---
node: spot_lake_como_varenna
type: spot
slug: varenna
destination: dest_lake_como
title: "Varenna"
lead: "Varenna is the fishing village on the eastern shore opposite Bellagio, built up a cliff in coloured houses with a lakeside walkway pinned to the rock. It is the stop on the Milan railway line, which makes it the easiest way onto the lake."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_lake_como_varenna.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vista_de_Varenna,_lago_de_Como,_Italia,_2016-06-25,_DD_10.jpg"
image_author: "Diego Delso"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

The village is one street long and several flights of steps deep. Villa Monastero, a former convent turned into a house with a two-kilometre botanical garden along the shore, runs south from the centre; Villa Cipressi is next to it and now a hotel whose garden is open. Above, the ruined Castello di Vezio looks down the whole length of the lake and is reached in twenty minutes of climbing.

## Highlights

Take the train from Milan Central to Varenna-Esino, an hour, and the ferry from there — it is faster and cheaper than driving to Bellagio. The waterfront walkway, the Passeggiata degli Innamorati, is a few minutes long and worth timing for sunset. Vezio's castle is the view most photographs of Lake Como are taken from.