GUIDES

The LussoIQ to Lake Como

Alpine water, belle époque villas, and the art of doing absolutely nothing with great elegance.

Lake Como is the oldest luxury destination in Italy. The Romans came here to escape the summer heat. Pliny the Younger built two villas on its shores and wrote letters home about the light on the water. The Grand Tour brought the English aristocracy. The belle époque brought the hotels. George Clooney arrived and the property prices finished the job.

None of this has diminished it. The lake is still forty kilometres of cold Alpine water framed by mountains that drop straight into it. The villas are still there — extravagant, perfectly maintained, entirely serious about beauty. The ferry still runs between the villages on the western shore with the unhurried confidence of something that has been making the same journey for a very long time.

Come here to slow down. The lake rewards patience the way Chianti rewards slowness and the Amalfi Coast rewards flexibility. Pick one shore, one village, one hotel with a terrace over the water. Stay longer than you planned. The rest of Italy will still be there when you leave.

THE VILLAGES

Where to Base Yourself

Bellagio

The most famous village on the lake sits on the tip of the promontory where the two southern arms divide. The views go in three directions simultaneously. The streets are narrow, steep, and lined with silk shops and good restaurants. It gets crowded in summer but retains its dignity — the kind of place that has been beautiful for long enough to be unbothered by admiration.

Varenna

The quieter, less-visited alternative to Bellagio on the eastern shore. A small fishing village with a waterfront promenade, two excellent hotels, and the Villa Monastero gardens running along the lake edge. The ferry crossing from Varenna to Bellagio takes fifteen minutes and is one of the more pleasant ways to spend a Como afternoon.

Tremezzo

Home to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo and the Villa Carlotta — whose gardens in May, when the azaleas and rhododendrons are in full bloom, are among the finest in Italy. The western shore position gives Tremezzo the best afternoon light on the lake. The floating pool at the Grand Hotel is visible from the ferry and worth the reservation.

Menaggio

The most practical base on the western shore — ferry connections to Bellagio and Varenna, good restaurants, a relaxed atmosphere that the more touristed villages sometimes lack. Less spectacular than Bellagio, more liveable. The kind of place where you eat dinner twice at the same restaurant because the first time was that good.