Dinner Cruise on Lake Como — Restaurant by Boat

There are restaurants on Lake Como where the valet parking is a pier. The dinner cruise — out by private boat at golden hour, dinner at a waterside table, home across a black-silver lake — is how the lake has done date night since before there were roads worth the name.

How it works

Your skipper collects you from your nearest pier in the early evening and cruises you to the restaurant — the journey is half the evening, timed so you see the villas in the last of the light. The boat waits (or returns for you) while you dine, then takes you home under the stars. The restaurant booking is made for you at a waterside table; you order à la carte and pay the restaurant directly for dinner, while the boat service is a fixed price agreed in advance. It is not a ferry with a set menu — it is your own water-taxi for the whole evening, with the lake's best tables at the end of it.

Real prices for 2026

Package	What it includes	Price 2026
Dinner transfer, central lake	Boat + skipper for the evening, hotel-pier pickup	€360–450 per group
Dinner transfer, long range	From Como or Lecco branch, longer cruise each way	€600–700 per group
Dinner on a classic wooden boat	Riva-style boat, champagne boarding	€840–1,000 per group
Rivale 52 dinner evening	Flagship Riva, hostess, full evening service	€6,360 per group

Boat prices are per group (up to 6–10 depending on boat) and exclude dinner itself — expect €70–120 per person à la carte at the restaurants below.

Where the boat can take you

The classic destination is Isola Comacina: the lake's only island hosts a restaurant famous for a fixed ritual dinner that has barely changed since 1947, ending with a fire ceremony to exorcise the island's 900-year-old bishop's curse — reachable only by boat, which is rather the point. On the western shore, the waterfront tables of Ossuccio and Lenno sit beneath Balbianello's headland; on the eastern side, Varenna's harbourside restaurants let you watch the last ferries cross. For full ceremony, the grand hotels of the Tremezzina serve dinner on terraces over the water with Bellagio lit up opposite. We match the restaurant to your budget, dietary needs and how far you want to cruise — and we book the table, because the pier-side spots go first.

What is included

• Private boat and skipper for the whole evening, typically 18:30–23:30
• Pickup and drop-off at your nearest workable pier
• Restaurant reservation at a waterside table, made on your behalf
• Blankets and covers for the night return; the lake after dark is cool even in August
• Flexible timing: linger over the amaro, the boat waits

When to book

The dinner season is May to September, when restaurants keep their waterside tables open late. Isola Comacina's dinner service runs from spring to early autumn and closes on its weekly rest day — tell us your date and we will confirm what is open. Book 2–3 weeks ahead in summer, more for Saturday nights; in May and September a week is often enough. Pair the evening with a sunset aperitif on the outward leg — the two experiences share the same golden hour, and combining them is the single most-booked upgrade we arrange.

Message us your date, group size and the style of evening you want — rustic island ritual or white-tablecloth terrace — and we will come back with the boat, the table and the price.