Last month we flew out to
Milan, though Milan wasn't our final destination for this trip. This time round we were in
Italy for a holiday in
Lake Como. This Italian lake is around a 40 minute drive from Milan Malpensa airport, and it's a beautiful part of Italy to visit - stupidly stunning, in fact.
We were over in Italy for my best friend from uni's beautiful wedding at
Chiesa di Sant'Alessando, followed by a reception at
Villa Pietraluna up in the mountains, but we decided to stay on to make the most of the glorious June weather and to celebrate our sixth anniversary. The church dates from medieval times - isn't it quite something?
Staying in Como at
Hotel Como (modern with a rooftop pool, about a fifteen minute walk to the lakefront), the town is a great spot to base yourself since you can easily take boats from there to the other little villages and towns around the lake. There are plenty of options - just head to the dock opposite Hotel Metropole Suisse and make your decision. One thing to note though, it's cash only.
If you want to take a more leisurely trip around Lake Como, take the
steamboat tour - I wish we had done this, but services only run once a day and we missed it on the day we wanted to go out on the water. But, there are plenty of options, and the ticket sellers are super helpful (and speak English if you need to ask questions).
We caught the hydrofoil to Bellagio (I'll tell you more about beautiful Bellagio next time), though the
last time we visited Como, we did an hour boat tour that stopped off at various villages but we stayed on to admire them from the lake since it was March and freezing! Much better to visit in summer, and in June it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be.
Como itself is a cute town to mooch around and explore and has, of course, a Duomo - the somewhat ubiquitous Italian cathedral. We enjoyed walking around eating gelato - I can recommend
Gelateria Lariana and
Gelateria Al Bottegone; pictured above is my liquorice and mint cone from the former - and enjoying an Aperol Spritz, or two, watching the world go by.
If you fancy seeing the lake and beyond from up high, take the
cable car in Como up to Brunate. Food was on our mind (always) when we arrived at the top and we headed to
Trattoria dei Bracconieri for a beautiful lunch with a view. Do make a reservation if you want to eat on the terrace - though we lucked out and managed to get a table without one. I thoroughly enjoyed my homemade ravioli filled with the creamiest potato, served with asparagus and tomatoes.
The other town we explored around Lake Como was Menaggio, which I can't really recommend. Maybe we weren't there long enough and missed its highlights, but there was nothing there that we saw of note. Griante, on the other hand, just before Menaggio, looked super cute as we drove through it, as did
Villa Carlotta (in-between Cadenabbia and Tremezzina). Next time!
And, yes, I think we will definitely be back to explore Lake Como further at some point. Beautiful food, beautiful scenery and beautiful weather - what more could you ask for on your holiday?
We also had the most amazing bruschetta from La vita e Bella (pictured above), tasty Milanese chicken and veal at Il Pinzimonio, yummy pizza at Trattoria Pizzeria in Borgovico, and a delicious anniversary pasta and steak dinner (two separate courses, naturally - got to love Italy with their many courses!) at Il Pomodorino.
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