The longest trip in the series: a free overnight at a friend's place in Belfort each way turns an 800km reach into two manageable legs. Remote-work Friday from Belfort, then over the Alps into Switzerland and down to Bellagio/Varenna for two full lake days.
Lake Como is the trip in this series that needs the free-stopover trick the most. Driving straight from Meudon-la-Forêt is 482 miles / ~776 km, ~8h47m door to door via the western route through Switzerland or the Fréjus/Mont Blanc corridor — too far for one push in a Model Y Premium with a realistic 330–370 km buffer. Splitting it at your friend's place in Belfort instead breaks the trip into a 419 km opener and a 367 km closer, and Belfort turns out to be the better of the two waypoints: driving from Belfort to Como is 367 km / ~3h55m, noticeably shorter than the 424 km / ~4h58m from Besançon — because the Belfort route feeds straight onto the Basel–Gotthard–Bellinzona–Chiasso corridor into Como with less backtracking. (Rome2Rio route data, drive option, checked live.)
The payoff at the other end: Bellagio and Varenna sit at the point where Lake Como's inverted-Y splits, with lidos, ferries between the three showcase towns (Bellagio–Varenna–Menaggio), and two of the most famous botanical villa gardens in Italy a short hop apart.
The Belfort–Como leg runs through Switzerland via Basel and the Gotthard corridor down to Bellinzona and Chiasso. Swiss motorways require the annual vignette sticker (or the e-vignette) — a flat CHF 40 (≈€43), valid from 1 December of the preceding year through 31 January of the year after, regardless of how many days you actually drive on Swiss motorways. Buy it online in advance (e-vignette, linked to your plate) or at a border fuel station — don't skip it, fines for driving without one are steep.
Bikes loaded inside with the front wheel off — no range penalty, no rack needed. Arrive Belfort late evening, free night at your friend's.
Full remote workday from Belfort. Free night again — this is the day that makes the whole trip feasible without burning a vacation day on pure driving.
Early start — this is the big alpine leg. Fuel up the coffee, buy the vignette before the first Swiss motorway on-ramp if you haven't pre-bought the e-vignette. Arrive Como/Varenna area by mid-afternoon. First swim, wander the lakefront, settle in.
Ferry day. From Varenna or Menaggio, cross to Bellagio for the Giardini di Villa Melzi d'Eril — lakefront botanical garden, chapel and small museum, right at the point where the lake splits. Real 2026 price: €10 single-day ticket (€14 for a 2-day-or-more pass, free under 11, no booking needed). Continue on to Tremezzo for Villa Carlotta's terraced botanical gardens and Canova sculptures if you have the legs for a second villa. Swim at a public lido — Lake Como is dotted with them; Varenna's small lakefront beach and the Como-town Lido di Villa Olmo are the best-known options. Splurge dinner tonight: missultino (missoltino) — sun-dried lake shad, the genuine Lake Como/Lecco specialty, traditionally served with polenta at a lakeside trattoria, realistically €18–25 for a main.
Morning swim and a slow coffee before the drive back. Retrace the route via Chiasso–Bellinzona–Gotthard–Basel. Arrive Belfort by evening — free night at your friend's again.
Home in time for Wednesday.
Bike travels inside the Model Y with the front wheel removed, exactly as described in the Car Camping, Food & Bike Guide — no roof or hitch rack, no aerodynamic range penalty on a trip where every kilometre of real-world range matters. The Lake Como Greenway (~6.4 km, mostly lakefront, best joined at Lenno or Tremezzo) is the obvious easy ride; more ambitious riders use the lakeside roads between Menaggio, Bellagio and Varenna, though the west shore in particular is narrow, tunnel-heavy and shared with a lot of motorcycle traffic — ride defensively.
| Category | How it's calculated | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tolls (French autoroutes, both legs) | Meudon↔Belfort round trip, ~838 km on French toll roads | ≈ €70–80 |
| Swiss vignette | CHF 40 flat fee, valid 14 months — one purchase covers both crossings | ≈ €43 |
| Italian autostrada (Chiasso–Como stretch) | Short paid stretch each way | ≈ €6–10 |
| Charging | ~1,572 km round trip × ~0.17 kWh/km (no rack penalty, bike inside) ≈ 267 kWh × ~€0.40/kWh | ≈ €107 |
| Lodging | 4 free nights (Belfort ×2, Sorico free area ×2) — or swap one Como night for the paid Domaso-area campsite (~€35) for a shower | €0–35 |
| Groceries + 1 missultino dinner | Self-cooked days (~€10–12/day) + splurge dinner ~€22 | ≈ €60–70 |
| Villa Melzi gardens | Confirmed 2026 price, single-day ticket | €10 |
| Ferry (Varenna↔Bellagio↔Menaggio) + misc (lido entry, parking) | Short hops on the Gestione Navigazione Laghi network + a lido day | ≈ €25–35 |
| Total (mostly free lodging) | €330–380 | |