Exploring Lake Como - Varenna - A Less Trodden Gem Glimmering on the Lake

Best explored by the boats which skim atop the glistening blue-green water, Lake Como offers  a cornucopia of vistas including 17th and 18th century villas poking up here and there on the various promontories about the lake, backdrops of frequently snow-topped craggy mountains,  gardens which roll down the hillsides in carpets of color, and many enchanting villages.  The boats are easy to navigate and allow you to visit many of the lake's tiny ancient hamlets whose hilly streets and byways can be roamed for hours visiting shops, beautiful old churches and chapels, terrace restaurants, and much more.

If you have to choose among the towns, make one of your choices a stop at Varenna.  It's fairly easy to get to and is less touristy than Bellagio (although I wouldn't pass this up either.)   There are ferries with frequent stops there from Bellagio, Menaggio, Lenno  and Tremezzo.  On our last trip, we stayed near Tremezzo and took the ferry boat from there to Bellagio, then Varenna and from Varenna back to Tremezzo with a stop at Villa Carlotta.

Varenna's origins date back to Roman times.  Built in the 5th century at the foot of a mountain which rises precipitously almost vertical behind it, Varenna is a picturesque old fishing village with a lovely little harbor featuring views of Bellagio in the distance.

Once disembarqing from the ferry,  make sure you stop at the Information Booth at the Harbor for a map and ask where it's best to climb to the upper town. You can first walk around the island partially on a platform which has been built into the side of the mountain passing under a percola bursting with flowers. A large terrace sprawls under the hillside at one juncture, where you can stop for delightful crepes or Italian sandwich or bruschetta.  (Interestingly enough bruschetta in this area is different than in Tuscany.  It comes on larger slices of toasted bread...quite good but not the bite-sized crostini you might be used to.)

We climbed to the upper town up flat stone steps near the terrace restaurant. Here we visited the parish church San Giorgio, consecrated in 1313 but enriched several times in later centuries once to include large fresco portraying Saint Christopher. Nearby we were attracted to one of Varenna's hotels and wandered into the Hotel Royal Victoria with its panoramic views of the lake from a restaurant terrace. This lovely villa hotel was named after Queen Victoria who visited there in 1838.

In addition to a stopover on a lake journey, Varenna would be a good place to locate during a stay on Lake Como. For more hotel information: http://italianlakesholidays.net/varenna-hotels-guide/

Another place to visit (if time permits) in Varenna is generally known as Villa dei Cipressi (Villa of Cypresses) with its garden of trees that terraces towards the lake.