Como-Brunate Funicular

About this place

Seven minutes, five hundred metres of altitude. That is the whole of what the Como-Brunate funicular does, and it is a great deal more than it sounds: a line opened in 1894 that hauls itself up just over a kilometre of track (1,084 metres of it, for a rise of 496) on a gradient touching 55 per cent, steep enough that the carriage feels as though it is standing on its tail with you inside it. It is also one of the few sights on Lake Como that costs you no ferry and no hour of travel. The lower station sits on Piazza De Gasperi, a ten-minute walk along the waterfront from Piazza Cavour. Take the rear seat, the one facing downhill: the view opens behind you, not ahead. At the top you understand why they call Brunate the balcony of the Alps. The whole southwestern arm of the lake unfolds below: the terracotta roofs of Como, then the water bending away between two mountains, then small villages pinned to the far shore. On a clear day — and clear days here belong to early spring and autumn far more than to the hazy heart of summer — the western arc of the Alps opens out, the snow of Monte Rosa to the west, the Po plain and Milan's glass towers a thin line to the south. Timing your ride for the hour before sunset is worth rearranging the rest of the day around, and with the last car down at midnight nothing hurries you back. From the square outside the upper station a road climbs for twenty-five to thirty minutes to the Volta Lighthouse at San Maurizio, a 29-metre octagonal tower raised in 1927 for the centenary of Alessandro Volta's death, past Liberty-style villas left over from the years when Brunate was where wealthy Milanese summered. Know this before you set off, though: the tower has been shut to visitors since 2024. Como took back its management in April 2026 after a court ruling settled a long wrangle with the council of Brunate, and the city's mayor talks of reopening it for 2027, the bicentenary of Volta's death — but the restoration, put at around EUR 400,000, is still unfunded and there is no confirmed date. The walk is still a pleasant one and the views from around the tower are fine, but if you have children or tired knees, settle for the terrace by the upper station and a coffee. The difference is smaller than you would think. Practically: EUR 3.60 one way, EUR 7.20 return, under-fours free and a reduced fare up to age twelve (EUR 2.40 and EUR 4.80). It runs every single day from 6am to midnight — the last departure from either end is at 12.00 — with a car every 15 minutes, and every 12 between 7 and 9 in the morning. The long summer line spilling out of the station is the ticket window, not the boarding queue: buy a return at the bottom and walk past it. The line runs year round, though it shut from 12 January to 2 April 2026 for the five-yearly overhaul, with replacement buses standing in, and reopened on 3 April; those overhauls come round again, so check the operator before you build a winter itinerary on it. Food in Brunate is limited and dearer than it should be; eat in Como and come up for the view alone.