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murrayskinner Como - A travel report by Murray
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Como,  Italy - flag Italy -  Lombardia
9485 readers

murrayskinner's travel reports

Lago Di Como (Lake Como)

  16 votes
Page: 1 2
We visted Lake Como as the final stop in our 15 day Italian Vacation in May 2006. It is a beautiful lake at the beginning of the southern Alps about 1 hour north of Milan. It has been hosting European Nobility for centuries.


Lake Como on a cloudy and mystical day
Lake Como on a cloudy and mystical day
Lake Como has recently been in the spotlight with George Clooney's purchase of a lakeside villa on it's western shore. Lake Como is a jewel-like oasis of tranquility, a magical combination of lush Mediterranean foliage and snowy alpine peaks. We chose to stay here after visiting Sorrento, Positano, Capri, Rome and Venice. We thought it would be a great place to relax after a hectic travel schedule and because it is close to Malpensa Airport, which was were our flight departing to Canada left from. The lake is probably the most popular lake resort in Italy, but fans of nearby Lake Garda might debate that. We found the area to be enchanting and were very happy to have concluded our journey with 4 days and 3 nights here at the conclusion of our trip. Our itinerary met our objectives as our Son said at the end of the trip that each of the locations we visited on our trip seemed like it's own distinct country. That is was we like so much about Italy. The cuisine, scenery, topography, and history vary so much from location to location. We chose the town of Como as our base. It is located at the southern end of the lake and is easily reached by train or car. We arrived directly at the main train station from Venice on a 3 1/2 hour train trip. The town of Como has a population of about 80,000 people and is the center of Italy's silk industry. Como has a delightful walled historic district that has a wide range of shopping, restaurant's and bars. Piazza Cavour is a great spot to view the lake while sipping a cappuccino. Although you can drive around most of the like, we suggest that you take one of the many ferries that ply across the lake. We took one that stopped at about 12 – 15 lakeside towns and eventually embarked at the beautiful town of Bellagio for a couple of hours, before our return trip. The total time of the journey was approximately 2 hours. There is a faster high speed option, but why bother.

Favourite spots:
A stunning lakeside Villa Estate
A stunning lakeside Villa Estate
Our favorite spots were Bellagio, with it's tidy shopping side streets and a very relaxing lakeside promenade. In addition we really enjoyed the town of Como itself. In the middle of the historic district is Piazza San Fedele. In the vicinity there are a number of beautiful building that are approximately 400 to 500 years old. The cathedral is quite stunning and we found it to be quite a surprise to see such a church in a town the size of Como. About 5 minutes by car, or about 10 by boat is the beautiful town of Cernobbio. Here you can stroll the stunning gardens of the Villa D'Este Hotel, which was recently rated as the number 2 luxury hotel on the planet. Pictured to the right you will see one of the most stunning properties that I have seen anywhere. The grounds were magnificently manicured and the views of the lake were just stunning. Driving by Clooney's estate was also a highlight. According to locals he was present at the time because his boat was in the water.

What's really great:
The ferry terminal
The ferry terminal
We really enjoyed the view of the various towns on lake. To take a public ferry or to hire a private tour go to NAVIGAZIONE LAGO DI COMO across from Piazza Cavour and enjoy. We also really enjoyed the relaxed pace and friendly people of Como town itself. We all could see ourselves living in such a picturesque, friendly, and clean town. Our Hotel was located right of a dingy piazza on the town's waterfront that housed the bus station. Our initial impression was not good as bus stations are notorious worldwide for attracting all types of riff raff....... But our impression quickly changed in good part to the boisterous pub that was part of our hotel and because of the pleasant nature of a proprietor of a coffee shop facing the bus station. He quickly learned our coffee preferences (1 macciato, 2 cappuccino, 3 caffe latte, and 1 essprsso) in the morning and our late afternoon round (6 grande Biere Ala Spinna) as we rendezvoused there to make evening plans.

Sights:
Arriving at Bellagio
Arriving at Bellagio
Bellagio!! Spend a couple of hours...nice waterfront and good shopping!

Accommodations:
Hotel Inriva Al Lago
Hotel Inriva Al Lago
We stayed at Hotel In Riva Al Lago which is a budget hotel/hostel. I highly recommend it. The rooms were exceptionally clean, check in took place after the owner wisked us up into our rooms, and the staff was very pleasant.

LINK http://www.inrivaallago.com/

Hangouts:
The Pub at night
The Pub at night
The pub at the hotel was a very lively place to end the day!

Restaurants:
Take the funivia up to Brunate for a truly spectacular view walking as far south as you can. You will come to a dead end with stunning views down the lake and into Switzerland. Afterwards go to Restaurante Bellevue (make reservatons in advance - if you do not speak Italian) have the hotel do it for you. One of my favorite meals of all time!!!!! Eccentric owner, fantastic and unique meal, and if you are lucky the owner may braek out the drumsticks and jam with a couple of locals as he did for us while we were here. Magnifico!!!

telephone 03122103

Other recommendations:
Island on the Lake

Published on Thursday June 8th, 2006


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Sat, Jun 17 2006 - 10:28 PM rating by gloriajames

Sounds like u had fun! Nice report and some great pics!

Sat, Jun 17 2006 - 03:48 AM rating by downundergal

A really enjoyable report. It sounds as though you really enjoyed yourself.

Sat, Jun 10 2006 - 03:17 AM rating by marianne

Murray,
Good information and very clear photos. Lake coamo sounds like Lake garda (where I was last year). did you go there?
Marianne

Fri, Jun 09 2006 - 02:42 PM rating by st.vincent

Another good report with a lot of information for a prospective visitor. A great end to your Italian vacation I expect.

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