Italy
Lake Como
Cypress-lined shores where the water mirrors snow peaks and cardinals built their pleasure palaces.
The lake stretches south in an inverted Y, its surface so still it holds the Alps in duplicate. Gardens of camellias and wisteria spill down to private jetties. A ferry cuts a white line across water the colour of deep jade.
Lake Como is a glacial lake in Lombardy, a narrow basin whose two southern arms split at Bellagio beneath mountains rising straight from the water. A mild microclimate keeps lemon trees and subtropical gardens flourishing beneath alpine snowlines, which is why Roman villas gave way over the centuries to cardinals' retreats and explorers' hideaways along these shores. Villa del Balbianello, remodelled by Cardinal Durini in the late 1700s and later home to the mountaineer Guido Monzino, still keeps his expedition relics on its headland. Passenger ferries stitch Como, Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio together, and crossing the water remains the proper way to arrive anywhere here.
Couple
Take the slow ferry to a villa garden in the morning, keep the afternoon for Varenna's waterfront, and be back on deck for the light going gold.
Family
The boats are the entertainment: short hops between towns, villa gardens to roam, and stone jetties where children can watch the ferries dock.
- Passenger ferries link Como, Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio, so the lake explores best without a car.
- Villa del Balbianello keeps the largest collection of Inuit ivories outside Greenland, gathered by the explorer Guido Monzino.
- A sheltered microclimate grows lemons and camellias within sight of snow on the peaks.
- Bellagio sits at the point where the lake divides, with ferry landings fanning out to every shore.
Missoltini, agoni shad salted and dried in the old lake manner, come grilled with a sharp splash of vinegar.
In Menaggio kitchens, fried perch fillets are laid over sage-butter rice like the petals of a flower.
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