Italian Riviera to Lake Como
From the Ligurian Coast of Italy to the Lakes of Italy, same friends, same hire car. It was too tempting not to detour off the autostrada onto some coastal roads to visit the Riviera towns of Santa Margherita and Portofino. These two picture post card towns are linked by a single lane windy road teaming with fast and expensive Italian cars. Each enormous and stunningly beautiful villa that we passed and gasped at was surpassed around the next bend with an even better one. This is the Italian Riviera and as such, a sight to behold.
It was fun to park the car at Portofino and wander around this quite small seaside township with its deep harbour, snapping up photos and then to sit and people watch from a harbour side cafe. Yachts parked on the quayside worth untold millions of dollars belonging to Europe’s wealthy families were everywhere. The sun was shining, the sea was deep blue, fairly perfect in our books.
We would have liked to have been able to stay a day at Santa Margherita, this town looked as if it would be fun to explore. Another time...
On to Lake Como, the jewel in the crown of the famous Italian lakes, a haven of tranquillity, majestic snow capped mountains, courteous locals and heaps of Italian style.
We decided to splash out money-wise for this beautiful place at the village of Moltrasio at the 5 star Grande Imperiale Hotel set right on the lakeside with its own ferry stop. Our apartment style rooms with private balcony overhung the lake and was a lovely place to sit in the early evening, gaze out over the lake and drink the local red wine and antipasti treats which we bought really cheaply from the local market.
Cernobbio a larger and quite famous village was very close to ours and we were able to walk there along the narrow road, dodging the fast expensive cars flashing by as we peered into some of the gorgeous lakeside homes along the shoreline. Lovely shops in Cernobbio, a few purchases were made here.
To best see all the lakeside towns we took the ferry up the lake, stopping along the way as we pleased at different towns which the ferry pulled into. Our favourite was Bellagio, very famous name, with its steep narrow cobbled streets, lake front al fresco cafes and tempting shops. The famous old Villa Serbollini, one of the 5 original Italian Villas built lakeside, sits in a commanding spot to the right of town, now a hotel.
Dining is very reasonably priced, offering traditional Italian treats, of which our every favourites are pastas, prosciutto, cheeses, calamari and fresh garden salads.
This area is probably not on the young party going travellers list (good!) appealing to the slightly older generation, a nice stop on a honeymoon for its breathtaking beauty, and families would also enjoy the charms of Lake Como. We had 2 and half days and would have liked one more day.
Airport or main railway station for access is Milan, only 30 or so minutes to Como town, and also linking through the Italian rail system. The Italian Lakes are a must and with more time you can go over the border to Switzerland.