Or how to do a quick trip on Lake Como.
I've been quite fortunate in that I have visited Lake Como multiple times and it's one of my favourite places to spend time in Italy. I've explored different towns, have joined the crowds in Bellagio, stayed in Varenna, and have done day trips from Milan. I tend to fly out of Malpensa (Milan's main airport) so given the choice of spending a hot day in the middle of summer in a city (Milan) or by the cooler climate of the lake, I tend to choose the lake!
I only had the morning, I was catching the train back into Milan from the Como, San Giovanni Station so my exploration was limited to a town close by. Cernobbio is just up the lake from Como and there's a fast boat that takes you, it seemed liked the place to visit.
Cernobbio is about 2km from Como, it was a 15 minute boat trip so perfect for a short visit. Enough time to go on the lake and see a new town, I planned to get some lunch as well. Compared to Bellagio, which is where the crowds end up, other towns on Lake Como are very quiet, Cernobbio was no exception!
It has a large open area around the lake where the ferry docks, there are a few hotels and restaurants, a church and some nice little back streets.
This old style hotel is in the main piazza, it's called Hotel Queen Olga, the only Queen Olga I could think of was a queen of Greece. Maybe she stayed here?
Gardens of Villa Erba
Cernobbio has 2 large villas with parks, one is called Villa Erba and is open on certain days for special events. Sadly it was closed the day I was there.
One of the little side streets going down to the lake.
I walked inland and found the main part of the town, again all very small!
Church of Maria delle Grazie, with outdoor frescos.
This was the main road through which all the traffic passed! It did keep me entertained as I watched the traffic jams, as different drivers tried to manoeuvre into side streets. It's one way traffic controlled by traffic lights at each end of the street, it did widen to 2 way traffic once past the buildings.
The other major villa in Cernobbio is Villa d'Este, I knew it was now a luxury hotel, but it did have a park around it so thought it would be nice to visit. No, the whole park is private! Nice security guard at the gate went "sorry all private". So instead I took long lens photos from the main square!
Although this was a different building, I think it's still part of the Villa d'Este hotel.
I had lunch in a cafe down next to the lake, had 'green gnocchi' (spinach), very nice!
Then back on the boat to Como.
Cernobbio was a pleasant place to spend a few hours, other than the lake, there's not much there to visit. It's nice enough to walk around and then have lunch, perfect if you're time poor but still want to experience doing a boat trip on Lake Como. The added bonus on the day I went was that there was a huge crowd waiting for the big boat to go to Bellagio, to make matters worse it had been delayed by 30 minutes. In choosing a smaller, closer town I was on a different faster boat and didn't have to spend time on a hot day being annoyed about boat delays!
For those who have more time to spend at Lake Como and want to enjoy the scenery at a very slow pace, there is a walking path from Como to Cernobbio, it's 6.5km long, it could be a nice way to explore and then catch the boat back. (There are buses that go between the 2 towns as well, but the boats are the best way to go!)
I've been quite fortunate in that I have visited Lake Como multiple times and it's one of my favourite places to spend time in Italy. I've explored different towns, have joined the crowds in Bellagio, stayed in Varenna, and have done day trips from Milan. I tend to fly out of Malpensa (Milan's main airport) so given the choice of spending a hot day in the middle of summer in a city (Milan) or by the cooler climate of the lake, I tend to choose the lake!
I only had the morning, I was catching the train back into Milan from the Como, San Giovanni Station so my exploration was limited to a town close by. Cernobbio is just up the lake from Como and there's a fast boat that takes you, it seemed liked the place to visit.
Cernobbio is about 2km from Como, it was a 15 minute boat trip so perfect for a short visit. Enough time to go on the lake and see a new town, I planned to get some lunch as well. Compared to Bellagio, which is where the crowds end up, other towns on Lake Como are very quiet, Cernobbio was no exception!
It has a large open area around the lake where the ferry docks, there are a few hotels and restaurants, a church and some nice little back streets.
This old style hotel is in the main piazza, it's called Hotel Queen Olga, the only Queen Olga I could think of was a queen of Greece. Maybe she stayed here?
Cernobbio has 2 large villas with parks, one is called Villa Erba and is open on certain days for special events. Sadly it was closed the day I was there.
I walked inland and found the main part of the town, again all very small!
This was the main road through which all the traffic passed! It did keep me entertained as I watched the traffic jams, as different drivers tried to manoeuvre into side streets. It's one way traffic controlled by traffic lights at each end of the street, it did widen to 2 way traffic once past the buildings.
The other major villa in Cernobbio is Villa d'Este, I knew it was now a luxury hotel, but it did have a park around it so thought it would be nice to visit. No, the whole park is private! Nice security guard at the gate went "sorry all private". So instead I took long lens photos from the main square!
Although this was a different building, I think it's still part of the Villa d'Este hotel.
I had lunch in a cafe down next to the lake, had 'green gnocchi' (spinach), very nice!
Then back on the boat to Como.
Cernobbio was a pleasant place to spend a few hours, other than the lake, there's not much there to visit. It's nice enough to walk around and then have lunch, perfect if you're time poor but still want to experience doing a boat trip on Lake Como. The added bonus on the day I went was that there was a huge crowd waiting for the big boat to go to Bellagio, to make matters worse it had been delayed by 30 minutes. In choosing a smaller, closer town I was on a different faster boat and didn't have to spend time on a hot day being annoyed about boat delays!
For those who have more time to spend at Lake Como and want to enjoy the scenery at a very slow pace, there is a walking path from Como to Cernobbio, it's 6.5km long, it could be a nice way to explore and then catch the boat back. (There are buses that go between the 2 towns as well, but the boats are the best way to go!)
Comments
Post a Comment