Como – the “A-Listers” playground.
We only had one full day in Como and in all honesty, that was more than enough for us. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed our time, I mean Como is beautiful. From the architecture, the vines that creep up the side of buildings and to the sheer cliff sides that engulf the edges of the lake, but it oozes wealth and it is the place where “whos who” love to be seen. And that isn’t really our vibe.
We arrived late in the afternoon and managed to find the perfect spot to free camp. We lined up our campervan next to a few others – safety in numbers!
Given that we only had one day in Como, we decided to make a full day of it. The Lake is very large – far larger than I originally thought! We had the option of taking a boat to different locations, or the bus. Ideally, the boat would have been fabulous but the harsh reality of travelling on a budget kicked in when we saw the price of a return trip. We had a choice to make: food for the week vs fancy boat ride. So the old rickety bus ride it was! The bus ride wasn’t all that bad, albeit hairy at times.
We arrived in the town of Lenno, home to the spectacular Villa Balbianello. The Villa was constructed during the 18th century over the original site of a monastery. The various terraces offer sweeping views over Como. Aside from the gorgeous views, the villa itself has some amazing architecture and gardens. Unfortunately for us, the weather took a turn and dark clouds rolled in – the first time we had seen grey skies in months!!
We ended the day by taking the funicular train to Brunate – a small town that is located high up in the mountains surrounding Lake Como.
The views from the top of Brunate are magnificent and you can see both the city of Como and the Lake in all their glory. We spent the afternoon wandering around the small town with an ice cream in hand – of course!
