Summer by the Italian Lakes

Jaw-droppingly beautiful – is what I’d call the lakes in northern Italy and the breathtaking scenery started even before I reached the lakes with the flight over the Alps from Lyon in France to Milan in Italy. The view from the plane was nothing short of spectacular.

I’d been told that the lakes were a place I had to visit: a must, but I’d resisted for a long time as I was intimidated by the perceived difficulty of getting there.

Getting there

The easiest way to get to Lake Como (my preferred lake at the time) was to fly to Milan and hire a car and drive yourself – Lake Como being just 90 minutes from Milan using this method. But I don’t drive in Europe, something the Europeans should be grateful for.

I’m a menace on the road in the best of circumstances (driving on the left-hand side of the road in familiar territory), reverse those circumstances and you have a recipe for disaster.

My research told me that getting to Bellagio on Lake Como would need: a train from Arles to Marseille airport – a flight Marseille to Lyon – another flight from Lyon to Milan Malpensa airport – train from Malpensa to Central Station in Milan (there is more than one railway station in Milan) – train from Milan Central to Varenna and lastly a ferry from Varenna to Bellagio. What could go wrong?

At the airport

(Who knows which one?)

It was a disaster waiting to happen in my mind, especially as none of the timetables seemed to co-ordinate and there was a strong possibility I would be waiting hours for a connection at who-knows-where – to who-knows-where. Not one of the locations was familiar to me – so I bottled.

It needed an added incentive via la canicule (the heatwave) that had engulfed southern France (and possibly most of Europe). Down where I was, the temperature had not dropped below the mid 30s (Celsius) for weeks – and it seemed it wasn’t going to for weeks to come either.

Where I live in France, there seems to be little fluctuation in the daily temperatures once established. Unlike in Australia, there’s no such thing as a cool change there, the very thing we rely on in Australian heatwaves to save our sanity. They always arrive, if not always timely – but not in France.  What’s more, the sun is still beating down at 9.30 pm, the darkness, in summer, not coming until around 10 pm – so the heat is relentless.

It seemed the perfect time to leave the southern French heat and to venture to the relative cool at the foot of the Italian Alps (near the Swiss border) for a bit of respite. The Italian Lakes beckoned alluringly (and not for the first time).

Getting to Milan, although it was not a direct route, was not too difficult, it was once in Milan that was causing me the problem. I tend to research these trips quite thoroughly before embarking on them and I’d read some horror stories.

If only there was transport from the airport directly to Bellagio – I didn’t think I’d be able to afford a taxi trip that took 90 minutes. However, if I was having these problems, others had surely had similar before me and there was a whole industry that were all over this – private cars with drivers for hire. Bingo!

Now while these were expensive, they weren’t exorbitant. Certainly, if there were four of you – or even two – they would work out to be very reasonable. Unfortunately, I was flying solo – but decided to go this route anyway – my major concern being that I can’t speak Italian.

Anyway, it turned out – neither could my chauffeur, he was Russian. I needn’t have worried.

The car that was sent was a sleek, black, late model, Mercedes Benz limousine and so I started our 90-minute journey to Bellagio on Lake Como in abject luxury – not a bad way to start a holiday. Although, it was a very fast journey with the car screaming around the corners of the lakeside roads effortlessly (the car could handle it – I wasn’t sure the chauffeur could) and it didn’t matter in what language I attempted to get my Russian driver to slow down (even sign language) he didn’t understand – but, fortuitously, I’ve lived to tell the tale

Bellagio, Lake Como.

Lake Como is not the only lake in this region, nor is it the largest. Lake Garda holds that title with Lake Maggiore second and Como, third. I had contemplated which lake to visit first and plumped for Como as it seemed to have the highest profile – if it was good enough for George Clooney, it was good enough for me.

I don’t regret the choice, although, it has left me with a burning desire to see the others too – which was going to happen (Garda) in May 2020. Wrong. Damn you CoVid-19

But my journey to Lake Como predated CoVid and I had decided to book a hotel (and a room) that had views of the lake and I was so glad I did. We’d arrived in Bellagio just ahead of a summer storm and the view from my room – that had two sets of French doors with Juliet balconies – was spectacular. It was at the famed Hotel Du Lac of which you can read more here

I went to bed that night having witnessed storm clouds, thunder, lightning and rain over the lake and woke to the clearest, bluest day imaginable. The flowers dancing on my balcony providing a lovely frame for the lake and the mountains in the background.

As for the weather, Bellagio had not missed out on La Canicule and the mercury was hitting 33 degrees Celsius for the entire length of my stay. People were swimming in the lake – a lake where I wouldn’t expect the water to ever be very warm given the mountains that surround it. The water looked tempting though, I must admit, and I did contemplate a dip. Next time.  

Bellagio is a pleasant little town to walk around and do a little shopping.  It has a lovely Basilica ( San Giacomo – St James) on the hill, the bell tower of which is a prominent marker from the lake and is well worth a visit.

There are stunning villas with magnificent gardens – many open to the public, scenic walks and a little tourist train that chugs along stopping at various places of interest. But this is Lake Como and by far the best thing to do, is to venture out onto it. For this you are spoilt for choice.

Directly opposite my hotel was the ferry stop and there were two commuter ferries (doing the round trip) that anyone could catch. You had a choice of two routes (Bellagio being roughly in the centre of the Y – the shape of the lake) and I booked one only to find I’d caught the other. It wasn’t a problem – being out on the lake in either direction is such a joy. I believe there are also private boat tours too, if you’d prefer.

Dusk on the lake was particularly beautifully and I’ve never seen a more atmospheric ‘blue hour’ (as photographers call the night before it slips into complete darkness). I tried to time my dinner to be during this hour and I always dined lakeside – why wouldn’t you?

Sunset

over Lake Como

The blue hour

and truffled spaghetti

I also found that leisurely lunchtimes drinking Aperol spritz under an umbrella or in the shade of a tree or flowering vines was equally as atmospheric and I did a fair bit of that, watching the lake traffic silently slip by. What’s an equivalent word for bucolic when it concerns water and not countryside? If you can think of one, it was that.

As luck would have it, my visit coincided with the harvest of the summer truffles and every dish was adorned with the precious and delicious fungi. Spaghetti with butter and truffles was a decadent dish that was a taste sensation.

Going home via Milan

My trip was too short – I was just getting into the rhythm of lakeside life when it ended. However, I did manage to take public transport back to Milan – it was easy – sometimes I tend to overthink things and let others frighten me into inertia. The thing to do if you find that getting to the lake in one day is going to be a struggle as far as connections are concerned is to break the journey in Milan – which I did on the way back. Simple – and Milan is a lovely city.

In Milan, I stayed at the Excelsior Hotel Gallia – that’s just two hundred metres from the station and handy for getting a train back to the airport (the reason for my choice). The hotel bills itself as ‘luxury’ and it was – with stunning views over the architecturally magnificent Milan Centrale (railway station) and cool, serene rooms. (La canicule had not missed Milan.)  

And although the hotel is some way from the Duomo (a must see – the most magnificent cathedral I’ve ever been inside) and the lovely landmark shopping arcade of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, they have that covered by providing a complimentary Maserati Limousine to shuttle its guests there and pick them up later (all you need to do is to summon the chauffeur.)

I can’t wait to start exploring this region again.  Soon – please let it be soon