Long before wellness retreats and fitness influencers made „movement“ a lifestyle buzzword, Lake Como’s elite were already living it. Tennis courts appeared in the grand hotels lining the shores back in the early 1900s, arriving alongside the same crowd that brought motor yachts, seaplane races, and championship golf to this stretch of water. The sport has never really left, and more than a century later it remains one of the most enjoyable ways to spend a morning here. There is something about this landscape, ringed by mountains and dotted with centuries-old villas, that turns a simple match into a small ritual rather than just another item on the workout schedule.

Como’s relationship with tennis goes back further than most visitors realize. As the sport swept through European high society in the early twentieth century, hotels from Venice to the French Riviera to St. Moritz rushed to build courts of their own, and Lake Como was no exception. Grass courts appeared at some of the lake’s grand hotels well before dedicated tennis clubs existed in the area, and the sport quickly became part of the same social fabric as golf, sailing, and lakeside dining. Decades later, that tradition is still visible in the clay courts tucked into terraced gardens and the public clubs that now host professional tournaments each year.

The Health Case for Playing Tennis on Vacation

Beyond the historical charm, tennis has a genuinely strong case as one of the healthiest sports you can pick up while traveling. Unlike a solo run or an hour on a hotel treadmill, tennis asks your whole body and your brain to work at the same time, which is part of why sports scientists keep coming back to it as a model activity for long-term health.

A Full-Body Workout Without Feeling Like One

A single set of tennis moves you through sprints, lateral steps, sudden stops, and rotational swings, engaging your legs, core, and upper body in a way that few other sports manage. It builds cardiovascular endurance the way running does, but it also improves agility, balance, and coordination because every point demands a different kind of movement. Because the game itself is the point, rather than the workout, an hour on the court tends to fly by in a way that an hour on a stationary bike rarely does.

The Mental Side of the Game

Tennis is often described as physical chess, and that is not far off. Every point requires reading your opponent, adjusting your position, and making split-second decisions about pace, spin, and placement. That constant problem-solving keeps the mind as engaged as the body, and it is one reason tennis is frequently cited alongside other racquet sports in research on cognitive health and reaction time. A morning spent this way tends to leave you feeling sharper, not just more tired.

Why Racquet Sports Keep Coming Out on Top

Several long-term population studies on exercise and longevity have found that racquet sports, tennis included, are associated with lower cardiovascular risk and longer life expectancy compared to many other forms of exercise, including cycling, swimming, or jogging on their own. The leading theory is not that tennis works some unique physiological magic, but that it combines cardiovascular effort, social interaction, and mental engagement in a single package, and that combination appears to matter for long-term health outcomes. In other words, the social match you play on vacation may be doing more for you than a solo workout back home.

The Social Dimension

Playing with a partner or in doubles adds a layer that solitary exercise cannot replicate. There is conversation between points, friendly competition, and the shared experience of a good rally or a well-earned rest afterward. For couples or groups of friends traveling together, a match is also simply a nice way to spend time together that is not a meal or a museum visit, and it tends to produce its own stories by the end of the trip.

The Health Benefits at a Glance

• Cardiovascular fitness: constant sprinting and rallying raises your heart rate the way running or cycling does
• Full-body strength: legs, core, shoulders, and arms are all engaged with every swing and step
• Agility and balance: quick direction changes improve coordination in a way steady-state cardio does not
• Mental sharpness: constant tactical decisions keep reaction time and focus engaged throughout the match
• Longevity: population studies link racquet sports to lower cardiovascular risk than many solo workouts
• Social connection: doubles and casual matches add a shared, low-pressure way to spend time together

A Gentle Way to Start the Day

There is also a practical argument for building tennis into a Lake Como itinerary: it is a wonderfully civilized way to open a day that will otherwise be spent villa-hopping, boating, or sitting through long lunches. A light match in the cooler hours of the morning, followed by an espresso lakeside, sets a rhythm that suits the pace of this part of Italy far better than a rushed gym session ever could. Given all of this, it is easy to see why tennis has remained part of the Como travel tradition for well over a century, and why it is worth setting aside a morning for during your own stay.

The Best Places to Play Tennis on Lake Como

If you want to pick up a racquet during your stay, Lake Como makes it refreshingly easy. The region blends a storied public club with a handful of exceptional hotel courts, so there is an option whether you are training seriously, brushing up on technique, or simply want to hit a few balls with a view that makes it hard to concentrate on the score.

Tennis Como, Villa Olmo

The most storied public option sits inside the gardens of Villa Olmo, a neoclassical villa dating to the early 1800s that stands directly on the water just north of Como town. The club maintains five courts opening onto the lake, and three of them are covered, which means play can continue through the cooler months without interruption. You do not need to be a member to book a court; a quick registration through the club’s website is all it takes to reserve a slot. Tennis Como also hosts an annual ATP Challenger tournament, the „Città di Como,“ which draws a competitive field and gives the club a level of prestige that goes well beyond a typical public facility. For visitors who want a proper match on courts with real pedigree, it is the natural starting point.

Hotel Courts Along the Shore

Several of the historic grand hotels around the lake maintain their own courts, a tradition that dates back to the early twentieth century when tennis first became fashionable among European high society, spreading through the same grand hotel circuit that connected Como to Venice, Monte Carlo, and St. Moritz. Some of these properties opened their courts as early as 1910, decades before purpose-built tennis clubs arrived in the area at all.

Today, expect clay surfaces set into terraced gardens, framed by mature trees, jasmine-covered pergolas, or lawns cut close enough to the shoreline that the lake seems to lap at the edge of the court. A few properties have gone so far as to shape their surrounding hedges and plantings specifically to preserve sightlines to the water and the mountains beyond, so the view stays part of the game from the first serve to the last point. These courts are typically reserved for hotel guests rather than open to the public, so if a match against that kind of backdrop matters to your trip, it is worth factoring into where you choose to stay rather than treating it as an afterthought once you arrive.

After a match at one of these properties, the usual next stop is the pool or a light lunch nearby, whether that means a simple club sandwich and a smoothie at a poolside restaurant or something more elaborate back at the hotel itself. It is a rhythm that has clearly worked for well over a century of visitors, and it still holds up.

Venue	Surface	Access	Best For
Tennis Como, Villa Olmo	Clay (5 courts, 3 covered)	Public, online booking	Competitive play, year-round matches
Historic hotel courts	Mostly clay, some former grass courts	Hotel guests only	Scenic, low-key matches with lake views
Golf Club Menaggio & Cadenabbia	Grass (golf course)	Guests and visitors, tee time booking	Pairing tennis with a round of golf

Golf Club Menaggio & Cadenabbia

Not a tennis venue, but worth a mention for anyone building a full sporting itinerary around the lake. Founded in 1907 by a group of English visitors who had fallen for the area, it is Italy’s second-oldest golf club and remains one of the most celebrated stops for five-star travelers today. The course itself is genuinely demanding, but the scenery more than compensates for a bad swing, and the lakeside restaurant is a fine place to recover afterward. If you are curious about combining a round of golf with your tennis and want to see how the course compares to the rest of the region, our complete guide to the golf courses near Lake Como covers all ten courses in the area, including Menaggio & Cadenabbia.

Building a Full Day Around It

A morning on the court pairs naturally with an afternoon on the water, and this is where a Lake Como trip really starts to feel different from a typical city break. Many visitors combine a tennis session with a private boat trip to see the villas from the water, an angle that reveals a completely different side of the lake than the road ever does. Gardens that look modest from the shore suddenly read as grand when seen from a boat drifting past, and the light on the water in the late afternoon is reason enough on its own to get out on the lake at least once during your stay.

If that appeals to you, our guide to yacht charters on Lake Como walks through the full range of options, from a short few hours out on the water to a full-day charter with stops for lunch and swimming along the way. Pairing a morning match with an afternoon on a boat is, honestly, one of the more satisfying combinations you can build into a single day here, and it requires very little planning once you know where to book.

A simple day plan might look like this:

1. Morning: a match at Tennis Como or your hotel’s court, ideally before the midday heat sets in
2. Midday: lunch lakeside, or a swim and light refreshments by the pool
3. Afternoon: a private boat trip along the shore to see the villas and gardens from the water
4. Evening: dinner with a view, or a round of golf the following morning if you have time

One practical note before you land: court bookings, restaurant reservations, and boat charters all tend to run through apps, websites, or WhatsApp confirmations these days rather than phone calls or walk-ins, so it is worth sorting out your connectivity before you arrive rather than scrambling for hotel WiFi on the first morning. Our breakdown of staying connected with an eSIM explains how to get set up before you even land in Italy, which makes booking a last-minute court or confirming a charter far less stressful once you are actually on the ground.

A Tradition Worth Continuing

Lake Como has always been a place where visitors did not just come to look, they came to participate. The same crowd that turned up to watch seaplane races in the early twentieth century or cheer on motorboats in the Centomiglia del Lario was just as likely to be found on a tennis court or a golf course the next morning, dressed for the part and treating the whole thing as a shared social ritual as much as a sport. That instinct has not really changed. Modern visitors may arrive with different luggage and different expectations, but the appeal of stepping onto a court with a lake view and a few hours to spare is exactly the same as it was a hundred years ago.

Whether you play a competitive set at Tennis Como, book a lesson at one of the historic hotel courts, or simply rally for twenty minutes before breakfast, tennis remains one of the most enjoyable, healthy, and quietly glamorous ways to spend an hour on Lake Como. Combine it with a boat trip in the afternoon and a round of golf later in the week, and you have the makings of a trip that moves at exactly the pace this part of Italy was built for.