Thurs 29th - 30th May
According to the travel brochures and holiday homes of Hollywood icons like George Clooney, Lake Como is supposed to be the epitome of mountain & lake beauty in Europe.
Varenna, Lake Como
We didn't find Clooney's villa, but we certainly found it difficult to enjoy if you earn a salary less than €500k. If you don't own a palace, a yacht or can afford to stay in a 5 star hotel, you're better off at one of Italy's other lakes.
Lake Maggiore was beautiful, very comfortable and both accommodation and meal prices seemed completely reasonable, if not cheap having just passed through the French Riviera. The water was cleaner, the towns were less discovered and the food was delicious.
Move closer to Milan via Lake Como, and suddenly the water gets smuttier, the roads get more crowded and narrow, the towns appear less picturesque and the prices swell for accommodation that resembles an evacuated trailer park following floods. The only camp site in town close to the ferry was shocking for its price and I wont bore you with the details of the roach infested showers that involved running from the boiler, to the coin operated timer and then back to the shower every 4 minutes. But I guess we can't really complain about the view, as it was physically impossible to get any closer to the lake without driving into it.
Standing outside the van at our campsite
Even the neighbouring towns were just as disappointing compared to Lake Maggiore. From Mennaggio, where we stayed, we planned a ferry trip skipping from town to town across the lake. We spent the morning in Varrena at a lovely garden, then had lunch at the yummy Milo Cafe along the waterfront. It was definitely the highlight of our trip to Lake Como but from our tour book's description, we needed to venture on to Bellagio to get a real taste of Como's offerings.
Private gardens in Varenna
If only we'd just stayed in Varenna. Bluntly put... I enjoyed the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas more than I enjoyed the actual Bellagio in Italy. And I can't think of a worse insult for a European town than claiming it's Disneyfied Vegas version is more cultured than its namesake. To quote the movie Clueless, the place is like a Monet - from a distance it's the most beautiful town in Italy. But set foot on its streets and you'll notice that it's really just dotted with bland over-priced tourist shops selling the same items available across Spain & France at 3 times the price, and not a single person on the street looks like a Bellagio native, much less Italian.
Looking towards Bellagio (although it's a very distant view!)The funny thing is, we walked away with some incredible photos of this lake, making it appear all the more appealing to anyone who hasn't been there. I suppose I can see why so many of us flock here in hopes of the posh European holiday, only to book a trip to Vegas the following year. I guess I wouldn't say miss it altogether, but plan to spend a small fortune on accommodation and food or cut it down to a quick stop through on the ferries instead.
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