Freccia dei Gerani, presented by the museum as the last surviving vessel of its class. Plan at least ninety minutes, longer if boat-building is your thing.

In the hills above, the parish Church of San Martino (Calozzo) was rebuilt in the sixteenth century over an older structure and anchors the scattered hamlets of the upland. Nearby, the Church of Sant’Anna (Calozzo) is a seventeenth-century oratory with sweeping views down the lake, while the Church of the Madonna della Neve — sixteenth-century, enlarged in the eighteenth — sits close to the village core. In the locality of Nassina, the rural Oratory of San Bernardino (Nassina) keeps its fields-and-silence character. Finally, the Casa Bosatta Museum Collection, inside the Casa Sacro Cuore residence in Calozzo, preserves the family room with its beamed ceiling and fireplace, together with relics and letters of Chiara Bosatta and Don Guanella.

How to experience

Begin at the museum, then walk the lakeside promenade south or north — Pianello’s shoreline is one of the more walkable on the western branch. Cross the road for lunch with a view, then drive or climb on foot to Calozzo to see the churches and read the panorama: the lake narrows towards Dongo to the north and opens towards Menaggio to the south. Travellers with a nautical streak can pair the museum with a sailing course; the museum grounds host one, and summer regattas often pass offshore. Pilgrims and the curious can book a visit to Casa Bosatta through the residence. If you are here on a summer evening, join the passeggiata: this is a village that still takes its gelato seriously.

Practical planning

Pianello lies on the SS340 western lakeshore road, roughly twenty minutes north of Menaggio by car; buses from Menaggio towards Sorico stop in the village, and the Como–Menaggio–Colico boat services put most mid-lake crossings within easy reach, though sailings thin out north of Menaggio, so check timetables. The museum is on Via Regina 1268; opening days vary through the year and are limited midweek outside summer, so confirm on museobarcalariana.it before travelling. Church access in the hamlets is often tied to services; ask at the parish or municipality if a visit matters to you. Summer is lively, spring and early autumn are ideal for walking, and free parking is easiest in the morning before beach traffic builds.

Nearby places

Drive south along the same shore to San Siro and its lakeside villages, then on to Menaggio for ferries, golf and the promenade. The fortified village of Rezzonico is minutes away between the two, and Griante and Cadenabbia give access to Villa Carlotta and the mid-lake ferry triangle. Northbound, the museum pairs naturally with the Orobian and Dongo-area villages, but the candidates above cover a satisfying western-shore loop.