Indulge / Lombardy, Italy
Lake Como and the Slow Kind of Luxury
Lake Como · 7 min read
Lake Como is a long, deep, mountain rimmed lake with two hundred years of villa building along its shore. It is romantic in a formal way: gardens, boats, long lunches and a certain amount of dressing for dinner.
It is also very easy to do badly by driving. The roads are narrow and the ferries are better.
Choosing a shore
Bellagio sits at the fork and is the most visited. Varenna on the eastern shore is smaller and prettier at street level. Menaggio opposite is practical and well connected. All three are linked by frequent car and passenger ferries.
The northern end around Domaso is windier, cheaper and better for watersports. The south around Como town is the transport hub, not the postcard.
Gardens and villas
Villa Carlotta, Villa Melzi and Villa del Balbianello are the three to see, and Balbianello in particular, on its own wooded promontory, is worth arriving by boat for.
The gardens peak in late April and May when the azaleas and rhododendrons are out. It is the best time of year to be here by some distance.
Eating and evenings
Lake fish, risotto and polenta are the local register, and the small osterie in Varenna and Lenno do it far better than the grand hotel dining rooms.
Book one dinner on a terrace over the water. It is expensive and it is the memory you will keep.
Why it feels like a gift
It is glamour with mountains behind it, and it works without any effort on your part.
Come in May, when the gardens are at full volume and the ferries are not.
