One of the pitfalls of an overseas vacation is the temptation to plan to do too much — visit too many places in too little time. I’ve been guilty of this many times. It’s a natural thing when you think about it. There are so many famous and interesting places to go to and you want to see everything. We’ve tried on the past few trips to slow things down a bit and sometimes stay a few days in one place. In 2019, we stayed for a week at an AirBnb apartment in Amsterdam. It was a great, because we had a chance to get to know that city in a way you can’t in a one or two day visit.
There are several beautiful lakes in northern Italy and a lot of possible places to settle into for more than a couple of days, but we chose Lake Como. We booked 4 nights in an AirBnb in the village of San Siro on the western shore of the lake. (See map)
It was a good choice. We wish it had been longer.
Our AirBnb was high above the lake. When we first arrived, Raffaella told us to “make 9 turns” on the drive up the hill and she would meet us at the top. Those “turns” were switchbacks, which took us up a steep rise in elevation.
Our apartment was the middle level of a 3-story building built into the mountainside. So after parking the car, you had to walk about a block and then go down 56 stairs (photo on the right) to the patio and then back up another set of 12 stairs on the lake side of the building to the apartment.
Raffaella and her family also own the pink building and rent it out as well. These are all spacious apartments at very reasonable prices — less than $100 / day when we were there.
Riding the ferries around the lake
Visiting other towns along the lakeshore is easy by boat — much quicker than driving all the way around the lake to the other side. Driving has its advantages, though, as you can hug the shoreline as you go through the many quaint villages at slow speeds. There are also beautiful walking paths providing stunning views and a close connection to the water.
We chose a daily boat pass that goes to the 3 most popular tourist towns - Menaggio, Varenna, and Bellagio (yes, the casino in Las Vegas is named after it).
These 3 towns are all near the center part of the lake — the “crotch” area of the running man shape of the lake (see map again). We embarked in Menaggio, which was on our side of the lake and not far from where we were staying. It was fun to be on the water and visit these 3 gorgeous towns.
Let’s pause for a Minnesota connection FunFact: The OTHER Lake Como
Anybody who lives in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota (as we do) has probably been to Lake Como — but not the one the rest of the world knows about.
Charles Perry, a native of the Swiss-Italian Alps, homesteaded some farm land in what is now St. Paul, in 1848. The city named the nearby lake after the one he knew in Italy. The Minnesota Lake Como and the land next to it was set aside for a recreational park, including a zoo, a golf course, a pavilion and a small amusement park along with hundreds of acres of green space.
Driving around Lake Como
In addition to the ferry rides, we did some driving around the lake. To put it in perspective, it’s about a 100 mile drive around the shoreline of the lake. However, they are generally slow miles. There are highway/tunnel options if you need to go fast, but for sightseeing, take the shoreline roads and expect to spend a lot of time. There are also car ferry options, which could allow you to do half the lake very slowly and still get back home quicker. (For a nicely written, detailed guide for driving around the lake CLICK HERE.)
The northern end of the lake was windy, but sunny when we motored through there. Views of the snow-covered Alpine peaks are striking, as you’re closer to the mountains up here. Wind surfers were having a great time, as you’ll see in the video below.
Walking by the Lake
There are many walking trails on Lake Como. Raffaella, our AirBnb host, recommended the Greenway Trail, which hugs the western side of the lake between the towns of Colenno and Griante. It’s only about 6.5 miles long, but a 13-mile round trip walk could fill a day, with all the places you could stop.
The Lake Como Greenway website is a great place to get a sense of what it’s like to walk this beautiful trail. CLICK HERE for more info.
The photos below give a sense of what you see while walking the Greenway. Examples of La Dolce Vita are everywhere.
These four days were wonderful. We only partially succeeding in spending more time relaxing, but it was nice to have a home base to come back to for four nights. Next time it will be at least a week. Maybe a month. Who knows? If the 2024 election goes badly (and one of us inherits a bundle from a rich uncle that we don’t yet know about) this lake could become home. We hope you’ll come and visit us.
Two views of our final aperitivo on Lake Como — Karen made the Bruschetta and I poured the Aperol Spritz and Fake Beer.
Salute!