Lake Como Cooking Classes
A Lake Como cooking class is fresh pasta or pizza made in a home kitchen or on a terrace above the water in Varenna, Bellagio or Como, eaten with wine as the ferries go by. Compare the top-rated classes below, then read our notes on the towns and the formats.
Where: Varenna for home classes with local hosts, the easiest to reach from Milan by train; Bellagio for terrace classes with the view; Como and Bellano for classes near the station and the pier.
What you cook: ravioli or tagliatelle by hand, gnocchi, pizza in a wood-fired oven, tiramisù, and sometimes a lake dish such as risotto with perch.
Price and time: roughly 100 to 110 dollars for a three-hour home class; 250 to 320 for a private terrace class in Bellagio.
Varenna home classes
Varenna has its own station on the Milan to Tirano line, about an hour from the city, and a cluster of home cooks who host small classes: ravioli with a seasonal filling, a ribbon pasta, tiramisù, and lunch or dinner together with wine. They are the best-reviewed classes on the lake and the cheapest, and the ferry to Bellagio is a quarter of an hour away for the afternoon.
Bellagio terraces
Bellagio’s classes trade on the setting: a panoramic terrace or a villa kitchen, a small or private group, and a menu that runs to three courses with wine. They cost two to three times the home classes and the reviews say the view is worth it. Book early in summer.
Como and Bellano
Como has pizza and pasta classes a short walk from the station and the pier, practical for day-trippers; Bellano, between Varenna and the top of the lake, has a ravioli class in a quieter village.
Frequently asked questions
Which Lake Como cooking class is best from Milan?
Varenna: an hour by direct train, the class is a short walk from the station, and you can ferry to Bellagio afterwards.
Are Lake Como classes hands-on?
The home and terrace classes we list are; you make the pasta and the sauce yourself.
Do classes include a meal?
Yes; you eat what you cook, with wine, and it replaces lunch or dinner.
Read next: Lake Como: Varenna or Bellagio?
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.