Travel article: Como Lake

After another great wedding in Macon, we decided to head to Italy. Purpose of our trip: eat as many pizzas , pasta and ice cream as we can and discover la Dolce Vita.

Well after a 10 hours bus trip from Lyon (we are about to become Flixbus top clients ;) ), our dream came true with our Airbnb being located on top of a pizzeria !

The following week was all about pizzas (and hikes of course !) the best one: sperk & gorgonzola, the cheese was strong, the sperk was melting in my mouth: best pizza ever and this for 6 euros only!

And it tasted even better when on our last day the little Italian grandma offered us two pizzas being the best customers of the week ! A dream came true I told you. (Cédric didn’t want to leave )

The Como lake region is beautiful. We spent 5 days walking around (and 2 days working as it was raining...) , driving around and cruising the lake which is surrounded by medieval villages.

The lake is huge- 170kms circumference- and around 20 villages were built around.

We focused on the lower part in between Menaggio, Bellagio and Varenna.

Best way to get around: the boat of course! But many people prefer to drive and we never saw as many Ferrari and Porsche in the same week!

We took the boat many times from Bellagio to cross the lake admiring the clouds flirting with the mountains, contemplating the villages and many coloured houses (pastel colours are the best !) and the flowers and cyprès contrasting with the dark blue of the lakes.

We absolutely loved it and the expression « dolce Vita » took on its full meaning.

What we did:

# wander around beautiful Bellagio, one of our favorite village in the region. Many stairs and gardens lead to cobblestones back alleys. Many villas were built and  are now rented by famous Italian and even George Clooney. Well we were not jealous at all , should I remind you we had the best Airbnb ever with the pizzeria 10 metres from our front door ;)

# Varenna , Bellano and Menaggio: little villages, our favorite is Varenna. The ice-creams are incredible, there is a path running alongside the lake, the gardens are beautiful and the Villa Monastero could be in competition with our Airbnb ;)

What we loved: the little cushions the ice creams shop put on the stairs to enjoy the ice cream or just relaxed, admiring the Como lake.

# Greenway del Lago di Como: a 12 kms hike from Tremezzo to Colonno. The villages were desert, the path is not touristy at all, the sun was shining, we discovered many Romanesque and Baroque churches, stunning views on the lake and stunning villas, Ferrari and Porsche!

# Como and the Brunate Funicular:

Not our favorite day.... it started with a 100 euros fine when we entered a ETL area (meaning cars not allowed in this area but the signs are not clear at all...) besides Como is not our favourite village being a bit bigger, not as authentic and really touristy. Besides the views from the funicular are nice but not as stunning as what we found in Bellagio or Magreglio. However the Cathedral (or Duomo in Italian, and it sounded like the name of a pasta dish as Cedric thinks) is stunning. But not the best day at all for us!

Anyway you understood, we loved the area (and the pizzas !!!). It’s stunning, the locals were nice, we loved driving in the mountains, watching sunset on the lake and the colours of the villages. A must-do in Europe !

Some recommandations:

# it’s best to stay in Bellagio or close by as it’s central. Como is quite far from the little villages. We stayed in Magreglio and to get the best Airbnb on top of a pizzeria head here: https://www.airbnb.fr/rooms/26068671

# driving in Italy is something: they drive soooo fast and the cities are not accessible by cars (ETL areas) but the signs are not clear so we crossed one accidentally and are facing a 100 euros fine! Waiting to receive it now ...

# to park in Italy: - blue lines = you have to pay; white lines= free; yellow lines= for residents only

# we rented a car in Milan Linate, 6 euros a day with Carigami broker. Just be careful and return it on the time written on the contract (even if you paid for the full day or you face a penalty of 100 euros… true story, we didn’t laugh at all when it happened)

#Como is one hour from Milan

# Lyon to milan: 7 hours from Lyon in Flixbus for 29 euros per person.

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