A few days in Northern Italy

This last week we’ve spent five full days near to Lake Como in northern Italy. It’s a beautiful area and given that there are cheap flights directly from Luxembourg, it’s a place that we’ll probably be back to explore further!

So here’s a brief rundown of our activities during this first adventure here…

Hiking

Despite the weather being a bit patchy at times during our trip, we managed to fit in two really beautiful hikes.

The first was walking up to Monte San Primo. This peak sits up in the hills above the village of Bellagio, where the three arms of Lake Como intersect. As such, there are some lovely panoramic views once you get up onto the ridge leading to the highest point. This walk can be done as part of a circuit, which is described on AllTrails, here, but we decided to cut off the tricky descent and just take the easier, but much nicer, way in the direction we had come from. In total it took us a bit over four hours but this was taking it fairly easy and included lunch and photo stops. If you’d like to read about it in a little more detail, then please click here.

The second, much more demanding, hike took place after we had moved our base to the Imagna Valley. We hiked a loop, starting at Brumano and ‘peaking’ at Rifugio Azzoni. This route involved hiking through forests and up into the barren mountain tops, where we saw plenty of chamois along with the amazing views on both sides of the ridge. It was tough going at times but totally worth it in the end. To read more about this route, please click here.

Taking the ferries on Lake Como

On our last day the weather in the morning was absolutely miserable but it rapidly cleared and by lunchtime there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so we made the rather last minute decision to spend some time actually on Lake Como. There are plenty of options for visiting different parts of the lake but we decided on doing a little loop in the middle of the lake from Varenna – Menaggio – Bellagio and back again. This is probably our favourite part of the lake. No offence to the city of Como but the towns and villages in this area were more picturesque and the mountains here were higher and provided a more impressive backdrop. Due to the bad weather from the day and night before, the mountains in the distance even acquired a coating of snow on their peaks.

We spent an hour or two at each village with fifteen-minute ferry rides in between. We first parked in the village of Varenna, and then straight away got the ferry over to Menaggio. We had a very pleasant walk along the shoreline and a special mention should go to Dulcis In Fundo, for their amazing ice-cream. On the way back we walked up to the older part of the village, where the narrow cobbled streets created a bit of a labyrinth. If we had had more time then it would have been nice to further explore this area. But as it was, we needed to hurry back down to catch the ferry over to Bellagio.

Bellagio is a very popular tourist destination and it is easy to understand why. Perched at the intersection of the three arms of Lake Como, the waterfront boasts impressive views down two of the arms. After another pleasant stroll along the waterfront we stopped at one of the multiple lakeside cafes to relax and enjoy the sunshine and views. 

Our last stop was in Varenna. Despite it being the one we had not heard of previously, this village was probably our favourite. The narrow stone alleyways filled with steep steps and the restaurants surrounding little alcoves really provided a sense of authenticity and a nice atmosphere. We walked along the little paths by the water to try and find a good spot for sunset but unfortunately a line of clouds appeared on the tops of the mountains at precisely the wrong time. Regardless, however, if we were to come back to this area, we’d certainly like to stay in this village (if we can afford it!).

Sightseeing

On the first of the couple of rainy days we spent time looking around the towns (cities?) of Como and Lecco. This was the day we moved from staying in Torno (a village north of Como) to the Imagna Valley. Our first stop was to meet up with a couple of friends from when we lived in Switzerland, who were passing Como on their way back home after their own Italian break. Due to the rain we were restricted to a couple of hours in a café but it was really nice to catch up and to meet their beautiful little daughter.  

After they had to head on, we spent a while wandering around the shoreline and old town of Como. It was pleasant but we weren’t overly impressed, although that may have had a lot to do with the weather. 

The next stop on our way to our new accommodation was Lecco. As we drove through the built up industrial outskirts of the town, we weren’t expecting too much but Lecco actually has a lovely little old town and promenade. The views out over the lake also have the advantage of having higher and more impressive mountains then at Como. We also stopped to have a very nice meal at the popular (but pretty reasonable) Numerosei Trattoria Pizzeria. So based on our, admittedly limited, experiences of these two towns, we did prefer Lecco. 

Wellness

Along with its proximity to the mountains, another one of the reasons we chose to stay at the Hotel Miramonti, was the fact that we had checked the weather forecast and therefore wished to stay somewhere that had its own wellness area. Whilst I’m not a huge fan of saunas, Radka really likes them and I must admit, it led to a pleasant, relaxing day. The hotel has one sauna, one steam room, a couple of rooms in which to chill out, a heated indoor pool with whirlpool, and a small outdoor pool and hot tub. You can also purchase spa treatments (massages etc.) but we didn’t go that far.

Whilst I’m mentioning the hotel, I was pretty impressed with it. I don’t normally write about our accommodations but if you are in the area I would recommend looking at this one. I don’t know if it was just because it is off-season but the bed and breakfast option was pretty reasonable when you booked directly through the hotel (see the link above). They then upgraded us to a room with a valley view – they didn’t even mention it at any point, we only knew because we’d seen that more expensive option whilst booking. The buffet breakfast had plenty of variety and was very tasty. We also ate in at their restaurant for two nights and the food was really good and not overly expensive. In the evenings we sat in the bar area and had a drink whilst playing a board game or reading. So even without the wellness activities (which, by the way, were an extra 15 EUR per person per day of use for hotel guests) I still would have enjoyed our stay there. Just be aware, however, that it would be tricky to get to without a car.

Final thoughts

It has been hard getting back to a normal routine after a year off travelling, so that made this break away even nicer. Despite the weather predictions the week before being awful it actually turned out to be really nice for most of the time, and the area itself is amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed it and will certainly be back to explore further.