{"id":2911,"date":"2014-05-04T22:34:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-04T20:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2021-09-11T22:27:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T20:27:46","slug":"im-finally-visiting-lake-como","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/im-finally-visiting-lake-como\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m FINALLY visiting Lake Como!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>There are several places in Italy that have been on \u201cmy list\u201d for a while, but without a doubt, visiting Lake Como holds the top spot.\u00a0 Maybe the perceived distance has kept me away until now.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s a bit of a trek from Rome, it\u2019s super easy to reach from Milan (by train or car) in about an hour.\u00a0 And since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I\u2019d stop by and see what all the fuss is about.<\/p>\n Whatever anyone has told you about visiting Lake Como, I assure you, they\u2019re lying.\u00a0 Or at least they aren\u2019t telling you the whole truth\u2014if only because their lexicon of superlative adjectives is wanting and unimaginative.\u00a0 Then again, Shakespeare would\u2019ve been challenged to find sufficient words to describe the surreal quality of this landscape.\u00a0 One could spend days just hopping from town to town by boat, and gazing hypnotically at the grand villas reflecting off the icy-blue waters.\u00a0 Which, more or less, is what we\u2019ve been doing.\u00a0 An expanded thesaurus would come in handy right about now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a destination where you work your way through a checklist of famous monuments, or visit important museums.\u00a0 This is a place to relax.\u00a0 And I found just the cozy corner to do precisely that.\u00a0 It\u2019s a little village called Gittana, and it\u2019s only five minutes \u201cabove\u201d the slightly more famous town of Varenna, offering expansive panoramas of the lake in all its glory.\u00a0 In my opinion, these smaller hamlets are much more appealing\u2014and better suited for relaxation\u2014than the overcrowded Bellagio or the larger town of Como itself.<\/a><\/p>\n But in fact, even Varenna can get a little packed during high-season (June, July, August).\u00a0 Several years back, it was touted by Rick Steves as his pick for an off-the-beaten-path location in the Lake Region.\u00a0 And just like that, what once was undiscovered is now everybody\u2019s \u201csecret\u201d hideaway.\u00a0 Alas.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I chose Gittana.\u00a0 It\u2019s just\u00a0a quick 5-minute drive to\u00a0the center of Varenna, so you can still sneak into town during the morning or evening hours, avoiding the swell of day trippers in the middle of the afternoon.\u00a0 And of course, Bellagio and Menaggio are easily reached by ferry boat<\/a>\u00a0from Varenna’s port, should you get the urge to mingle with the crowds and search for celebrities.\u00a0 As we all know, George Clooney frequents these parts. (I tweeted him an invitation for aperitivo, but so far no response.)<\/p>\n