taxi boat varenna - day tours

It was raining so I stayed inside the boat from where I could hardly see anything. On arrival there was very little to do and to use a toilet I had to go to a café. I went to two cafes and service was so slow it took up all the time I was there. As for lovely views, well, I prefer the Lake District.

If you ever visit Lake Como then, take this tour from the village of Varena. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you Mr Luca for a wonderful tour of he magnificent Lake Como, Italy. This guy really knows how to take care of his charges. His delightful sense of humour and informative commentary added to the spectacular tour he gave us. Well worth the money we paid.Arndrae and Bobbie, Adelaide, South Australia

We were staying in Fiumelatte and contacted Luca by phone. We arranged a 1 hour trip and he picked us up at the little jetty in Fiumelatte just a few yards from our apartment.The trip was fantastic,Luca was very knowledgable and we had an enjoyable time.I strongly recommend Luca and his boat!!!

We took a water taxi tour of Lake Como and the Villa del Balianello. It was an enjoyable 2.5 hours for 55 €. Luca was a safe and friendly guide who was very funny. He knows a lot about Lake Como and made the trip very enjoyable. The Villa was used in the movies Casino Royale and Star Wars 2 and he showed us the scenes on board. He also showed us many attractions around the Lake. Fantastic! Carolyn and Michael, Australia

Thank you so much Luca for our tour of Lake Como, we thoroughly enjoyed visiting all the wonderful sights again, and finding out more about the history of the buildings. Highly recommend. Grazie mille

If you want a fantastic way to see the lake I recommend you give Luca a call. We did the 1 hour trip today and it was awesome. Tidy, clean and safe boat, piloted by a knowledgable and fun guy. Took us to some great sights, had a laugh and taught us a few things about the lake that none of the guide books show. Highly recommend this! Just a shame we couldn't get the 2.5 hour tour due to the weather.

We did the villa tour and had a blast. Great stories from Luca about the various buildings along the lake shore. Definitely worth it and we recommend this tour to anyone visiting Varenna

As with most villages around the lake, they all have their own feel. Mostly they are very picturesque. Varenna is a very small village with quite a lot of restaurants.

While staying in Tremezzo we purchased an 'on/off' day pass on the ferry between Tremezzo/Varenna/Menaggio/Bellagio/Lenno/Tremezzo. Our first stop was Varenna and we were completely taken aback by the beauty, buildings, friendliness of the locals and overall ambience of this little town. We could have spent the day there and in retrospect found it much more alluring than the ever busy and over priced Bellagio.We walked on the narrow road north of the harbour and came upon a farmers' market in a village square. If we return to Lake Como we will spend our time in this beautiful place.

We joined Luca for an hour long group tour at 5 pm. It was 30 euros each, but that was the set price even if others didn't join. We ended with 8 of us and we all fit comfortably in the boat. You could sit and look out the window or stand and enjoy the breeze. The tour along the shore was lovely. It was nice to see so many things (the milky river, beaches, villas) up close. Luca was friendly, accommodating and professional. We would highly recommend his services!

Luca was an excellent guide and we spent a lovely evening on Lake Como for around 50 euros in total. Good value, canapés and a bottle of bubbly on board. Be prepared for a little spray from the water!

My daughter and I were looking for a cruise boat that motored past all the famous villas on Lake Como, when we came across TaxiBoat tours. Luca was very accommodating. He had a shorter cruise booked for the afternoon but when we arrived just before 1pm, advised us he could fit in a two hour private trip taking in all the villas that we were interested in. As we set off, he told us a lot of the history of the area. As we approached Villa Balbianello (at Lenno), Luca showed us the villa as it appeared in Casino Royale and Star Wars (via his ipad). It was very pleasant cruising past each villa including Villa Melzi (at Bellagio), Villa La Cassinella (currently owned by Richard Branson), and at Laglio, George Clooney's Villa Oleandra and Villa Marguerita. We thoroughly enjoyed being serenaded by the music of Puccini along the way. A great afternoon on the lake and certainly one to be recommended!!

We (two of us) took the 16:00 hour mid-lake area tour and were the only one's that showed up that day. Luca took us out on this " private" tour at no extra charge. Luca is well spoken, humorous, professional and well informed about everything he shows you on the Lake. Really liked it when he took out the ipad to shows us clips from Star Wars and Casino Royale when we passed by Villa Balbianello where scenes from these movies where filmed. Boat is very comfortable and Luca has free bottled water on board should you need it. There are usb/phone charging cables on the boat so you can enjoy the cruise and charge your gadgets at the same time. Price was very reasonable. A really great afternoon. Thank you Luca for your great hospitality! Great way to see the sights up close as opposed to seeing the from the Ferry.

We spent five days staying at Cadenabbia-Griante Lake Como, and spent time travelling on the ferries on the lake to visit other towns on the lake. We were enjoying a walk around Varenna and were planning to go to Bellano by ferry, when we saw TaxiBoat signage and description of tours that they do. We spoke with Mr Luca a delightful young man operating the TaxiBoat and said that we were planning a visit to Bellano, he suggested that we do a tour on the lake with commentary and he would drop us at Bellano which meant we could spend some time exploring there for a couple of hours before the next regular ferry service was due. Luca had a very good sense of humour and his English is good as he gave a very informative commentary of places along Lake Como, the weather was perfect and the boat was very comfortable,even given a chance to steer the boat! We were not long into the trip when we heard music being played to my delight it was Andrea Bocelli! Luca turned and said I hope you like the music, my husband and I really enjoy Andrea Bocelli singing so our hearts soared as the music was played through high quality speakers, I will always remember that boat trip, Grazie Mille Luca!