Lake Como has become an icon taken by storm: packed ferries, queues at the villas and congested lakefronts on weekends. If you are after the same mirror-still waters, stone villages and mountains that plunge into the water, but without the crush, these alternatives offer the romantic atmosphere of Lario in places that are still silent.
Lago di Como in high season: → the alternatives below are far quieter.
Five lakes across Piedmont and Lombardy as an alternative to Lake Como: villages, hermitages and romantic itineraries without the crowds of Bellagio.
Very quiet Jun 29, 2026
On Lake Lugano stands the oldest Christian building in Switzerland: an octagonal baptistery fifteen centuries old, still little visited.
Very quiet Jun 23, 2026
Just steps from Bardolino's lakefront promenade, the church of San Severo reveals an early medieval crypt and a surprising cycle of Romanesque frescoes.
Very quiet Jun 23, 2026
The circuit of Lake Bolsena, in the Tuscia area of Viterbo: the largest volcanic lake in Europe, among stone villages, vineyards and two little islands. A slow, silent alternative to Lake Trasimeno, far from mass tourism, with clean waters and villages that still live on fishing and farming.
Very quiet Jun 30, 2026
High above Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia, the tiny church of San Giovanni a Kaneo frames one of the most serene, photogenic views in the Balkans.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026
Among Dolomite-like peaks, black pine forests and the deepest canyon in Europe, Durmitor offers Balkan high-mountain country without the queues of the Alps.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026
On the eastern shore of Lake Como, from Abbadia Lariana to Colico, an ancient mule track runs high above the water. While tour buses crowd into Bellagio and Varenna, here you walk among villages, olive trees, and near-silent terraces.
Very quiet Jun 30, 2026| Destination | Crowding | Recommended months | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Como Alternatives: 5 Quiet Lakes in Northern Italy | Very quiet | May, June, September and October | Italy |
| The Baptistery of Riva San Vitale: Fifth-Century Stone on the Shores of the Ceresio | Very quiet | April, May, June, September and October | Riva San Vitale |
| San Severo in Bardolino: the Romanesque church the lake never tells you about | Very quiet | April, May, June, September and October | Bardolino |
| The Lake Bolsena loop, among volcanic villages and islands | Very quiet | April, May and September | Tuscia |
| San Giovanni a Kaneo: the Cliffside Church Above Lake Ohrid | Very quiet | May, June, September and October | Ohrid |
| Durmitor, Balkan high mountains among black lakes and canyons | Very quiet | May, June, September and October | Žabljak |
| The Sentiero del Viandante on the Eastern Shore of Lake Como | Very quiet | April, May and October | Eastern shore of Lake Como |
Crowding goes from "almost empty" to "very crowded" on our index. Overtourism index