Varenna

On the eastern shore of Lake Como, Varenna climbs from its landing in a ladder of lanes, arches and stairways toward wooded slopes. A documented fishing village since 769, it keeps two celebrated lakeside gardens, a short river that appears and vanishes with the seasons, and a waterfront walk that earns its name.

Why visit

Varenna compresses everything people love about Lake Como into a village you can cross on foot in fifteen minutes. The arrival itself is theatrical — ferries glide past the headland to a landing where the Lovers’ Walk carries you along the water beneath overhanging houses to the little church square. Above, the historic centre rises in steep cobbled lanes with the parish church of San Giorgio at its heart. Add two of the lake’s great gardens, Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi, stepping down to the shore in terraces of exotic species, and a natural curiosity just south of the centre: the Fiumelatte, a milky stream about 250 metres long that flows only from late March to around October and was noted by Leonardo da Vinci. Because the village is compact and the mid-lake ferries frequent, it works equally as a day trip or a base — though evenings, when the day visitors recede, are when Varenna is most itself.

Character and history

The village’s founding legend is a refugee story with documentation behind it. Recorded as a fishing settlement in 769, Varenna sided with Milan in the age of the Communes and was destroyed by the men of Como in 1126; when Como devastated Isola Comacina in 1169, Varenna gave the island’s exiles a home in a quarter called Insula nova — the “new island” — a name that spread to the whole town. Gratitude is still repaid each June around the feast of San Giovanni, when thousands of small floating lights are set on the lake. Later centuries brought feudal lords: the Torriani, the Visconti, the fief of Pietro II Dal Verme, then the remarkable Chiara Sforza, who held the town until her death in 1530, and finally the Sfondrati until 1788. Wealth from fishing, trade and the lake’s earliest tourism built the villas whose gardens survive today. What strikes visitors now is how little the structure of the place has changed — the vertical lanes, the arches, the church terrace still organise daily life.

What to see

The Villa Monastero House Museum spans eight centuries of history, from its origins as a convent to its life as a noble residence and, today, a state-owned house museum and international conference centre; its furnished rooms open onto a botanical garden of rare and exotic species running nearly two kilometres along the lakeshore. The neighbouring Botanical Garden of Villa Monastero can be visited on its own terms, a cascade of colour above the water. At Villa Cipressi, a complex of buildings rebuilt between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, the terraced gardens descend to the lake in perfect axes.

In the historic centre, the Church of San Giorgio anchors the main square, while the waterside Oratory of San Giovanni Battista stands by the landing. The small Scanagatta Ornithological Museum holds more than 800 bird and mammal specimens. And just south lie the Fiumelatte Spring and its short, strange river.

How to experience

Arrive by boat, walk the promenade into the village, and let the day unfold vertically: coffee on the landing square, the climb through the lanes to San Giorgio, then a slow tour of one garden before lunch with a lake view. In the afternoon, follow the signed path from Via Roma toward Fiumelatte — an easy walk with a picnic spot by the river — and time it for spring, when the milky flow is strongest. Return for the evening ferry ride to Bellagio or Menaggio, or stay for dinner and the after-dark quiet of the lanes. Walkers can extend toward Vezio Castle or pick up the Sentiero del Viandante, an ancient route along the eastern shore. Book garden tickets online in summer; the village is steep, so pack accordingly.

Practical planning

Varenna lies on the Lecco arm of Lake Como, served by trains from Milan and Lecco (the station sits above the village, with a connecting path down) and by mid-lake ferries that make it a natural triangle with Bellagio and Menaggio. Cars can be left in the lakeside car park; the centre is pedestrian and steep. Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi keep seasonal hours with variations for events — check villamonastero.eu and varennaturismo.com. The Fiumelatte flows roughly late March to October only. Spring and autumn are ideal; July and August bring heavy foot traffic to the promenade midday, so plan gardens for opening time. Church dress codes apply, and sensible shoes are essential for the lanes and the riverside path.

Nearby places

Perched above the village, Vezio guards its castle with lake-wide views, while along the shore to the south Abbadia Lariana begins the long eastern shoreline. The whole lake — its villas, landings and crossings — is described at Lake Como.