Sentiero del Viandante

On the eastern shore of Lake Como an old mule track survives above the rooftops. The Sentiero del Viandante links Lecco, Varenna, Bellano and the villages of the Lecco branch to Colico, and continues towards Morbegno — a waymarked route that intersects the railway along the shore.

Why it matters

The regional tourism board traces the line back to the Roman period, when it served as the only overland connection for the villages of the eastern shore — the road, in effect, before the road existed. Its later life was as a corridor between the Milanese and Switzerland, and its masonry retains that working past: retaining walls, cobbled ramps, irrigation channels and shrine niches were built for mules and merchants, not for hikers.

The trail holds a traverse partway up the slope, crossing torrents on old bridges and passing terraces of vines and olives, with the lake below and rock walls above.

What to notice

• Stone rural architecture along the traverse — cascinali, dry-walled terraces, disused mills and votive chapels that record centuries of agricultural use.
• Corenno Plinio in Dorio, the "village of a thousand steps" on the official portal's stage descriptions, where the trail passes above a miniature stone borgo.

Context and history

The Viandante brings together old mulattiere — mule tracks — in a route linking Lecco with Morbegno. Its exact length depends on the route and its endpoints.

The villages it binds together form one continuous story of eastern-shore life: fishing and trade on the water, chestnut and olive cultivation on the terraces, and a steady foot traffic of pedlars and pilgrims — the viandanti — who gave the path its name. Castles, ancient mills and chapels recur along the route as reminders of that past.