Boating Around Lake Como

Trip date: September 2023 

As beautiful as Bellagio is, the entire lake beckens! One day a small group of us took the ferry from Bellagio to the town of Como. At the time we were going, only the "slow" ferry as it is called, was available. This ended up being perfect as we travelled down the southwest leg of the lake, stopping at some truly gorgeous towns. 

We sailed across to Tremezzo with its super pretty town center and belltower, and then south to the tiny village of Nesso, with just 1200 people! 

Then stopping at Carate Urio, you could see how the town was built right into the rock wall. And finally we came into Como, a large city of over 80k, with the big dome of the cathedral clearly in sight. 

It was such a gorgeous day and the scenery around the lake was truly breathtaking. Bonus, the ferry served Aperol spritz! I'd say this is a pretty great tour for €10.40! 

In Como we had lunch at Krudo pizza, which had been recommended to one of our friends. It was another good spot with lots of outdoor seating for our large party, the food was fine. It's also in the Old Town area which is really pretty to walk around. 

After lunch, the kids (13, 15, 16) wanted to go shopping so I snuck off on my own to head up the funicular for more great views of the city (I've got Sephora at home!). If I'm in a city and there is a funicular, chances are high that I will be going on it!

Unfortunately the queue was pretty long, residents always have priority, so by the time I got up I didn't have much time to walk around. It's quite pretty up there though and I think there are a few hiking trails, so if you have more time, I'd go for it!

I headed back down into town to meet the group for a drink at an outdoor cafe right across from the cathedral. Beautiful; they chose the perfect table.

We were on the "fast ferry" back to Bellagio, which is a hydrofoil. Unfortunately when we boarded only downstairs seats were available. It felt hot and muggy and the windows were covered with condensation. This hour was nowhere near as pleasant as the slow ferry had been! 

Opposite of a €10 tour, the next day Claudette organized 2 Vaporina wooden boats to take all of us on a private tour of the lake from Como Classic Boats. As the famous boat builder Ernesto Riva founded his shipyard on Lake Como in 1771 it seemed a fitting way to explore! 

This was such a fun day and the weather was absolutely fantastic for our 4-hour tour. They provided prosecco and we brought our sandwiches from a deli in town. 

We zipped past Tremezzo, slowed to view the beautiful private homes in Mezzegra, and crossed the water to see the Roman bridge of Nesso. We were traveling down the same section of the lake we took on the ferry the day before but this time we were able to stop and pull in close to see all those villas!

We weren't the only ones outside of Villa Oleandra (George and Amal’s)! Then our captain took us past Hotel Passalacqua in Moltrasio, which is one of the top hotels in the world. 

We crossed to the other side again to take a look at Villa Pliniana, a stunning 16th century estate now owned by the Sereno Hotels & used for events. It's got 17 bedrooms, a private boat dock, heli pad, and private spa!

We then made our way to Villa del Balbianello. I didn't know anything about the beautiful estate, but others recognized it right away from Star Wars and Casino Royale!

We got off our boats here as we were having a private tour. It was amazing! Before it became a rental place for private events, like films and weddings, the explorer Guido Monzino owned it. I hadn't heard of him before but he was a VERY interesting guy!

But he wasn't the first owner; it was originally built for Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini in 1787 on the site of a 13th century Franciscan monastery. It passed hands over the years until an American bought it in 1919. After he passed it was sold to Monzino in 1973.

This was also the year that Monzino led the first Italian expedition to climb Mount Everest! But that was actually his 20th expedition (and his last). He had led explorations to places like West Africa, Kilimanjaro, and Greenland multiple times!

The home is a museum of his life, his travels, and his collections. I felt right at home!

Sadly he died in 1988 and is interred on the grounds. It was really great learning about him.

Our boats picked us up when we were done, and we headed back to Bellagio. Such an incredible and stylish day on the lake! 

On my last evening in Bellagio, the 13 of us who were left took the public water taxi over to Tremezzo. We strolled through Villa Carlotta and the gardens, which are absolutely beautiful!

Besides stunning scenery, the views of the alps and the lake are incredible! I highly recommend an afternoon or evening here. 

It was a short walk over to the Hotel Grand Tremezzo where we had dinner reservations for the evening. But as it is me, we first had cocktails on their terrace bar with more stunning views. Let me just say that it is not easy dealing with a party of 10 (we sat the kids inside and let them play cards) and the team here did a fab job. Little towers of appetizers were brought out with our drinks which was such a classy touch; no wonder JLo and Affleck had their honeymoon here!

We moved to La Terrazza for dinner, one long table of 13. It's not Michelin starred but they want one; it's obvious in the service, the menu, and the style of the dishes. As with most fine dining restaurants of this calibre they expect the entire table to order somewhat cohesively...not this group!

While some ordered a starter and a main, others ordered just a main and then wanted dessert right after. Some folks felt the wine wasn't refilled fast enough and asked the bottle to be passed around. Some ordered desserts that took a long time to bake even though we were on a tight schedule because we had a private boat taxi picking us up at the latest time possible! It was controlled chaos but the restaurant handled it with aplomb!

It was wonderful, it was delicious, it was hard to watch the staff trying their best to make everything work, it was awesome to see 3 teenagers get excited about the most "cheffy" dishes & ingredients they had tasted to date, it was funny to watch my friends who weren't experienced in this type of dining, and if you ask the kitchen they would probably say it was a shit show! LOL! 

As we left most everyone yelled "arrivederci!" and not in a friendly way! But we all had a blast, and tipped well, and I would recommend going to La Terrazza but maybe with a smaller group and all just go for the tasting menu! 😆

Our private wooden Riva was waiting at the hotel's dock and we sailed back to Bellagio under a bright, full moon- a supermoon in fact! Just like this trip had been, SUPER!

Cheers to the birthday girl Claudette who organized it all, may you always look back at this trip and remember how much your friends adore you (and Lago di Como!) 💖

All Lake Como photos here.

Other posts from this trip:

Beautiful Bellagio, Lake Como

First Class, All the Way!

Beautiful Bellagio, Lake Como 🇮🇹

Trip date: September 2023

My friend Claudette decided to celebrate her big birthday in Lake Como and invited a bunch of us to join her. The party in Italy was set for Sept 26th making it a long month of travel for me; 26 days coincidentally! 

So after I visited Washington DC, Normandy, Paris, and finished traveling around Morocco, my friend Gail and I flew to Italy to join the festivities! We booked a direct 3-hour flight from Marrakech to Milan on EasyJet and then arranged thru the hotel for a private driver to pick us up and drive us the 1 ½ hours to Bellagio. 

Claudette had chosen the Hotel Belvedere and it was just the perfect spot! I booked a Double Comfort with Lake View (now called a Superior) which was a splurge but how often am I going to be in Lake Como? I wanted to gaze at the lake every day, all day!

When I checked in, one of the staff escorted me up to my 4th floor room where there was a bottle of chilled prosecco waiting. I had a big corner room with a private terrace overlooking the pool and the lake, as well as 2 Juliet balconies with views to the west and of the alps. Even my bathtub had a view of the lake! I was officially in heaven!

Lake Como is the shape of an inverted Y with Bellagio right in the intersection, it's literally in the middle of it all. Bellagio is very small; a village with about 3,820 locals and just 3 streets crossed by 7 lanes of stone staircases. Obviously it is very easy to walk around without a map!

The hotel is located about 3/4 of a mile from Bellagio center and just behind Pescallo, a tiny fishing village on the east side of the peninsula. This entire area looks like a postcard! It's all stunning!

It was a super relaxing week, which was absolutely perfect for me having been on the road for so long. Most afternoons were spent by the pool and in the jacuzzi which looks out to the lake. The hotel has a pool cafe and bar right there so snacks and drinks were never far. And the hotel had just opened an amazing spa and were letting guests use the facilities like sauna, vichy shower, salt rooms, etc for free. 

In Bellagio, along the waterfront, are the beautiful Gardens of Villa Melzi d’Eril. A few of us went one morning and it was a really lovely stroll. The property was owned by Melzi who was the Duke of Lodi, VP of Napoleon’s Italian Republic, and Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Italy. He only lived in the villa from 1810 until his death in 1816 but it is still owned by direct descendants of Melzi, the Gallarati Scotti family, and is there private residence. 

You can visit a small museum about the life of the Duke, the family Chapel, and the greenhouses. And really just wandering the property and taking in the stunning views is worth the €10 entry fee!

The cobblestone lanes of Bellagio's borgo (old town) are great for wandering. There are lots of little shops selling wood worked items, wine, clothing, leather goods, deli & grocery, etc. And of course there are cute cafes, gelaterias, and restaurants. 

As there were 19 of us (from Australia, the UK, and the US) restaurants were generally chosen by who had room for our large group. On the first night we went to La Punta and sat out on the patio. We were all so excited to be seeing each other that there wasn't a lot of focus on the food, I didn't even take a photo! I remember very good pasta and fish dishes however.

Right in the center of town is a restaurant called Suisse, in a hotel of the same name. Some of us had lunch there one afternoon, outside on their terrace which is right in front of the ferry docks. They do a pasta dish inside of a hollowed out wheel of Parmigiano. Fun to watch, delicious to eat!

A couple of nights later a bunch of us had dinner back here for one of the kids who's 16th birthday it was. She decided the pasta was better the first day, but it was still a great spot for a big group as they set us up on 2 long tables nearest to the water. 

Some of us went to Antico Pozzo one afternoon and had a wonderful lunch on their patio. I had the traditional cotoletta di vitello alla Milanese which is made with bone-in veal chop. 

Dinner one evening at Bistrot Antichi Sapori was super solid. It's a popular choice, and doesn't take reservations, so we did wait a bit. But it was fun and really well priced. 

Aperitivo wine bar was the perfect spot for drinks after dinner one evening. They have an amazing selection and offer over 40 wines by the glass! I just wish I would have had time to visit more than once!

We also had pizza at a spot called Nando's; I'd skip this as there must be better pizza in town! It was very disappointing. 

And of course, one evening we celebrated Claudette! She hosted a fabulous cocktail party and dinner at the Hotel Belvedere complete with a huge antipasto spread outside on their big terrace, and then sit down dinner for 19 inside with views of the lake. What a night!

Bellagio is just so serene and charming, I really couldn't imagine staying in one of the bigger towns. I was so happy Claudette chose this sweet location!

All Lake Como photos here.

Other posts from this trip:

Boating Around Lake Como

First Class, All the Way!