I had booked an apartment in the village of Dervio, a small town on the eastern shore of Lake Como. Like all the villages and towns on Lake Como, Dervio clings to the steep slopes of the mountains that drop down almost vertically in places to the lake shore.
Lake Como is shaped like like an inverted letter Y. At the southern end on the western side is the city of Como. It's counterpart on the eastern side is Lecco, which was where we headed first. Lecco is not an especially touristy city but has an attractive waterfront and it made a pleasant place to stop en route.
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| In Lecco |
Dervio is a few miles from the bustle of the popular villages and towns on Como's eastern shore, but has a more relaxed feel because of that. Before driving to Dervio we stopped at a supermarket to stock up for our stay and then had an abortive attempt to reach our destination. I took the coast road heading north, following a couple of cars. At the front was a coach. Progress was slow because on the winding road and through tunnels the coach had to slow down. Then things came to a halt just before a tunnel about 3 miles from Dervio. The road was completely closed for roadworks...and this hadn't been signposted, or if it had been, none of us saw it. We sat in the car going nowhere and eventually I took an executive decision to turn round and find another route. I managed to execute a multi point turn but it was tight and I would think impossible for a large coach. The passengers may still be there! After retracing our route we finally arrived at our destination, a clean and modern apartment only 5 minutes walk from the lake shore.
I had planned to use public transport to get around. Lake Como is well served ferries, there was a train station just 5 minutes walk away and buses. These plans needed some adjustment over the next few days.
On our first day we decided to visit the town of Bellagio, often described as the jewel of Lake Como. The plan was to get a train, then ferry. What we didn't know was that there were no trains running from Dervio for the next few days. Our only option was to catch a ferry taking us out at 10.30am but it wouldn't return us until early evening.
We opted to take the ferry instead of driving and walked down to the low key ferry pontoon by the lake. An employee was tasked with a pretty undemanding job of putting the gangway in place so we could board...and hand feeding the sparrows. The ferry zigzagged across Lake Como, stopping at little towns on both shores, before we finally arrived in Bellagio a town that's sits on the tip of the land that separates the east and western arms (or legs) of Lake Como.
From the ferry dock steep cobbled steps led up to the main square. A 12th century church is located on the north side of the small piazza, which is crossed my the main ( and pretty much only street), Via Centrale.
Old houses lined the street, the ground floors now converted into various eateries, gift shops or shops selling expensive handbags. Before it got too busy we grabbed a table, out of the sun and had an early lunch of pasta...and beer. Refuelling completed we walked to the end of Via Centrale and walked into a small park that had lovely views of the lake and surrounding mountains.
We still had hours to kill before we could catch a return ferry, and were quickly discovering that as pretty as Bellagio was, it wasn't very big. We therefore walked to the further point at the tip of the village, passing some rather grand villas. The point, called Punta Spartivento offered a panoramic view looking north and a few benches and trees for shade.
We were fortunate to grab a bench. A couple of ducks tried to harass us into giving them food and finally gave us up as a bad job. While people passed by we watched a couple of lizards disappear and reappear on the harbour wall, not phased by the passage of people nearby.
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| The centre of Bellagio |
Old houses lined the street, the ground floors now converted into various eateries, gift shops or shops selling expensive handbags. Before it got too busy we grabbed a table, out of the sun and had an early lunch of pasta...and beer. Refuelling completed we walked to the end of Via Centrale and walked into a small park that had lovely views of the lake and surrounding mountains.
We still had hours to kill before we could catch a return ferry, and were quickly discovering that as pretty as Bellagio was, it wasn't very big. We therefore walked to the further point at the tip of the village, passing some rather grand villas. The point, called Punta Spartivento offered a panoramic view looking north and a few benches and trees for shade.
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| Punta Spartivento |
We were fortunate to grab a bench. A couple of ducks tried to harass us into giving them food and finally gave us up as a bad job. While people passed by we watched a couple of lizards disappear and reappear on the harbour wall, not phased by the passage of people nearby.
After watching lizards became too exciting we ambled back through the village trying to see if there was anything we had missed - we hadn't. After another rest in the park we finally caught the ferry back to Dervio.
The next day we played it safe...and drove 6 miles to Varenna another lovely little town on Lake Como. Our main reason for visiting was to see Villa Monastero, a gorgeous villa and botanical gardens located right on the shoreline. It started life in the 12th century as a monastery and changed hands several times over the centuries. During the 18th and 19th centuries the villa was refashioned and the grounds laid out as long terraced gardens with all sorts of plants and flora, dropping down to the lake. In the 1950s the Italian Physics Society organised conferences there and Enrico Fermi gave his last lecture there. Now it's still a conference centre but also a museum.
We arrived just after opening time so enjoyed the house tour in relative peace and quiet. It had an oppulent style with some baroque ceilings.
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| Inside Villa Monastero |
The real star is the garden. The views over the lake were enthralling. A few more visitors has arrived and I noticed that many of the young women visiting and also around the town were dressed in what looked like white wedding dresses...and seemed obsessed with taking photographs of themselves in 'Instagramable' locations. It all seemed a bit narcissistic to me...but then it may be a generational thing. I took pleasure in the surroundings, greenery, flowering plants, a shimmering lake and steep hills with trees and then higher still, rocky outcrops.
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| The gardens at Villa Monastero |
Finishing our visit at the villa we strolled to the irregularly shaped piazza at the centre of Varenna. Three churches were located on the piazza and we had a quick look inside what seemed to be the oldest. Chiesa Madre di San Giovanni is a small stone built chapel, unremarkable from the outside but with some beautiful frescoes inside - dating back to the 1500s. They were only rediscovered in the 1960s.
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| The interior of Chiesa Madre di San Giovanni, Varenna |
Narrow lanes wound down to the lake shore, lined with pastel coloured houses. Along the waterfront a promenade, partly covered, went past a small harbour and around to the ferry departure point. Although the weather was overcast it was plesantly warm and the views of Lake Como were enchanting. We were completely charmed by Varenna - much preferring it to Bellagio.
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| Varenna |
After 5 hours of exploring we eventually headed back to the car and made the short drive back to our temporary home.
On our final full day we decided to head back to Varenna but not to revisit. It was simply a more convenient place to catch a ferry. We bought tickets to cross to the western shore to the small town of Menaggio. It takes about 30 minutes to cross the lake, and we had lovely views of Varenna from the water as we departed.
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| Varenna from Lake Como |
We were finding that each town was subtly different. Menaggio had its full quota of pastel covered buildings but the seafront was lined with large villas set in grounds with lush lawns and tropical plants. A grand hotel dominated one part of the lake front. 
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| Views of Menaggio |
A small piazza, named Giuseppe Garibaldi led up to the main church but on the way we ducked into a small chapel that had a completely unexpected and quite bizarre alterpiece. The whole alterpiece had been surrounded by biblical scenes made from knitted figures.
A bar clearly popular with locals, Cafè Del Pess stood on one corner of the square and we indulged in a late morning cappucino, before exploring a bit more. Like most of the lakeside towns Menaggio isn't very big, so we caught the ferry back to Varenna, walked up one of the narrow lanes from the ferry and found a small osteria called La Scarpetta (meanig little shoe) serving lunches. The menu was limited, very reasonably priced and best of all the food was first rate. I finished with that classic dessert - a tiramisu, which tasted divine. Mrs B declined a dessert...but insisted I ask for 2 spoons.
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| Tiramisu time.... |
Although the weather in Como hadn't been the best, with cloud and the odd light shower, we'd enjoyed seeing some of its attractive little towns and villages. It had been different to Lake Garda - the topography creating a different atmosphere but no less lovely.
It was time to move on again but we were not finished with lakes yet. Next up was Lake Maggiore, about 2 hours drive away.
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