Como sits at the southern tip of the western arm of Lake Como, with steep mountains rising straight from the water, and the town has been a place of passage for two thousand years. The Romans founded it, and Pliny the Younger was born here. Alessandro Volta, who invented the electric battery, was born in Como in 1745, and a temple on the lakeshore holds his instruments. The city's silk industry, which once supplied much of Europe, gave it a wealth that shows in the grand villas along the shore.
At the heart of town stands the cathedral, built over four centuries, with a marble facade in Gothic and Renaissance style. A funicular opened in 1894 climbs steeply from the lakeside to Brunate, a hill village with views across the lake to the Alps. The lakefront promenade is a favourite for evening strolls, with boats arriving and leaving and the water shimmering in the late light. Lake Como itself is shaped like an upside-down Y, and the arm to the east, around Lecco, is quieter and wilder.
The day's gate leads to the Ghisallo ridge, a gentle rise above the lake with a small chapel, the Madonna del Ghisallo, adopted as the patron of cyclists, and a museum of cycling history beside it. On a weekend you will see lines of cyclists, and motorcyclists gather as well. The roads climbing from the lake wind through woodland and old villages, with narrow bends and good views, though the surface can be patchy, and traffic on the lake road toward Bellagio is heavy in summer, with buses and delivery vans. Go early or on a weekday.
Fuel is available around Como, and the town has cafés and gelaterias in good number, with restricted traffic zones in the centre that you should avoid on a bike. Parking is easier outside the old town. Autumn is lovely, with clear light and fewer visitors, though the mountains can hold mist.