On the shores of Lake Como

We are sitting by the shores of Lake Como in the town of Varenna, drinking coffee, finishing breakfast & killing a little time before the morning ferry comes. We’ll be taking the ferry to the town of Como, population 84,000. Among the Italian lakes, Como is deemed the most spectacular but least visited.

We arrived here last night from Milan after a roughly hour-long train ride. The small, lake-side hotel we're in has been run by the same family for four generations. The town of Varenna is small, but it provides the essentials: a green grocer, a salumeria where we can be cheese, bread and other provisions. Last night we bought our dinner at the salumeria and the green grocer: some herbed crackers, some tallegio cheese, some pate, and plums. Perfect! Eaten in an old church yard.

 

Of course, this may be the least visited of the lakes – but that does not mean that tourists are in short supply. The stroll the lakeside paths in packs & roughly every 90 minutes, a boatload of folks is disgorged from the ferries that ply the lake from end to end.

In the evening, people linger in the cafes. Locals fish the lake with long poles. Visitors hunt the shores for the good photographs. 

Taking the ferry today to Como will take roughly one and a half hours each way – so we will have plenty of time for contemplation of the clear waters and the mountains that stretch so high above the lake.