This is a tiny part (6km but seemed longer) of a long distance route between Milan and the Alps.It’s well signposted throughout as Sentiero del Viandante and begins opposite the ferry terminal at Varenna, starting off as a little cobbled path going uphill to Castle Vezio.
Varenna is so beautiful, we had , first of all, to stop for coffee and a croissant …
Fuelled with caffeine and a pastry (for me) we set off up the cobbled path and 20 mins later, after a pretty stiff pull up we reached glorious little Castle Vezio at 9.40am.Decided to wait for it opening at 10am as I remembered that it offered stunning views as well as being interesting in its own right. Paid our discounted (for over 65s) entry of 6 euros .It didn’t disappoint!
View from the castle over the lake and Varenna
A truly superlative location and vista, well worth the effort of getting up here.
There was a very spooky dungeon, complete with sound effects, hanging bodies and skeletons…kids would love it! We loved it! Spooky sculptures too, very unusual and unsettling.
Climbed the tower and wandered the delightful terraced garden.A caged , beautiful Eagle Owl called us over with its strange call, as if it wanted company.
At this point, we congratulated ourselves on the hardest part of the day being over!
Ah fools that we were…little did we know, it was the easiest! (And also the walk views were actually at their best here too.)The signs kept us on the right path all the way but every step was either uphill or down-dale…mostly uphill!
To add insult to injury, it was a stiff uphill from Castle Vezio too, through the scattered village of Perledo. The views at times (lots of woodland sections too) were of course lovely albeit it was the same views.We passed lots of houses and gardens, many with little olive groves.Lots of blossom out on the trees which was lovely.
The nicest spot, after the castle, was the seat outside the lovely old church of San Martino above Perledo.
There were a couple of short road sections…
When on earth were we going to see and drop down to Bellano?As we hike a lot in the Scottish mountains, in snow and summer conditions, I thought we’d easily do this walk in 90 mins max.We are older certainly, mid to late 60s now but still walk fairly briskly.How wrong I was! We were at least 2hrs walking altogether, not including a couple of short breaks and our Castle visit. I also think that the walk is closer to 10km than 6km. It’s NOT a long walk but I have to admit we got weary of it and Bellano took an age to appear.
Finally, we turned a corner and the distant pre Alps and Bellano lay ahead and below….FAR below!
We now started to meet other people for the first time and I was so glad we were near the walk’s end, rather than just setting out as they were.
The path still took us uphill, annoyingly, but finally began to descend quite steeply though with no difficulty as such.I usually walk with poles but didn’t need them on this hike.
We cut down to the train station and walked through to the Lungomare where Bellano revealed itself as really quite lovely.It had a beautiful open frontage onto the lake and we made for an attractive café and terrace in a pedestrianised area.
It was actually a cafe that was more appealing than any we had seen in Bellagio, given the building work going on there.Lunch beckoned! I had Spaghetti Pomodoro and Chris had Penne Carbonara, both very good.In fact, mine was excellent, made with fresh tomatoes, not tinned.Loads of Parmesan to sprinkle over it.
As it turned out , a trip highlight for me was sitting in that little terrace, the sun beating down pleasantly, admiring the sparkling lake and the town’s pretty , pastel coloured buildings.What a delightful place!
Waited about 20 mins for a train (as no ferries were timetabled) and once we boarded, we were back in Varenna in all of 6 mins.
Walk thoughts: good to get a walk definitely but it was wearying somehow.A lot of woodland/bushy sections where you didn’t see much and although the views were glorious over the lake, they didn’t change as such.I wouldn’t do the walk again but glad to have done it. Bellano was an unexpected delight.Best views of the day were from Castle Vezio.
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