rick steves lake como audio tour

Rick Steves: Nature and romance in Italy’s Lakes District

Northern Italy's seductively beautiful lakes district – in the shadow of the Alps – seems heaven-sent for communing with nature. Though just an hour north of Milan, this area feels a world away from the business and bustle of Italy's second city.

In this romantic region, wistful 19th-century villas are overgrown with old vines that seem to ache with stories to tell. Stunted palm trees appear to be held against their will in this northern location. And vistas are made-to-order for poets. In fact, it was early nature lovers who wrote and painted here and put this area on the tourist map in the 1800s.

Tourists have several lakes to choose from, and all have their charms – especially Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. But my favorite is Lake Como, offering the best mix of accessibility, scenery, sightseeing and relaxation, with a heady whiff of aristocratic old days.

Lake Como is lined with luxurious villas, crowned by snowcapped mountains, and busy with fleets of little ferries darting from one cute town to another. The most famous town is Bellagio, the self-proclaimed "Pearl of the Lake" – a combination of old-world classiness and new-world luxury. Steep steps rise from the harbor front up to a smattering of sun-splashed squares. With spendy five-star hotels and high-end shopping, Bellagio pleases well-heeled travelers.

While a part of me enjoys the "tramp in a palace" feeling I get in Bellagio, my ideal Lake Como home is Varenna. Easily accessible by train from Milan, Varenna packs its 800 residents into a compact townscape on the less-developed side of the lake. Individual homes are defined only by their pastel colors, and the old town has no streets – just characteristic stepped lanes. The passerella – a lakeside promenade connecting the ferry dock with the old town center – is a fine place to stroll.

On Lake Como, villas face the lake with front doors that welcome visitors arriving by boat (and ferries arriving from Bellagio and Varenna). Many villas are owned by the region's "impoverished nobility." Bred and raised not to work, they eventually were unable to pay for the upkeep of their sprawling houses. While some villas have been bought by the region's nouveaux riches, others have been transformed into hotels or sightseeing attractions.

For garden lovers, Villa Carlotta is the best – especially in spring, when many of its flowers are in peak bloom. But the dreamiest estate is Villa del Balbianello, which perches on a promontory near the village of Lenno and was featured in the movies "Casino Royale" and "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones." Built at the end of the 18th century on the remains of an old Franciscan church, the villa reflects the exotic vision of its last owner, explorer Guido Monzino. The real masterpiece here is the terraced garden and splendid loggia, where the land fits the architecture and landscaping in a particularly lovely way.

Though it lacks the cozy charm of Lake Como, Lake Maggiore is a suitable backup destination. The best part of any visit here is a wander through the exotic gardens and elaborate villas built by the wealthy Borromeo family, who lovingly turned several of the lake's islands into retreats.

Your handy transportation hub for these islands is the resort town of Stresa. While I find it generally lacking in character, it does have a fine waterfront promenade and stately 19th-century lakeside hotels dating back to when this town was on the Grand Tour circuit. Stresa is famous for its Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees, which served as an infirmary during World War I, hosting a recovering Ernest Hemingway. The writer later returned to the hotel, setting part of his novel "A Farewell to Arms" here.

But Stresa is mainly worthwhile as a jumping-off point for Lake Maggiore's garden islands. The best one is Isola Bella, dominated by a palatial villa boasting a grand hall with an 80-foot-high dome, paintings from the Borromeo family's private collection, and an 18th-century grotto, decorated from ceiling to floor with shell motifs and black-and-white stones. The terraced Baroque gardens, with the Borromeo family unicorn sitting on top, give the island the look of a stepped pyramid from the water.

The other main Borromean islands are Isola Madre, featuring the first Borromeo palace – dark and somber with a huge collection of dolls, marionettes and exquisite 17th-century marionette theater sets – and Isola Pescatori, the smallest and most residential of the three, with a couple of seafood restaurants, picnic benches, views and, blissfully, little else to do.

While you can visit Italy's lakes as a day trip from Milan, I recommend spending the night. You'll really feel the romance of Europe. Make it a point to stroll a waterfront promenade. As you pass under wisteria-drenched villas and caryatid lovers pressed silently against each other, you'll understand the importance of picking the right travel partner.

Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. Email him at [email protected] and follow his blog on Facebook .

• Smaller Text Larger Text
• Home / 

Daily Dose of Europe: Lago di Como — Where Italians Honeymoon 

When traveling in Italy, I find Lake Como the most relaxing place to take a break. Join me there now on a mental break from self-isolation and coronavirus crisis.

Even if we’ve had to postpone trips to Europe, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Here’s another one of my favorite travel memories — a reminder of what’s waiting for you in Europe at the other end of this crisis.

Stretched over two chairs atop the skinny passenger deck of a 10-car ferry as it shuttles across Lago di Como, I look south into the haze of Italy. I’m savoring the best of my favorite country with none of the chaos and intensity that’s generally part of the Italian experience. Looking north, into a crisp alpine breeze, I see snowcapped Alps.

I’m just minutes from Switzerland…but it’s clear I’m in Italy. The ferry workers are Italian, with that annoying yet endearing and playful knack for underachieving. Precision seems limited to the pasta: exactly al dente. Rather than banks and public clocks (which inundate nearby Swiss lake resorts, such as Lugano), the lanes that tumble into this lake come with lazy cafés and hole-in-the-wall shops, brimming with juicy fruits and crunchy greens.

In this romantic Lakes District in the shadow of the Alps, wistful 19th-century villas are seductively overgrown with old vines that seem to ache with stories to tell. Stunted palm trees look as if held against their will in this northern location. And vistas are made to order for poets. In fact, it was Romantic-age nature lovers who wrote and painted here that put this region on the tourism map in the 1800s.

The million-euro question: Which lake to see? Little Orta has an offbeat, less-developed charm. Maggiore has garden islands and Stresa, a popular resort town. Garda is a hit with German windsurfers. But for the best mix of scenery, old aristocratic romance, and wisteria charm, my choice is Como.

Sleepy Lago di Como, just an hour north of Milan by convenient train, is a good place to take a break from the obligatory turnstile culture of Italy. It seems half the travelers I meet have tossed their itineraries into the lake and are actually relaxing.

Today, the hazy lazy lake’s only serious industry is tourism. Many lakeside residents travel daily to nearby Lugano, in Switzerland, to find work. The area’s isolation and flat economy have left it pretty much the way those 19th-century Romantics painted it.

The self-proclaimed “Pearl of the Lake,” Bellagio is the leading Lago di Como resort, a classy combination of prim tidiness and Old World elegance. If you don’t mind feeling like a “tramp in the palace,” it’s a fine place to surround yourself with the more adventurous of the posh travelers. Arcades facing the lake are lined with shops. The heavy curtains hanging between the arches keep VIP visitors and their poodles from sweating. While the fancy ties and jewelry sell best at lake level, the locals shop up the hill.

Lago di Como is famous among Italians for its shape: like a stick figure of a man with two legs striding out. Bellagio is located where the two legs come together (which makes it the subject of funny, if crude, local rhymes you can learn when you visit). I wander from the town right on out to the crotch, following the view of the lake. At Punta Spartivento (literally “the point that divides the wind”), I find a Renoir atmosphere, perfect for a picnic while gazing north and contemplating the place where Italy is welded to the Swiss Alps.

I head to the town of Varenna (another 10-minute hop on the ferry), which is my home base. Narrow stepped lanes climb almost invisibly from the harbor to the ancient arterial road that runs parallel to the lake along the top of town. Varenna packs its 800 residents into a compact townscape — tight as 50 oysters overloading a too-small rock. Individual homes are defined only by their pastel colors.

With Varenna’s dwellings crowding the lake, the delightful passerella (boardwalk) arcs from the ferry dock to the tiny harbor past private villas guarded by wrought iron and wisteria. Two centuries ago, the harborfront was busy with coopers expertly fitting their chestnut and oak staves into barrels, stoneworkers carving and shipping prized black marble, and characteristic wooden boats heading out to catch the lake’s unique missoltino — freshwater “sardines” still proudly served by local chefs. Today, the harbor’s commerce is little more than the rental of paddleboats and a gelateria run by a guy named Eros.

Other than watch the ferries come and go, there’s wonderfully little to do in Varenna. At night, it whispers luna di miele — honeymoon. And strolling its passerella, passing by those wisteria-drenched villas where caryatid lovers are pressed silently against each other, I’m reminded of the importance of choosing the right travel partner.

(This story is excerpted from my upcoming book,  For the Love of Europe  — collecting 100 of my favorite memories from a lifetime of European travel. It’s coming out in July, and available for pre-order . And you can also watch a video clip related to this story: Just visit   Rick Steves Classroom Europe   and search for “Lake Como”.)