Exploring Bellagio, Varenna, & Menaggio

Today we explored Lake Como, visiting Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio.

We started our day getting up bright and early in an attempt to get a fast ferry ticket from Como to Bellagio. We got to the ferry office at 7:30, which was 30 minutes before they opened, and were greeted by a line already down the street. Chris waited in the line and Chels grabbed coffee and snacks for us. When the ferry office finally opened, the line moved VERY slow. Unfortunately, we missed the fast ferry(which takes 45 minutes) and got stuck on the slow ferry which takes around 3 hours and stops at every single city going up the lake.

We made the most of it and enjoyed the views from our three hour boat tour 😂

Upon arriving in Bellagio we found massive crowds of tourists, which we had expected when we saw the ferry line. We checked out the town a bit and grabbed pizza from an Italian street food restaurant. Next we walked to the Parchella Della Punta, which is the park on the point. Bellagio sticks out in the middle of Lake Como where it splits, and this park is the furthest point of Bellagio, so it gives a good vantage of the whole lake, and especially Varenna and Menaggio.

Our next stop was Varenna, which we reached via ferry. Varenna was hot, hot, hot! The heatwave gripping Europe is really impacting all of Northern Italy, and the Lake Como area was way hotter than it normally is. We saw lots of people laying on benches or sitting on sidewalks in the shade trying to escape the heat. In Varenna we headed first to Villa Monastero, which is one of many villas on lake Como. Apparently Italian wealthy and elite have been building villas on Lake Como since Roman times. We explored the grounds of the villa and their large gardens, and it was quite a site to see! After the villa, we headed to the center of Varenna and grabbed gelato at a local shop.

After Varenna we ferried to Menaggio, our last stop of the day. We walked through the town center and then spent a solid hour on a bench in the shade watching the waves on the lake, and trying to beat the heat. Our ride home from Menaggio was thankfully a fast ferry that we were able to get a ticket for, and our ride home was only around 45 minutes vs the 3 hours we would have seen on the slow ferry!

Back in Como we grabbed dinner at a local Italian restaurant and called it a night!Read more