Varenna, Italy and Lake Como Travel Guide

In early 2022, despite Covid still rampaging through the nation like a toddler with a bag of Goldfish, Kevin and I started to think about plans for our 10 year wedding anniversary. Europe was starting to open back up, and we had spent two years dreaming of our mutual second love and the one we fell for way back on our honeymoon. Yes, I’m talking about Italy. We had missed out on our friend’s wedding in the summer of 2020 when travel was shut down, and due to that, we had some airline credits that needed to be used. We asked for a “sitdown” with both the grandparents and asked if they would be willing to split up the time and watch Maeve for six nights while we celebrated our decade of marriage. We landed on Lake Como by chance - we knew we had limited time and two main criteria: a destination in Europe and a nonstop flight. We found a cheap flight to Milan and realized that Lake Como was just about an hour away, so that settled that. 

Varenna, Italy

Alert: stereotypes found ahead. To be honest, we’d never put much thought into visiting Lake Como before this trip. We’re Lake Garda people. Lake Maggiore people. Not Lake Como people. Right? It seemed like somewhere rich people went when they visited Italy or where non-rich tourists go to get a glimpse of how the other half live aka George Clooney and Richard Branson. There are several places like this scattered throughout Italy, trendy Pinterested locales where tourists flock, that have always just seemed…inauthentic…to us. Case in point: Portofino, where Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker got married the day we arrived on this trip. Yet after an uneventful (and toddlerless!) flight, here we were, barreling toward Varenna, the Como town we had chosen as our home base, in the back of a Puegeot with a Milanese driver full-speed-aheading-it. And guess what? We actually really loved it. We will go back! We will bring Maeve! If you are heading to northern Italy and have a few days to kill, here is our travel guide for Varenna, Italy and the surrounding area of Lago di Como.

Varenna, Italy Foot Bridge

What to Do in Varenna, Italy

Visit Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi

Lake Como exudes an antiquated elegance, its landscape dotted with luxurious and extravagant villas, many of which are now museums that are open to the public. A short walk from the center of town you will find Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi, both open for visitors. Villa Monastero, in particular, was built at the end of the 12th century and is now decorated to represent the late nineteenth century with ornate paintings and gilded furnishings.

Hike to Vezio Castle

High above Varenna lies a medieval treasure - the Vezio Castle, dating back to the late 11th century. To access the castle, look for a staircase directly up from the main ferry dock - but make sure to look for the small and inconspicuous sign, as it’s easy to miss! Make sure to wear proper shoes as the path up the mountain is filled with jagged rocks and cobblestones. While the castle itself is nothing to write home about, the view is spectacular and completely worth the visit. They also have these creepy plaster ghost sculptures dotted around the landscape of the castle and I was into it.

Vezio Castle View

Check out the Church of San Giorgio

Located in Piazza San Giorgio, this 14th century church is a mixture of Gothic and Romanesque styles. We recommend visiting the church when it is open and then grabbing a gelato in the piazza outside. 

Take a Ferry to Bellagio

The ferry system on Lake Como is impressive, making it very easy to bop from village to village and explore the best the area has to offer. We spent a morning and early afternoon visiting Bellagio, which is directly across the lake from Varenna and takes about 15 minutes via ferry. Bellagio is much more touristy than Varenna, so we were happy we chose the latter as our home base. That being said, it was nice to wander around, taking in the beautiful hotels, eating a lovely risotto lunch and getting a drink at Aperitivo Et Al, the view from which I am always seeing on Pinterest and Instagram.

Do a Day Trip to Switzerland

Yes, you read that right - Europe is great that way in that you can easily hop over to another country for a day trip. In this case, Switzerland is a short bus/train ride from Lake Como and we went to Lugano for the day (I will write a separate post specifically on that adventure)! 

Lugano Switzerland Church

Lugano, Switzerland

Rent a Boat on the Lake

Renting a boat on Lake Como was about as easy as it gets. There is a small boat rental company directly across from the ferry dock. We rented a small motor boat for two hours and got to enjoy touring around and exploring all of the mansions from the water. Richard Branson’s: 10/10 - incredible. George Clooney’s: meh. Kinda boring.

Things to do in Lake Como

Drink the Local Wine

Much like our unfounded views on the atmosphere of Lake Como, we also weren’t expecting much from the wine, and we were therefore pleasantly surprised with the offerings, from sparkling Franciacorta to light but lush Valtellina. 

Where to Eat in Varenna

Il Cavatappi

On our first few days in Varenna, we kept passing this restaurant and drooling over the dishes we were seeing. They were completely booked for most of our trip but on the last day, Kevin was determined to get us in. We holed up at a wine bar within sight of the restaurant and the moment we saw the owner arriving to open the door, he ran over and practically begged him for a table, saying we would take any time, outdoors or indoors. Luckily they had one spot open in the small outdoor space, basically directly on the walking path. The food did not disappoint and ended up being our favorite pasta of the trip.

Il Cavatappi Varenna

Albergo del Sole Ristorante Pizzeria

Good pizzas, decent atmosphere, staff that could care less. All the things you want in an Italian pizzeria. We went here twice as we really enjoyed it the first time and it was the only worthwhile pizza in town.

Osteria Quatro Pass

We split an excellent fish and a delicious pasta here on the first night of our trip. It was also refreshing that while there were a few other tourists, the majority of the clientele seemed like locals.

VarennaMonamour

This spot, located down an unassuming alley, was an unexpected treat. Rick Steves recommended and we were lucky to get a spot outside at a table where we could spy a sliver of the lake down below us. We split the paccheri with monkfish and the Mediterranean branzino.

La Vista

A little pricier, this restaurant was our anniversary splurge. The food was decent but the view made up for it, and we were fortunate to have been blessed with an incredible vanilla sky that evening.

La Vista Restaurant Varenna