It happens all the time: a free afternoon between two trains, a half-day stop inside a longer trip, a Sunday that starts late. The good news is that the best of this area is not spread over fifty kilometres of shoreline — it is stacked vertically above the town, and you can do it in half a day without rushing. Four verbs, in order: go up, look, eat, come down.
Before you go up: ten minutes on the water
If time is genuinely short, the waterfront takes ten minutes on foot with a single stop. Walk towards Piazza Cavour and carry on along the Diga Foranea, the breakwater that closes the first basin of the lake, out to the stainless steel sculpture planted in open water: The Life Electric by Daniel Libeskind, unveiled on 2 October 2015, 29 tonnes, two sine curves that are the initials of Alessandro Volta and, at the same time, a drawing of the tension between the two poles of the battery. He did not make it: it was built in his memory, almost two centuries later.
From there, turn your back on the water and look up. Above the town’s roofline, on the ridge, there is a white tower. In an hour you will be standing on it. The Tempio Voltiano — Federico Frigerio‘s rotunda, built between 1925 and 1927, opened on 15 July 1928, holding Volta’s original instruments — deserves at least forty unhurried minutes: if you do not have them, save it for next time without guilt.
Go up: seven minutes, since 1894
The lower station is in Piazza De Gasperi, at the eastern end of the promenade. The Como-Brunate funicular was inaugurated on 11 November 1894 and makes the climb in seven minutes. Stand against the rear window rather than sitting down: the scene that matters is behind you, and it is the lake opening out in jumps as you rise — roofs first, then the cathedral dome, then the entire first basin, then the Como branch running north between the mountains. Timetables and frequencies are in our complete guide to the Como-Brunate funicular.
When the doors open, the air is the first thing you notice: drier, stiller, and the noise of the city is simply gone.
Look: the lighthouse terrace, 360 degrees
From the upper station to the lighthouse it is about 1.8 kilometres with 200 metres of ascent, along the old mule track to the hamlet of San Maurizio, past the iron gates of the Liberty villas built after 1894. It is a steady climb rather than a steep one: closed shoes and water are enough.
On the summit of Monte Tre Croci, at about 900 metres above sea level, stands the Faro Voltiano, an octagonal tower 29 metres tall, designed by the engineer Gabriele Giussani and inaugurated on 8 September 1927 — a hundred years before 2027, the same year as the bicentenary of Volta’s death, marked by the 200VOLTeVOLTA programme. The outdoor terrace at the base of the tower is always accessible and free of charge, and it is the highest 360-degree viewpoint in the area. That is what you climb for.
Take the horizon slowly; it is five well-spent minutes. The Como branch of the lake between rock walls. The Orobie and Lepontine Alps stepping back to Monte Rosa. Then the clean break where the mountains end and the Po Valley begins — and on clear days, out in that flatness, the gold pinpoint of the Madonnina on Milan Cathedral. After dark the lantern turns white, red and green, visible up to 40 kilometres away. If the village interests you beyond the tower, read the Volta Lighthouse and San Maurizio.
Eat: about 200 metres further on
From that terrace to our table is about 200 metres. That is why this works as a half day at all: you do not have to walk back into the village to eat, you go round the corner.
And there is a coincidence worth knowing as you sit down. According to the FAI, Alessandro Volta spent the first thirty months of his life in Brunate, in the care of a wet nurse. Lunch happens where he began. The terrace at MamaGina Brunate opens onto 180 degrees of lake, and when time is short the choice is short and correct: Spaghetti MamaGina, or the Lasagna MamaGina, and the Mega Tiramisù split two ways. An hour and a half at the table still fits inside a half day.
Come down: and finish in the town
The descent is another seven minutes, and it is the better half of the ride: the lake does not widen, it comes at you, and the lights of Como switch on in batches as you go. For the right hour to do it, where to watch the sunset in Brunate is the short answer; if you come down after dark, the funicular at night describes exactly what that is like.
Do not head straight for the train. Give the last twenty minutes to the old town inside its medieval walls: Piazza Duomo and the cathedral, the Broletto beside it striped in white, grey and red marble, the arcades of Via Vittorio Emanuele, and Piazza Cavour open onto the water. Stop there, turn towards the mountain and look up. Above the village roofline a point of light is going round: white, red, green. You had lunch up there. Half a day, and something you actually remember.
The half-day route, step by step
Half a day on the Volta triptych: seven minutes of funicular and a 360-degree view. 7-minute funicular ride · 1.8 km walk with 200 m of ascent · 30-45 minutes on the terrace · about 200 metres from the lighthouse to the restaurant · the same road back down on foot · half a day door to door from Como’s lower station, without rushing.
Most people with half a day in Como spend it in the old town, without knowing that a seven-minute funicular ride away sits the highest 360-degree viewpoint in the area. This route is built for travellers who arrive in Como in the morning and leave in the afternoon: one climb, one descent, one long lunch in between.
10.30 — the funicular. You board at Como’s lower station and reach Brunate in 7 minutes. The line has been running since 11 November 1894 and has done the same job for a hundred and thirty years: moving people from a lakefront to a balcony without making them walk 200 metres of ascent. Sit on the right-hand side going up — that is the side facing the city as it shrinks.
10.45 — the climb. From the upper station to the Faro Voltiano it is about 1.8 kilometres of tarmac road with 200 metres of ascent, a steady climb; with small children, take it slowly. Nothing is exposed and no equipment is needed, just closed shoes. The road runs past Brunate’s Liberty-era villas, then narrows through woodland towards the San Maurizio district.
11.30 — the terrace. The Faro Voltiano is a 29-metre octagonal tower inaugurated on 8 September 1927, designed by the engineer Gabriele Giussani for the first centenary of Alessandro Volta’s death. The open terrace at its base is free and unrestricted, and the view is already complete from there: the Como branch of the lake, the Orobie and Lepontine Alps as far as Monte Rosa, the Po Valley, and on clear days the Madonnina on top of Milan Cathedral. Allow forty-five minutes — the first fifteen go on simply working out what you are looking at.
12.30 — lunch, about 200 metres away. From the lighthouse terrace to MamaGina Brunate is about 200 metres, downhill. It is the closest place to sit down that exists up here, and our terrace opens the same lake across 180 degrees — the difference being that here you are sitting. On the table: Spaghetti MamaGina, Lasagna MamaGina and, if the afternoon is in no hurry, the Mega Tiramisù, which is built to be shared by two.
14.30 — going down. You walk back to the upper station by the same road, all downhill, and you are on Como’s lakefront 7 minutes later. If two hours are left, the Diga Foranea breakwater with Daniel Libeskind’s The Life Electric is a short walk from the centre: it closes the triptych with the second of the three works, the one standing on water.
Frequently asked questions
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. The 1894 funicular is the part that wins them over: seven minutes with the lake widening behind the glass. The mule track to San Maurizio is a steady 200-metre climb over 1.8 kilometres – closed shoes are enough, no equipment needed.
What is the best time of day?
Go up mid-morning and come down as the light turns. The outdoor terrace at the base of the lighthouse, always accessible and free, is at its best in the last hour of daylight; after dark the lantern turns white, red and green, visible up to 40 kilometres.