We got up super early and left Milan arriving at our hotel about 10 minutes outside Como to grab some maps and info before arriving at Como. Driving into the town we fell in love immediately – and that was before we even saw the Lake! The town of Como is so pretty and after securing ourselves an all day car park for only 3 Euro we set out to explore.

Other than wanting to visit Lake Como one of the main attractions was the Villa Del Balbianello. Information about how to get there was very sketchy and we weren’t very confident about how we were going to make it happen. We were so lucky to find a really helpful hotel concierge (as it was a Sunday the Tourist Info Centre was closed), who was more than happy to have a chat with us about all the different options we had.

We soon found ourselves on Como Marina waiting to board a huge ferry that for just 30 Euro (about $43 AUD), would take us on a journey around the entire lake for 1 1/2 hours with our stop at Lenno.

Our luck continued as the people sitting in front of us had kindly paid for a local tour guide, we advantageously got a free tour and were able to identify some of the villas around the lake owned/occupied by some well known names.

The Villa on the above right belongs to Sophia Loren.

  

The Villa/sprawling estate belongs to Sir Richard Branson.

Above is George Clooney’s villa.

It was fun to have these pointed out to us and learn a little bit about the Lake’s history. The pictures do not do it justice, it truly was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to.

  

We arrived at Lenno and were happily surprised that local markets were taking place. We enjoyed looking through the markets and enjoyed a coffee and sneaky desert, the view came for free and was pretty amazing.

. 

Next stop was Villa del Balbianello and as this was my surprise for Keith I’ll let him describe his experience in another blog.