Milan to Lake Como and Back: A GT Day Loop Through Lombardy's Best Tarmac
This route starts from a quiet Porta Nuova handover before morning traffic builds, threads north on the A9 to Como, then follows the SP583 lakeside road where the driving actually begins. Plan for a full day — roughly 200 km round trip — and choose a weekday if you can. Weekend traffic on the lakeside stretch between Cernobbio and Bellagio turns a flowing drive into a procession.
From the port outwards
- 01
Porta Nuova — Vehicle Collection, Early Morning
We arrange kerbside handover near the CityLife or Porta Nuova towers before 07:30, when the business district is still quiet and Area C cameras are easy to avoid on exit. The Ferrari Roma Spider or a BMW 430i Cabrio both suit this route well — the Roma for the lakeside tunnels, the 430i if you want four seats and a less conspicuous profile for village stops. Confirm your handover slot the evening before; fashion week or Salone weeks can shift logistics significantly. Head northwest toward the A9 — you'll clear the Milan ring road in under twenty minutes at this hour.
- 02
Cernobbio to Argegno — SP583 Lakeside, Mid-Morning
Exit the A9 at Como Nord and pick up the SP583 heading along the western shore. This is the stretch that justifies the whole day: single-lane tunnels carved into rock, tight switchbacks opening to sudden lake views, and short straight sections where a GT's mid-range torque actually matters. Between Cernobbio and Argegno — roughly 15 km — the road narrows through Brienno and Laglio. Drive alert: oncoming coaches use every centimetre of their lane. There's a small parking area just past Argegno's ferry dock if you want to stop and reset before continuing north.
- 03
Bellagio — Lunch and the Promontory, Early Afternoon
Continue on the SP583 through Menaggio, then take the ferry across to Bellagio — or drive the longer eastern route via Lecco if you'd rather keep the wheel. Bellagio sits on the promontory where the lake splits into its two southern arms. Park in the signposted lot below the village centre; street parking for anything wider than a sedan is unrealistic. Lunch at one of the terraced restaurants along the waterfront, then walk the steep lanes up to Punta Spartivento for a clear sightline down both branches of the lake. Allow at least ninety minutes here — rushing Bellagio defeats the purpose.
- 04
Return via Lecco and the A4 — Late Afternoon
Rather than retracing the western shore, take the SS36 south from Lecco back toward Milan. It's faster, less scenic, and that's the point — by late afternoon the SP583 fills with return traffic and the tunnels become tedious in both directions. The SS36 feeds directly onto the tangenziale, giving you a clean run back to the city. If you're returning the car to Malpensa instead of central Milan, peel off onto the A8 west of Monza — we can arrange a terminal-side collection at MXP so you avoid parking fees entirely. Full-tank return is expected; the last reliable fuel stop is the Agip station at the Lecco junction before the autostrada.
About Milan
Milan sits at the centre of northern Italy's best road network — and the car you choose changes everything. A Ferrari Roma Spider on the SP583 lakeside road toward Bellagio feels entirely different from a BMW X7 carrying a family through the Franciacorta vineyards or an Audi RS6 covering the autostrada to Bolzano. We match vehicles to routes and purpose, whether that means a convertible for a weekend Como loop departing early on a weekday morning, or a Maybach S580 with chauffeur for a Malpensa arrival feeding into a week of meetings around Porta Nuova. Every booking includes a clear deposit briefing before you confirm, and we document cross-border terms upfront for clients continuing to St. Moritz or the Dolomites — no ambiguity at the Swiss border.
Handover logistics matter as much as the car itself. We deliver to Milan hotels, private residences, Linate, Malpensa and suburban meeting points, routing around Area C camera zones so you never deal with congestion-charge complications on collection day. For coastal and corniche routes south toward the Ligurian Riviera, we can brief you on road profiles suited to low-slung GTs versus higher-clearance SUVs — practical detail that prevents an expensive misjudgement on tight coastal switchbacks. The fleet covers convertibles, supercars, luxury sedans, SUVs and electric options across seventy-one vehicles, so whether you need a discreet executive sedan for a single airport transfer or a Lamborghini Urus for a ten-day itinerary through Lombardy and beyond, the selection and the logistics are built to fit.