Lago di Como

Lake Como and the surrounding town area are a peaceful, tranquil area about an hour north of Milan. In the summer, the area would be filled with greenery and clear blue skies, and it might be easier then to see why Lake Como has been called one of the most beautiful in Italy.

It has long been home to a variety of cultural and artistic gems, and numerous villas that are open in the summer, unfortunately closed for the winter. It is also popular with celebrity homes for the likes of Madonna, George Clooney and Sylvester Stallone.

(I did try stalking the celebs. It failed pretty miserably.)



Built on the shores of the lake, the town of Como has a very personal charm that distinguishes itself from the rest of Italy. The houses are clean, small and quaint, the people chirpy. It is, the words of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, a "small provincial town."





It helps that I finally had my first taste of Italian gelato in this small little town, too. Strawberry and pistachio gelato, for those of you who are wondering - and boy oh boy dessert has never tasted this good. Apart from maybe sticky toffee pudding.



With plenty of parks and outdoor spaces, I'm sure Lago di Como would have been a beautiful place to visit in the summer. This was winter - cold, drab, grey and overcast with cloud, but past all that it's easy to see how it might be an idyllic setting for some.

Opposite sides of the lake have developed very differently - one side full of buildings and townspeople, the other quietly residential. It is so small that the town could easily be explored on foot on a day trip, or to take a boat upstream to the town of Bellagio.



Lago di Como acquires a different sort of charm in the winter, but if you really want to get out and about seeing things, it would be best to come back in summer when the villas are open and it's warm enough for flowers. Either way, it's a pretty little area that's well worth seeing.