Lago di Como: Varenna

Varenna is this lovely little village, where we first rested our weary heads after a long day of travel from Houston, Texas, to northern Italy. Our connection in Paris was seriously screwed up (more about this when I tell you about all of our transportation adventures) but we eventually made it to Milan, picked up our tiny rental car, and headed north to this gorgeous lake and picturesque Varenna.

It's situated in the scenic mid-lake area, on the east shore. Menaggio, just across the lake, is bigger, and ritzier Bellagio, with its famous name, isn't far to the southwest, where the mid-section of the Como man-shape splits into its two legs. 

After months of debating and studying and planning, we ended up just going with Rick Steves' recommendation, a strategy that's hardly ever steered us wrong. Varenna's his favorite lake spot, and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

I thought I'd show you a few panoramic shots of the town, followed by some specific landmarks that did a lot to welcome us to Italy and soothe our travel-frazzled nerves.

my first shot of Lake Como, over Varenna's photogenic rooftops

the hills that push the village right up against the lakeshore

looking across at "downtown Varenna" from the ferry dock

another look at the village from out in the lake
(we were on a boat ride I'll tell you about later)

Unlike some of the later stops in the driving part of our vacation, we had no trouble finding our Hotel Montecodeno (another Rick Steves recommendation). We even found a parking place right across the street, which was extremely lucky (going by all the folks we saw lugging suitcases down the street over the next two days). Here's the hotel (note the red rectangle) and our little car (thick red line; I'll have a better picture of it for you later)...

Yes, the streets are incredibly narrow! That and the high price of gasoline made the choice of the smallest car we could rent a no-brainer.

The hotel is in a perfect location, just a block from the ferry dock where some of the great views I've already shown you are on offer. There's also a great little osteria/pub right there: L'Orso Café Hostaria...

The red line in the photo below points to the awnings over these tables; this gives you an idea of the great location of this establishment. (The staff are super nice and the food is great. Yes, Rick Steves likes it, too.)

And here's the view as we sipped our wine at L'Orso on our first evening in Italy....

Is it surprising that this tourist, tired as she is, is smiling?

The next morning, after a restful night's sleep, we had a nice [included] breakfast at our hotel and set out to make the most of our one full day in this lovely spot.