Varenna (Lake Como), Italy

Lake Como has been high on Austin’s list for a while, and I’ve been dreaming of Cinque Terre since I was in high school and first saw the most beautiful pictures of Italy. There were 2 public holidays within 11 days of each other so we took advantage to put together a long holiday! Since they were both such amazing places I decided to do this as a 2 part blog post, so here is part 1!

Day 1

We flew into Milan Linate airport, then took the bus to Milano Centrale station and took the train to Lake Como. We stayed in Varenna, which you can take the train directly to from Milan.

We had a short walk from the train station to check in at Varenna Holidays and then a quick walk from there to our gorgeous apartment. We had the most beautiful rooftop and we were right in the middle of the city center.

After getting settled in we walked down a few flights of stairs to check out the lake, then had a drink in one of the bars right on the lake.

After our drink we went in search of dinner, which was trickier than we were expecting - absolutely everyone was fully booked! We were getting worried we’d be eating granola bars for dinner but we finally came across Locanda Cavallino which had space for us. I had a nice shrimp pasta with zucchini.

Day 2

Lake Bakery

On our first day we woke up and headed to Lake Bakery to grab some breakfast. We each got a focaccia (mine was filled with ham and cheese) which we walked down to eat next to the lake.

Villa Monastero

After our breakfast we walked over to check out the beautiful Villa Monastero. There’s a lot of gorgeous gardens on the lake that you can just wander around, and this is one of the more famous ones!

Hotel Villa Cipressi

We saw the next garden/villa next door as we were leaving, and decided to check out that one too. It was also beautiful, but not as spectacular as Villa Monastero. There was a lovely little cafe that we decided to stop for a drink at. It turned out to have terrible terrible service (guess you don’t have to do much with this view) but it was a very beautiful place for a drink.

Varenna Food

We were hungry after our villa exploration so we walked over to Varenna Food, a small market that also serves sandwiches. We got a pesto sandwich and a milanese chicken sandwich. They were both very tasty and were a good easy lunch.

After our sandwiches we decided to have a little happy hour on our balcony since its such a beautiful spot!

Al Prato

While we wandered around in a panic the night before for dinner, we walked by Al Prato which was recommended by the people at Varenna Holidays. They were fully booked, but we were able to make a reservation for the next night. The space was so cute! We got this grilled cheese with veggies, and I got polenta ravioli. For dessert I had an amazing strawberry crème brûlée!

Day 3

The next day looked like it was going to be our sunniest nicest day so we decided it would be the best day to take the ferry to explore the other cities across the lake. Lake Como is shaped like an upside down Y, and in the middle are 3 of the main cities for tourists - Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna. We got up early and got in line for ferry tickets and decided to get a day pass, which would allow us to take the ferry between the 3 cities as much as we wanted in any order.

We decided to start with Bellagio, and the first thing we did after arriving was head in search of coffee and breakfast.

Pasticceria Castelli

Looking for a good place for coffee and breakfast I found Pasticceria Castelli. They had croissants that you could fill with a lot of different flavors, and I chose pistachio of course. The coffee was also pretty decent. The real star of the show though was all of their other baked goods. I also picked out a small pistachio chocolate pastry, and then from their display of packaged items I picked out some small pistachio cookies and a jar of pistachio cream (yes, I am obsessed with pistachio these days). It was all incredible and I will probably dream of those little pistachio cookies forever. They tasted like if you made a macaron with pistachio.

Salita Serbelloni

This is the most famous street in Bellagio, which you have probably seen in a million photos and TikToks. The bakery was nearby so we stopped to snap a few photos before it got too busy (though it was already a little bit busy, too much to get any photos without other people)

Villa Melzi

After breakfast we walked down the lakefront to check out Villa Melzi, another beautiful garden on the lake.

Dai Viga Pasta Fresca

After our walk we were starving and we made our way to a fresh pasta shop we had seen while wandering around earlier. It was quite crowded but well managed and we were able to sit down after ordering at the counter. I ordered pasta with an arrabiata sauce, Austin got cacio e pepe and we also got a spinach and cheese cannoli we had seen right before paying. It was way too much food but we ate every bit of it. The pasta is made fresh right there (you can see them preparing it) and it was absolutely delicious. The arrabiata was spicier than I was expecting but it was so fresh.

Gelateria del Borgo

After our pasta feast we of course needed some gelato, and headed to Gelateria del Borgo which was close by. I got my most ordered standby, a dark chocolate sorbet (magically somehow dairy free).

After this we decided to take the ferry to Menaggio. Unlke the other 2 cities in Como, this one is blessedly flat which was welcome after climbing a million flights of stairs.

Piazza Garibaldi

We started out with a drink in the main square, Piazza Garibaldi. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed people watching and soaking up the gorgeous weather. After our drink we wandered around the town and checked out a few stores. It was a cute town but not as beautiful as Varenna and Bellagio.

Mini-golf Menaggio

While searching for what we needed to see in Menaggio, we found out they had a mini golf course on the lake! That sounded like a great afternoon activity, so we walked along the water to check it out.

It was super cute and quite beautiful on the water. We had a lot of fun playing together through the 18 holes that they somehow managed to fit in quite a small space!

After the mini golf we took the ferry back to Varenna as we were pretty wiped out.

My Friends Pizza

After our long day of exploring we decided to get a takeaway pizza from a spot our friends had recommended (hi Jessa!) that was conveniently right next to our apartment. The pizza was fast and delicious, and I got a €5 Aperol Spritz to enjoy with it. We ate it on the roof patio while watching the sunset and it was a perfect end to the evening.

Day 4

Caffe Varenna

For breakfast we headed to Caffe Varenna because I learned they had almond milk! My almond milk cappucino was quite expensive and not very good though so we didn’t do that again, but it was quite a lovely breakfast view.

Castello di Vezio

After breakfast we embarked on a hike up to Castello di Vezio, an old castle overlooking Varenna. You can either walk up a very steep path from the ferry port or you can walk up a more gradual old paved path from the other part of town near Villa Monastero. We chose the more gradual path and found it to be a nice hike. We were quite sweaty on getting to the top and I wished I had worn taller socks as there was part that was through a lot of long grass and I always get nervous on those sorts of paths.

The views from the hike were beautiful though, and the view from the castle was even more beautiful!

After we got up to the castle, you can look around and admire the views and then pay a few euros to enter the castle grounds. They have these ghost statues all around that pay homage to the spirit of the queen whose spirit the legends say wander the halls of the castle on moonless nights.

From the tower inside the castle you can also get some incredible views of the lake!

There’s also an extremely weird dungeon with fake skeletons and recordings of creepy laughs, which I found very weird combined with the rest of the place and would recommend skipping unless you’re into weird spooky attractions (you do you!)

We grabbed some focaccia from Lake Bakery on our way to our hike which made a great little picnic in the picnic area that they had there (there was also a cafe where you could buy food if you did not bring your own). Mine had tomatoes and artichoke and it was amazing!

After our picnic we embarked on our hike back to town, taking the other path towards the port.

Bistro Varenna

After a nice afternoon of relaxing & a nap, we had a little apertivo at one of the restaurants in the main square (getting anything on the lake on the weekend is too difficult, even in shoulder season). They had a nice menu of cocktails, including alcohol free ones which was nice.

Il Cavatappi

For dinner we had our favorite meal of the trip, also recommended by my friend Jessa. This one is extremely small and definitely needs a reservation - we made it several days ahead of time by just walking up and talking to them while they were open.

We started with an amazing caprese salad with burrata. Austin got spinach and cheese tortellini, which turned out to be the best tortellini I have ever eaten in my life. He very generously shared quite a bit with me as I loved it so much. I got duck ragu and we shared some grilled vegetables. For dessert I got the absolute best tiramisu I’ve ever had in the cutest little mini Dutch oven.

After dinner while we were sitting at home (it had been raining so we were inside) we randomly heard fireworks and ran up to the roof to see the most beautiful fireworks display! I have no idea what it was for but it was absolutely beautiful.

Day 5

On our last day the weather was a bit rainy and we were ready for a rest day before moving on to Cinque Terre the following day, so we spent the day lounging, reading, napping and wandering around Varenna.

La Passerella

I had to get gelato from this spot one more time before leaving, again recommended by my friend Jessa. They had the most amazing pistachio/almond flavor that I just could not get enough of!

Bar Il Molo

This bar had a line to get a table for basically the entire time we were in Varenna. Our last day was a rainy Monday and it was much quieter than it had been, so we were finally able to get a spot. There was still a line for the tables right on the lake, but we decided the view across the path was fine since we didn’t have to wait in line for it.

The drinks were very expensive here, so unless you have the patience to grab a spot right on the water I’m not so sure its worth it (I’d rather get a €5 spritz from the pizza place and walk down to the lake to sit on a bench personally).

Osteria Quatro Pass

This restaurant was also recommended by Varenna Holidays, the property management company who managed the apartment we were staying in. Like everywhere else in Varenna, make sure you get a reservation here too! We made this one a couple of days ahead of time in person while we were walking around.

We shared an antipasto of a cheese breaded with hazelnut breadcrumbs and fried, then shared asparagus ravioli and some fried lake perch. We finished with dessert - I got a strawberry tart and Austin something with lemon (sadly I don’t remember what it was and they don’t have a menu available online).

After dinner we took a walk to admire the beautiful views of the lake one more time before we departed the next day.

Day 6

Al Barilott

On our last morning I finally remembered to take a photo of the place where we got coffee nearly every day - Al Barilott. The coffee was quite good (even though we had to drink it black because they only had dairy milk) and I even managed to get a pistachio croissant on our last day.

After breakfast we headed to the train station, taking the train to Milan and then catching another longer train to La Spezia, where we could then connect to Manarola to start our trip in Cinque Terre. For that I will be posting a separate blog post - stay tuned!