A Perfect Day Trip from Milan to Varenna
Lake Como views, a botanical garden, memorable food and an 11th century castle!
Alas, we have arrived at the final article in my Italy trip series. If you missed my previous articles on Milan and Venice, be sure to check them out!
You may or may not know, we are not city people at heart. We prefer vacations with an emphasis on spending time in nature. Although we enjoyed our time in Milan and our wonderful day trip to Venice, we needed a dose of beautiful nature.
For our last full day in Italy, we took a 50 minute train ride north to the small town of Varenna. Varenna is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Como. Lake Como is a large, glacial lake surrounded by mountains near the Swiss-Italian border.
There are numerous, beautiful vacation destinations along this lake such as Bellagio, Como, and Menaggio. I chose Varenna because it was easy to get to by train, photos online looked beautiful, and it seemed like it would be less busy than some of the other nearby places.
Arrival in Varenna: Exploring the lakeshore and a botanical garden
The train from Milan to Varenna cost 7 euro each (one-way). There were very few people when we boarded the 7:20 a.m. train at Milano Centrale. After exiting the small Varenna-Esino train station around 8:20 a.m., we walked 10 minutes to the southern end of Varenna and directly to the shores of Lake Como.
It was cloudy and cool and wonderful. There were hardly any people out and we sat quietly at the lake. Behind us, local business owners were preparing their restaurants and storefronts for the day ahead. I had hoped to get coffee at a place called Tutti Frutti, but in contradiction to the Sunday hours posted online, they were closed.
After taking a few photos, we started exploring the alleyways and paths along the lakeshore. Numerous lake overlooks, stone paths, ornate doors, and lush plants meant there was something beautiful around every corner.
We walked down the main street through town and paid a fee to enter a botanical garden. Naturally, the botanical garden had some beautiful plants and several wonderful overlooks of Lake Como. I even recorded some bird audio, which I hope to use in a Travel Atmos video of Lake Como.
A Memorable Lunch on Lake Como’s shore
After wandering the botanical garden, we made our way back toward some of the restaurants along the lake. It was just after 11 a.m., so we decided to have an early lunch before we continued our Varenna exploration.
Fortunately, we were able to get the last available table at Caffè Varenna. It was hard to ask for a more beautiful setting. I ordered a latte and we looked over the menu.
For the first time on our trip, it felt like we were going to be able to have a more authentic Italian dining experience. We ordered a bruschette to share and risotto and tortelloni as our mains. Everything tasted wonderful and we immediately proclaimed it best meal experience of the trip.
Happy and full of delicious food, we followed the lakeshore path north, making an occasional stop for photos.
Journey to Castello di Vezio
Our final sight-seeing adventure of the day was to hike up the mountainside to the late 11th century Castello di Vezio.
We had a small amount of difficulty finding the right path initially, but it was clear once we were on it. We followed the wide path up the mountain. This was a proper, steep hike and not a casual stroll.
We reached the small, mountain town of Vezio and were greeted with a huge overlook of the valley and mountain to the north. We continued up the path until we reached the entrance to Castello di Vezio.
We purchased tickets at a booth and went through the gate. We first arrived at an innncredddible overlook of Lake Como. We hadn’t even entered the castle yet!
We stood at that overlook for the longest time, taking photos and timelapses. The hike up the mountain was worth it for the view alone.
Nearby, ghost sculptures made out of plaster set on the railing overlooking Lake Como. These sculptures are re-made each year using (living) tourist volunteers who have the plaster fitted to them. The sculptures are destroyed each year by the winter snow.
The incredible view wasn’t the only surprise. A reenactment of a medieval battle and celebratory feast were happening behind us in front of the castle lol. And then, we entered the castle and were greeted by a man standing next to a guillotine and a fake severed head resting in a basket below.
And here I thought we’d be walking up a mountain to some low-key, quiet, abandoned castle, ha! We were there on a Sunday, and from what I can tell online, the reenactments tend to be a regular occurrence on Sundays, at least during tourist season.
The castle had a couple of nice vantage points where you could see over the walls. The best one was from the top of the tower, where again, we had spectacular views of Lake Como.
If you ever go to Varenna, make it a point to visit the Castello di Vezio! If you want to see the medieval reenactment, be sure to check their schedule ahead of time.
Summary
Varenna delivered. We got to spend time along a beautiful mountain lake, had an amazing lunch, and ended our day with such a great hike up to Castello di Vezio.
It was a wonderful way to end our trip.
Like Venice, Varenna is on my list of places I want to go back to someday. Varenna is on the southern side of the Alps and there are a ton of incredible hiking trails nearby.
I hope you enjoyed this series about our trip to Italy! Stay tuned to see where we venture to next.
Until next time,
Stephanie
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