Menaggio is about half way up the western side of Lake Como, an attractive and thriving town in the summer months and little more quiet in the winter! Accessible by car from Como at the south end of the lake, or Lugano in Switzerland, across the pass via Porlezza (340) above Menaggio but also by ferry from Bellagio and Varenna (where there is a train from Milan). The heart of the “old” town gathered around Piazza Garibaldi close to Menaggio’s harbour features mostly 19th century buildings in the Italian alpine style painted in muted tones.