Posts Tagged With: Lake Como

Greenway Loop walk from Lenno to Tremezzo.

Posted on September 18, 2024 by julieallen36

When deciding what we were going to do today, we had a choice. Either we could catch a No 10 bus to Como (1hr) in order to catch the funicular railway (7mins) up the mountain for views of Lake Como and then catch the two hour ferry back to Lenno. OR….we could walk a section of the Greenway path from Lenno to Tremezzo. I’d found this loop walk on a fabulous Website called MyLakeComo before I came away. They have all sorts of hikes to suggest along with loads of other ideas for activities to do around here. The information is very detailed and I really fancied doing this 5km ‘easy’ walk which I thought was well within our capability. I was very glad when Jane agreed that this was what we’d do and forget about the Como trip which exhausted me just thinking about it!

The weather today was supposed to start out with bright sunshine but a 7am look out through the curtains showed that this wasn’t entirely true. Cloudy and very chilly!

Anyway, by 10am we were on our way and walked along to the Gelataria, where the walks starts. Everywhere seemed to be closed today as it’s Wednesday so it was really peaceful. The Website has a link to directions using Google Maps but I couldn’t seem to get this to work. Instead, we relied on the description of the route which I’d taken photos of on my phone. The Greenway itself is well sign-posted and marked with steel symbols along the way.

The route runs right in front of our hotel ‘Albergo Lenno’ then along the shoreline before climbing up a steep cobbled path back to the main road. Here we left the Greenway and had to walk along the main road which has barely any pavement and is incredibly busy. Luckily we soon cut off back down to the Lake and into a little park. Here the guidance said ‘when you find an open gate, do not hesitate to go through’. We found ourselves in a lovely Italianate garden area right in front of the beautiful Villa Fontane. The views from here were fabulous as the sun had now come out and the sky was blue.

Next we walked along to the piazza in the hamlet of Azzano. Here there is an ancient magnolia tree 16m high and with a 1.3metres wide trunk. I sat under it which was lovely until one of the buds fell down from a great height and landed on my foot with a thud. Ouch!

Now we headed upwards along steep lanes with nice views but only to come back down again to the hamlet of Bolvedo. This is the start of Tremezzo and the lakeside here is particularly beautiful with the stunning Villa Quiete and a pretty orange church. Jane spotted the terrace of the Bar Roma, bathed in sunshine and right by the Lake. A great place for a sketch. And it turns out an Aperol Spritz for Jane, who was starting her birthday celebrations as day early. I blame this on the Italians, who seem to drink a Spritz no matter the time of day! I meanwhile, had a small beer and we both welcomed the freebies of crisps, and a plate of bread, cheese and Bresaola (another Valtelina delicacy of salted aged beef). Free! Who’d have thought it.

After this welcome break we walked along the promenade to another park at Teresio Olivelli, where steps down into the water provide a nice place for a dip. There were indeed two brave girls giving it a go.

Now we headed back towards Lenno by climbing up steep lanes and cobbled alleys and then walked through a series of hamlets of Valesio, Balogna, Viana and Intignano. None of these are shown on Google maps, so thank goodness for the Greenway signs to lead us! Up here there were lovely views all around and it was very quiet wandering past local homes and gardens, fabulous villas, olive groves and all the time with great views down to Lake Como. The sun by now had gone in again but it felt great to be this high up away from the madding crowd. We finally came back down to the lake via an incredibly steep cobbled path called Pola Vecchia and we were back in the hotel by 3pm. Haha 2 hrs walk indeed!

I have to say this has been one of my favourite days of the trip. For info, I just checked in with Jane and her favourite day so far was our Venice trip to Burano.

We ate in our hotel again tonight. This is not like us at all but it’s really easy and the food is great. There are several older couples who have been coming here for years. They get the same room allocated every time and the same table for dinner. They even seem to get their own special menu. Could this be us in a few years time?

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Greenway, Italy, Lake Como, Lenno | Leave a comment

Four Weddings in an Italian Garden

Posted on September 17, 2024 by julieallen36

After yesterday’s shenanigans I found it really difficult to sleep. I closed my eyes and all I could see were tunnels and bends. Not very nice. I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up at 6am thinking about logistics for the next few days. My main responsibility on holiday is ‘planning’ whereas Jane is responsible for where we eat, money, charging batteries, tea and coffee. I have however, been appointed as Chief Door Opener as-well, which is nice.

Anyway….our plans for today were a little more relaxed. We were off to Bellagio just across the lake by ferry. I’d found a really good blog that gave what seemed a good route to explore Bellagio so we planned to follow this.

We were up relatively early again to catch the ferry at 10:10am. Luckily the ferry station is right outside our hotel and so it’s really easy. We woke up to a beautiful sunny day and it was lovely by the lake so early where it was still very quiet. The views from the front of the ferry were fantastic all around and I couldn’t sit still- preferring to stay standing and enjoyed the views and taking way too many photos.

The ferry stops at Tremezzo and Villa Carlotta before arriving in Bellagio after 30 mins. The sun was already in and out of the clouds but we were so lucky, as later everything clouded over. It was spectacular.

When we arrived in Bellagio it was surprisingly quiet. Everything I’d read said that this place would be heaving with tourists. But apparently they make a slow start to the day.

We started off by wandering along to La Punta Spartivento which is right at the end of the Penninsula that Bellagio is on. The views from here were fab and I took the opportunity to do a little sketch. Very enjoyable.

Next we went to see some real art as we visited the Gallery of Jerry Fresia who is an American artist based in Bellagio. I’d met Jerry as a student on one of his workshops at Broadway Arts Festival several years ago. It was lovely to see his wife again who was utterly charming and friendly. I also enjoyed seeing Jerry’s paintings in the flesh. They’re so much larger in life than on Instagram. Sadly , I couldn’t see Jerry as he is teaching a workshop here in Bellagio this week.

Next we started following the route I’d found on the blog proper. We were now in the upper part of the village walking along Via Garibaldi. We visited the little market in the piazza near the church of San Giacomo. The random bell ringing really did sound lovely.

Sadly the Xmas decoration shop had closed but we did find ‘Bottega Di Legno della Familigia Tacchi’ which sells all sorts of wooden toys and decorations as well as practical things like chopping boards. It was doing an incredible trade and we found a lovely new Xmas decoration!

The upper part of the village is joined to the lower part (waterside) by a series of pebbled Salina’s. These are narrow and steep alleys lined with shops and cafes etc and by now packed with tourists. Our ‘guide’ told us to ignore these and to come down the much quieter Salina Genazzini, which we did.

We decided that we needed a loo break and a little sustenance and so stopped at the Hotel Splendide’s waterfront bar. It was indeed very splendid and after a brief respite we were ready to go again. Now we walked away from the harbour and along a lovely flower filled promenade. We were heading to the gardens of Villa Melzi. This impressive villa was built between 1802 and 1805 and whilst still privately owned, is now a national monument looked after by the Italian National Trust. The gardens were beautiful, right on the lakeside and with century old trees, a Japanese water garden as well as classical statues and a grotto.

The gardens are so beautiful that there were four couples having their wedding photos taken at various lovely spots.

By now we’d done quite a bit of walking and I was beginning to fade. We made our way back to the harbour and bought ourselves, yes you guessed it, a gelato. Yum , Amaretto was a v good choice today. We sat down by the water taxi station (yours for a meagre £3- 400 per hour…) and I did another little sketch. Then we decided we’d better join the queue for our ferry back to Lenno. Oh..big mistake , when we got to ‘platform’ 2 the queues were huge and they were prioritising entry for three very large groups. This was 20 mins before the 3:50 was due to leave. Inevitably, when the small ferry arrived we were about 8 people away from being allowed to board as the boat was full of ‘groups’ and people who had now just pushed in from the back of the queue pretending they were part of the ‘group’. Hm, there was nothing else for it but to stand and wait for the next ferry at 4:45! Someone behind us commented that you come here thinking you’ll be able to hop about all over the lake on ferries but it just doesn’t work like that, it’s all actually rather complicated …..and busy.

Ah well, the time passed quickly and the sun came out again making the water sparkle for our journey home. We stumbled out of the boat and straight into our lovely hotel and decided to eat in the restaurant here again. It is really very good and very easy. A very relaxing and enjoyable day.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Bellagio, Lake Como, Villa Melzi | 2 Comments

Day trip to St Moritz

Posted on September 16, 2024 by julieallen36

We were indeed up at the crazy hour of 6am in order to be on time for our big trip! This particular part of our trip had proved the most tricky to organise. We’d wanted to travel on the Bernina Express which is one of the most scenic train rides in the world. However, the logistics of organising this when staying in Lenno at our hotel were too complex. In the end we opted for a compromise which was a day trip that included a one hour journey on a regional train (as opposed to the tourist train) but up exactly the same spectacular trainline.

So after a quick breakfast provided by the hotel’s night porter, we made our way up to the meeting point on the main road opposite Lenno post office. The sun was only just coming up and the lake looked beautiful and golden.

We were actually a bit early but our coach arrived bang on time and we met our driver Luca and our English guide, Julia. We were the first in the coach but we then picked up more people in Tremezzo, Cadenobia (off the ferry from Bellagio) and Mennagio. The coach was almost full by the time we’d collected everyone.

The first part of the journey took us along the shore of Lake Como heading north. It’s very narrow roads and I was very glad I was not driving, this was much more relaxing. At the top of the lake there is more space and apparently this is where the more energetic Germans and Dutch like to hang out in their motorhomes whilst they windsurf.

We then entered the valley of Valtellina. Julia described to us the activities of this long, prosperous farming region. The south facing mountainsides were covered in vineyards in tiny terraces making it a very difficult place to grow grapes. She told us about the best wines being designated DOCG (Denomination of Guaranteed and Controlled Origin) and named a few of the best : Grumello, Inferno, and Sassella. They’re all based on the ancient Roman grape of Nobello.

There were also apple orchards, wild strawberries, blueberries, corn and cows being farmed in the area which is also a bit of a foodie destination!

Our first stop was the town of Tirano. Famous as being the start of the Bernina Express Railway, for a miracle involving the Madonna appearing to some chap and telling him to build a great big church there and now famous for having the longest queues for the toilet in northern Italy. We made a serious error of judgement on our time here (50mins) as the cafe we chose only had one loo and of course , everyone headed here. This left us very little time for anything else but somehow we squeezed in a nose into the church with the massive organ, a photo of the train in front of said church and a purchase of a bottle of Inferno from the little supermarket! Happy days.

Back on the bus we now started to climb up the same route that the train took. It is very steep and scenic and we finally arrived at Poschiavo where we would board the train. In fact we had to wait as it was running 6 mins late which is unheard of in Switzerland (which we had by now entered). Our group had a carriage booked but it was all rather chaotic and by the time we’d boarded we’d managed to miss out on windows seats. Boo. This all made taking photos rather tricky. The good thing about this regional train as opposed to the Bernina Express is that the windows pull down and they’re BIG windows! As we were climbing upto 2,253metres above sea level it became distinctly chilly 🥶 but we kept the window on our side down all the way! Still the views as we climbed up amongst the pointy peaks, dirty, receding glaciers and turquoise lakes were stunning. We disembarked again at Diavolezza and were glad to get back on the coach to warm up!

From here it was just a 15 mins drive down into St Moritz, home of the rich and famous. We followed Julia’s advice and went with everyone else into Hauser’s Restaurant. Supposedly somewhere quick and relatively cheap to get something to eat. It was a bit of a surprise when the Rosti with Sausage we’d ordered to share cost 24 Euros!

Next we sampled the shopping in town…not for us Gucci or Valentino. No, we headed straight to the chocolate shop called Laderach. The prices were eye watering including one box which cost 280 Euros!! We found a bar of chocolate and a couple of truffles for a mere £10. Bargain. And they then gave us free pieces to try. Hurrah.

Back on the coach again and now we began our decent back down to Lake Como. This time we drove down the magnificent Malojapass dropping some 2000 metres in just 10mins. The twists and turns on this road made the Bealach na Ba in Scotland look like a walk in the park. I was very glad that Luca was driving, he really was an excellent driver.

Our final stop of the day was a brief visit to the very picturesque Italian village of Chiavenna. Here we made our way straight to the pretty bridge across the river and generally mooched about not falling for the old toilet and cafe faux pas!

We dropped everyone off along the route back along Lake Como until we were the last ones onboard. I got of the coach feeling like I’d been well and truly shaken up. What a busy day, we were both exhausted. We decided not to bother with dinner tonight but celebrated on the hotel front terrace with a beer and a few crisps. Perfect for planning what we’d be doing over the next few days as the weather looks like it might cheer up again.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Bernina Express, Italy, Lake Como, St Moritz, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Fast Track to Paradise

Posted on September 15, 2024 by julieallen36

Today we moved on from Garda to Lake Como. This is where I’d been looking forward to visiting but I was nervous that, like Bardolino, it might be over-crowded, too touristy and generally spoiled.

Well, I’m pleased to report that so far this is not the case and Lake Como has not disappointed . We were transferred here by taxi which took about 2.5 hours. It’s not a very scenic drive for most of the way through cities like Brescia, Bergamo and the outskirts of Milan. We drove along the Autostrada with views of the industrial heartland of Northern Italy.

However…..as soon as we reached Como on the road high, high above the lake the views were absolutely stunning and we drove along the panoramic road all the way to our hotel in Lenno which is on the western shore just across from Bellagio. Our driver was extremely Italian and fast but he got us here safely.

It has been a beautiful sunny day and we arrived at the hotel which is right down besides the lake and next to the ferry stop. The views are stunning and basically we appear to have landed in a sunny, sparkly paradise here. It is so different to Lake Garda surrounded by imposing mountains , everything feels like it is just an arms reach away.

We have had a lazy afternoon, wandering along for a gelato and the eating a fabulous meal here at the hotel on the terrace overlooking the lake as the sun went down. The most incredible sight was this light at the top of the opposite hill which just kept getting bigger and bigger. We didn’t realise what it was until we worked out that it was the moon rising above the mountain!

I think we are going to like it here very much but tomorrow we are off on our adventure to St Moritz v early so I’d better say Ciao for now!