A Week in Lake Como, Italy

I am recently home from a wonderful week in northern Italy (a short stop in Milan, a day trip into Switzerland, and the rest of the time spent in Lake Como). This has to have been one of the most enjoyable vacations of my life! It was a trip taken with my dear friend, Anne, and since returning home, we both feel like it is our duty to convince everyone we know to take the same vacation! Our trip and itinerary were really wonderful, so I'm recording it here in case I ever get to go back, but also to share with anyone researching vacation options in Lake Como!

We traveled in mid-October, which is considered the "shoulder season" (no longer the high tourist season but not yet the off season, which officially begins in November). Rain is always a possibility in October, but we had good weather most days (sometimes overcast and sometimes partly cloudy) and pleasant temperatures.

Day 1. Depart USA to Milan.

Day 2. Arrive in Milan early in the morning. Take train from Malpensa airport to Milano Central Railway Station. We purposefully booked our hotel at Glam Hotel in Milan, which is walking distance (literally across the street) from the Milano Central Railway Station--very convenient!  (We each packed in a roll-aboard carry on suitcase, and I highly recommend that!) Glam Hotel rooms sleep 1-2 people, and they are brightly decorated in a modern design. It is clean, pretty basic and compact, but had everything we would have wanted or needed. There is a coffee bar downstairs, where we sat and had a cappuccino and chocolate croissant before we headed out to explore. If your cell provider has a temporary international plan, use it! Verizon has something called the International Travel Pass, which allowed me to use my phone's data to call, text and GPS for only $10/day. It was well worth it, as we relied on the GPS to walk around during our entire trip, and it was so nice to be able to go our separate ways and then text to meet up later.

From our hotel, we walked past La Scala, through the Galleria and into the Piazza del Duomo--the central square where the city's large and absolutely gorgeous cathedral sits. We bought delicious pizza from a restaurant on a nearby side street and just enjoyed walking around! We didn't go inside the duomo, but you certainly can. (I had been to Milan before, and it is worth going in and walking up to the top!)

The first day in Milan after traveling can be taxing due to jet lag, so we went back to our hotel after stopping for some big bottles of water and settled in for a good night's sleep, because the next day would start bright and early!!!

The Milano Central Railway Station, across the street from Glam Hotel.

Screen shot from Glam Hotel website of a regular room.

In front of La Scala

The Galleria--a beautiful covered/open air high-end shopping area.

The beautiful Duomo.

Day 3. This day was devoted completely to doing a 12-hour day trip called the Bernina Scenic Train Tour through Lake Como and into the Italian and Swiss Alps. We bought our tickets from Luca from Italy Tours and it was well worth it! The price included the tour (which is partly on train and partly in a mini-bus/van) and our lovely tour guide, Guilia! The views were jaw dropping, and the photos don't do them justice! But take a look anyway:

A brief visit to Varenna, Lake Como--it whet our appetite for the week ahead!

A stop at a general store that has been run by 4 generations of one family!

Complete with local cheese aging in the cellar!

Boarding the Bernina train to ride into the Alps! Choo-choo!

Our tour group with our guide, Guilia (in yellow)--just hanging out in the Alps! The temperature changes as you ascend the mountains, so a jacket was an absolute must!

The fall color was on display in gorgeous fashion!

The Bernina Train

A Swiss town nestled in an alpine valley.

Why yes, that is a glacier up there!

The final stop on the line is St. Moritz, Switzerland, where we got to have a delightful coffee, buy chocolate and take in the view!

The scenery just wouldn't quit! We gasped at the gorgeous rays of sun cutting through the clouds on our drive back toward Milan. God's glory on full display!

This day trip lasted for a full 12 hours. It starts and ends at the Milano Central Railway Station. It was nice to be able to start and end our day at the Glam Hotel, just across the street from the station. I can't recommend this tour enough--it was a true highlight of our trip, and a wonderful way to see a bit of Switzerland. I was warned ahead of time to be sure NOT to schedule this tour on a Sunday, as all of the shops in St. Moritz are closed on Sundays. We went on a Tuesday and had a great experience!

Day 4. Travel day from Milan to our home for the rest of the week--Bellagio, Lake Como!!!

We checked out of Glam hotel and boarded the train at Milano Central Railway to Varenna, a town in Lake Como that is on the railway line. From the Varenna train station, we walked down a steep hill (along with many other tourists--all of us carting our roll aboard suitcases behind us) to the Varenna ferry boat station. We bought tickets for the next ferry boat to Bellagio, and enjoyed 20 minutes sipping on bellinis at the cafe right next door until we boarded the ferry. We arrived on a gorgeous, sunny day, and the views from the ferry during the 20-minute ride to Bellagio were spectacular!

A 360 degree video taken from the ferry boat dock in Varenna!

Varenna as seen from the ferry boat.

Blissful on the ferry boat taking in the scenery!

Approaching our home for the week--Bellagio aka The Pearl of Lake Como!

In researching places to stay in Bellagio, I read that in addition to hotels, apartments are also available as accommodations. We found an absolute gem of an apartment called The Pescallo, and it was absolutely perfect for us. It is covered in vines (complete with clusters of grapes!) and is located right on the shore of Lake Como's Lecco Arm. It was not lacking in charm:

Our contact from the apartment rental company met us at the Bellagio ferry boat and drove us to the apartment where we were greeted with a kitchen stocked with beautiful produce and a bottle of Prosecco! Yes, please! 

This was the view from my bedroom window. It never got old!

Our hotel is located on the quieter back side of Bellagio, which I loved. Once we were settled into our apartment, we climbed the steep cobblestone stairs into the center of town, where we stopped for our first daily gelato and then walked down another stairway to the waterfront to watch the sunset.

A panoramic video of the first sunset in Bellagio...watch til the very end!

Day 5: 

We devoted this day entirely to exploring Bellagio, and it did not disappoint! We started our morning with what became our daily ritual walk up and down cobblestone stairways that led us to a public library and gorgeous public park next door with beautiful landscaping and views out to the lake and mountains. 

From there, we walked into town and had pizza and Coke Zero at one of the open air cafes looking out on Lake Como.

And after that bite of sustenance, we walked to Villa Melzi to tour the stunning gardens. Of the three villas we toured, this one was my favorite. Although we could only see the outside of the villa itself, the gardens were a feast for the eyes and nourishment for my soul. So much beauty at every turn!

At the end of the day, we walked our tired feet back to our apartment, and I couldn't resist putting on my swimsuit and taking a plunge in Lake Como. It was a chilly 65ºF and I fully committed to going in and putting my head under. I went in slowly and was a bit chicken to go in further until an old Italian woman sitting at the water's edge feeding the swans (yes! swans!) told me in sign language that it was time to take the full plunge. So I went for it, and when I looked back, she had gone!

Day 6

Menaggio, Greenway Hike and Villa Carlotta

Today, we wanted to explore some of the other towns dotting the shore of Lake Como (there are so many to choose from, so we opted to visit some that were nearby). We took a ferry boat across the lake to Menaggio, had a cappuccino and a sandwich and explored the town, which isn't very big, before walking on the Greenway a couple of miles down to Villa Carlotta, stopping for pizza along the way, of course!

Rays of sun breaking through the overcast sky as seen from the shore of Menaggio.

Menaggio town center.

Walking on the Greenway from Menaggio to Villa Carlotta in the town of Tremezzo. The greenway was mostly a sidewalk, but a few times we felt a little nervous when there was no sidewalk and we were walking on the shoulder lane of a two-lane road with cars, buses, and motorbikes whizzing by.

Looking across the lake back at Bellagio from the Greenway.

Villa Carlotta has beautifully landscaped gardens and the villa itself which you can also tour! The inside of the villa is impressive and museum-like with gorgeous frescos and artful ceilings. After walking the greenway, our feet were so tired, we only walked a portion of the gardens. Although we truly loved the calories burned by walking the Greenway, I might recommend taking a water taxi or ferry from Menaggio to Villa Carlotta, which has a water taxi stop right across the street. Personally, I would have rather spent those steps walking the grounds of the villa instead.

After touring Villa Carlotta, we caught a water taxi right across the street that took us back to Bellagio! We were exhausted at the end of a long day, but happy to be greeted by the swans swimming behind our apartment when we got home!

Day 7: Seeing "the rest" of Bellagio that we hadn't yet explored.

After our morning ritual walk through our favorite "library park" we decided to buy a ticket for a ride on The Bellagio Express train/tram which circles the town of Bellagio. The price was really reasonable and it allowed us to see parts of the town and learn the history that we would not have seen or learned otherwise. Worth it! Views from the train ride below:

Photo credit: TripAdvisor.com

After the train/tram ride, we walked to see Bellagio's other famous villa, the Villa Sorbelloni, which is now a 5-star hotel, complete with a Michelin star rated restaurant inside. We walked into the hotel and no one batted an eye at us, so we gave ourselves the grand tour, and it was great! Lots of beautiful original artwork decorating the walls, and of course, the views for which Lake Como is famous!

From Villa Sorbelloni, we walked out to the furthest point of Bellagio, aptly called "La Punta". As you can see on the map below, Lake Como is shaped like an upside down Y, and part of the appeal of Bellagio is that it is located at the nexus of all 3 arms of the lake, which you can see from La Punta.

A panoramic view of all 3 arms of the lake from La Punta. It was an overcast day, but beautiful nonetheless.

From La Punta, we walked back to town and up the long stairway to have our final gelato, pick up a few groceries for dinner, and to see the Piazza del Duomo of Bellagio.

As we approached the Duomo, the bells started ringing!

A couple pics from inside the Duomo:

And then we walked down the long cobblestone stairway to our apartment, where we had pasta and salad for dinner!

Day 8:

It was a little bit sad to say goodbye to our vine-covered apartment and its lovely view.

We walked down to the shore one last time to say "goodbye," or rather "until next time"...

And then we were picked up by a driver (arranged for us by the concierge of our apartment building) to take us to the ferry boat that would take us to Como, the largest city on Lake Como. We passed several towns nestled on mountainsides too beautiful to describe with words on our ferry boat journey to Como...

After about 50 minutes, we arrived in Como, where we had booked a cooking class with Amy's Cucina! From the ferry dock, we walked through the Piazza del Duomo (every town in Lake Como has one!) and up a hill to Amy's lovely, spacious and beautifully decorated apartment!

Our cooking class at Amy's house began at 10am and culminated in the most delicious meal we had on our entire trip, cooked by us and served at Amy's dining room table with wine, dessert and coffee. It was scrumptious!

We learned to make (from scratch!) ravioli, fettuccini, gnocchi, and panna cotta for dessert!

Amy was a gracious hostess and a skilled teacher in her well-equipped kitchen!

After our amazing lunch, we waddled to the Como train station to travel to the Milano Malpensa Airport. We spent the night in a Sheraton hotel located inside of the International Terminal. So all we had to do was roll out of bed in the morning and roll our suitcases to the gate! It was such a great way to make getting to our morning flight a stress-free affair.

Day 9: Fly home to my darling family, who was more than happy to shower me with hugs and kisses! 

As if to give us the ultimate send off, we flew over the snow-capped Alps, but not before having one last perfect cappuccino at an airport cafe just outside of the Duty Free shops.

Addio Italia! Un viaggio indimenticabile!

Home sweet home! MANY THANKS to my dear husband who held down the fort and enabled me to have this unforgettable vacation! I'm very grateful!

A post vacation reflection: I'm home from a trip to Lake Como, Italy with my dear friend Anne. It's hard to find words to describe the absolute beauty we were immersed in for the week. Sometimes I was so overwhelmed by it all that it brought me to tears. My heart is full and grateful to God for having had this experience, and frankly for being alive! Italy gave me the gift of slowing down and being present to the pleasures right in front of me: walking up and down cobblestone stairways, basking in a breathtaking view, sipping cappuccino, and enjoying long conversations about life with one of my best friends. Happy sigh, happy memories...