Leisurely Life on Lago di Como

We arrived on Lake Como from Milan after several days of crushing heat and I barely wanted to sleep and miss a minute of watching the sun and clouds, moon and village lights, rain and storms paint a perfect picture from every point of view from our Airbnb. As we drove north down winding roads and through impressive tunnels carved into mountain sides along the lakeshore dotted with Italians strutting street side in bathing suits, we knew we’d arrived someplace special. Wow, had we.

The more frenetic fast pace sometimes associated with other parts of Italy seems completely absent here. Everyone seems to slow to the same speed: one of leisure and lingering. The high mountain peaks of the Grigna, Legnone and Resegone mountains tumble into the lake providing an imposing wall protecting it and its picturesque and charming villages and keeping out the stressors and forces of daily life.

Bellagio. On our first full day, we hopped the ferry from Menaggio to Bellagio. The ferry system is excellent and inexpensive. They run about hourly and many are short jaunts across the lake. Whilst en route, I looked up restaurants near the ferry terminal and found Dispensa 63 to be the best rated. Having no reservation, we high tailed it off the ferry and directly up one of the small narrow alleyways to its steps to score the last unreserved seats for about an hour. This was all a lucky happening.

An Argentinian chef was serving up a reasonably priced price-fixe menu for lunch served all at once on cute little trays. Literally every bite was delicious and the staff and chef were gracious and lovely. Don’t miss checking out the cool, deep well in the restroom if you go.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the narrow streets and up over the hill and back around before arriving back at the port late afternoon for our return ferry trip. We visited the Basilica of Saint Giacomo and poked and peered into the shops of Salita Serbelloni before our departure back to Menaggio.

Varenna. On our second day of exploring (after a day of wandering around our own town and just chilling at our house watching rain and thunderstorms roll across the lake pushing out the heat and humidity) we headed back to Menaggio to catch the ferry straight across to Varenna.

A few weeks before departing Portugal, I’d called to make a reservation at Osteria Quatro Pass. As I spelled out my very non-Italian last name to the hostess and said R, like Riccardo, I, like Indigo we realized (somewhat simultaneously but without discussing it) that just leaving the table reserved under Riccardo would be much easier, so despite my very English-Irish-Scottish Americano looks, Riccardo I was to be for the day.

We spent about an hour and a half wandering around the town’s lakeshore and up its narrow alleyways, poking into shops and out on to piazzas. We fell for the “romantic view 200 steps away” sign and then elected to pay the €10 admission to the Hotel Villa Cipressi botanical gardens, which was not a mistake. Because you have to pay to get in, it thinned the crowd (which wasn’t crushing in the first place) and was a lovely place to wander around among magnolias, camellias, azaleas and hydrangeas and admire the photo shoots and selfie takings.

After a short sit in the courtyard, we headed back to our reserved lunch and there he was “Riccardo” on the books at 1pm. It was totally worth it from salad starter, straight through the lamb bolognese and the blackened tuna to the after-lunch cappuccino.

Pulling away on the quick ferry back across to Menaggio with our final up-close glimpses of Varenna, we determined it was our preference over Bellagio.

Menaggio. Menaggio is a great jumping off point, with several hotels and restaurants, a charming little main square and waterfront and the convenience of an easy walk to the ferry terminal which can take you all over the lake, it is likely (though unconfirmed) a less expensive but still lovely option to experience Lake Como. And if you do visit or stay, check out the little wine shop La Bottega del Vino where the sommelier offers tastings or just expertly cultivated advice for your purchase.

Villa Carlotta. We also visited Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo. The villa was built in the late 17th century by Marquis Giorgio Clerici of Milan and was sold in 1801 to Giovanni Battista Sommariva who enjoyed an opulent lifestyle and collected many of the artworks. Your ticket includes time to wander about the botanical gardens and the museum in the old mansion filled with art works, some originals some reproductions, and the audio guide is “narrated” by the daughter of Princess Marianne of Prussia, the third family who owned the villa.

The cafeteria on-site provides delicious and cost-effective paninis and salads as well as some larger dishes and some fantastic looking desserts.

Cruising the Lake. Of course, getting out on the lake is a must and we chose an Airbnb experience with Vlad to charter our boat out of Tremezzo. Our cruise was to be in the late afternoon on the day of our visit to Villa Carlotta but it was too windy to be pleasant, so Vlad moved us to our final morning before we rolled out of town and over the hills to Switzerland and then south.

We arrived earlier than the appointed time since we were the high maintenance ones who wanted to go out at 10:30 vs noon. It was a relatively nondescript dock and a lot more people were queuing up than we expected but we just assumed maybe Vlad had to merge a couple of groups together to accommodate the reschedule. When the catamaran arrived, we were puzzled but almost got on until I asked the captain if he was Vlad and confirmed he was not. We stayed on dock and turned to see our boat, the size we expected with a group size we expected just off the dock being captained by not a Vlad but by a Katia (Vlad’s Ukrainian wife) with a puzzled look on her face as to why her guests almost got on the wrong boat.

Safely aboard the correct vessel with the correct captain, we set off to explore the Italian villas along the shores of Lake Como for about 90 minutes. We went with two lovely young ladies from Los Angeles visiting Lake Como for a friend’s wedding with whom we swapped stories, talked about travel, admired villas and sipped white wine in the, sometimes large, wakes of ferries and larger boats.

It was a perfect cap to our five days on Lake Como and we’d recommend Vlad and Katia (the ones without the catamaran) if you’re looking for something similar. Here is their website. And, we did see the catamaran once more, and for the record, they didn’t look like they were having as much fun as we had.

Rezzonico. We stayed in Rezzonico which you won’t find on many must-visit lists but that’s a mistake. Our Airbnb host and his wife were two of the most incredibly kind humans on earth. They had converted his boyhood home into three apartments and their stylishly decorated “castle loft” offered us views of the lake and villages across and south that we will dream about for years to come.

The village isn’t large, but felt like home. Charming and helpful locals cast “buon giornos” our way like we belonged. The narrow alleys open to lakeshore or piazzas. The two local beaches offered ample opportunities to dive into the refreshing waters of Como on hot days and every day we watched the sun come up over sailboats or kitesurfers and go down like a slow-play movie until the village lights came up with the rising moon. If there is heaven on earth, this is certainly one of the places where it exists.