Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You can visit the gardens and villa on twice-daily guided tours (reserve ahead),
about 1
1
⁄
2
hours long, in Italian and English (tours require at least six people to
depart). You meet at the little tower on the backside of Piazza della Chiesa.
Varenna
You can happily spend some time clambering up and down the steep steps that sub-
stitute for streets in this charming fishing village on the eastern shore of the lake,
just 10 minutes by ferry (5 min. by hydrofoil) from Bellagio. There's a tiny
tourist
office
at
Piazza S. Giorgio/Via IV Novembre (
%
0341-830367; www.aptlecco.com).
The hilltop ruins of the
Castello di Vezio
(
%
335-465186; www.castellodi
vezio.it;
€
4; 10am to sunset, Apr-Oct daily, Feb, Mar, and Nov Sat-Sun only, Dec
Sun only, closed Jan)
lie a 20-minute hike above the town. The main reason for
a visit is to enjoy the stunning views of the lake, its shoreline villages, and the
backdrop of mountains at the northern end.
The gardens of the
Villa Monastero
(
%
0341-830129; www.villamonastero.
org;
€
2; Mar-Oct daily 9am-7pm)
are more easily accessible at the southern edge
of town along Via IV Novembre, and you can reach them by following the series
of lakeside promenades through the old town from the ferry landing. This villa
and the terraced gardens that rise from the lakeshore were once a not-so-spartan
monastery—until it was dissolved in the late 17th century, when the nuns in res-
idence began bearing living proof that they were on too friendly terms with the
priests across the way. If you find it hard to tear yourself from the bowers of cit-
rus trees and rhododendrons clinging to terraces, you'll find equally enchanting
surroundings in the adjoining gardens of the
Villa Cipressi
(
%
0341-830113;
www.hotelvillacipressi.it;
€
2; Mar-Oct daily 9am-7pm).
5
ACCOMMODATIONS & DINING
As I said before, a stay in Varenna is one
of the best options for value-conscious travelers (and the village is also quite lovely
in its own right).
€€
-
€€€
You'd have to look hard to find a more pleasant retreat by the lake
than the
Milano
(Via XX Settembre, 29;
%
0341-830298; www.varenna.net;
closed Dec-Feb),
an old lakefront house renovated into a boutique hotel by
Bettina and Egidio Mallone, a friendly young Italian-Swiss couple. The modern
common area now has a TV with satellite channels and computer with free
Internet. The rooms were overhauled in 2003 with new beds and antique-style
furnishings, and spanking new bathrooms as of 2004. All rooms have balconies.
Rooms 1 and 2 (which open onto a wide terrace) and rooms 5 and 6 have full-on
lake vistas (doubles
55
145); the others overlook the neighbor's pretty gar-
den with askance lake views (doubles
€
120-
€
130). In summer, breakfast is
served on the outdoor terrace, as are the
€
130-
€
25, three-course dinners, available
upon request Monday and Wednesday through Saturday. They also have an apart-
ment nearby (no views, though) that they'll rent out—preferably to families or
groups of four—for
€
55 per person, including breakfast back at the hotel.
€
€€
-
€€€€
If you enjoyed your tour of Varenna's lush gardens (see above),
there's no need to leave. The 16th-century
Villa Cipressi
55
(Via IV Novembre,
18;
%
0341-830113; www.hotelvillacipressi.it; usually closed late Oct to Mar, but
