Need a breather from the city sights of Milan?
Looking to recharge your spirits?
How does a pretty tranquil little town – on the shore of Lake Como, with spectacular mountain and lake views, verdant gardens overlooking the lake, quaint narrow streets (and not many tourists) – sound?
On a sunny weekend morning in June, our destination was the little lakeside town of Varenna.
This town, on the shore of Lake Como, turned out to be a fantastic visual treat. The train from Milan reached Varenna-Esino station in about an hour.
And, from the moment we stepped off the train that morning, to the moment that we hopped on to the train again (that evening), we were charmed by the beauty and tranquility of Varenna.
The Villa Cipresi garden was decked up in various shades of green – a plant lover’s delight! Flowers in full bloom were icing on the cake. We could not get enough of the splendid vistas from the garden. A perfect place to just sit and dream… While B and I gazed at the little boats on Lake Como, Junior was engaged in a game of “find the garden lizards” :).
The narrow streets of Varenna are full of old-world charm. Several paths lead directly to the lake (needs attention when you have children around since some of them do not have barriers).
We ambled along the charming Lovers’ Walk / Passerella along the shore of the lake. Sailboats moved at a leisurely pace, motorboats sped along with people basking in the sun, ferries were transporting tourists from one little town to another.
The perfect place, time and weather to DREAM. And dream, we did :).
To cool our heels (and to dream some more), we took a ferry to the “more popular” town of Bellagio, across the lake. The town was packed with tourists. We just picked a “bench with a view” by the lake (needless to say, every bench is one with a view :D) and spent an hour gazing at the blue lake, the green hills, the snow-capped mountains, the white sailboats, the happy tourists, the pink, red and violet flowers in bloom…
Heading back to Varenna, from the ferry, the “outside” view of the town was as lovely as our walk “inside” the town had been.