June saw a sneaky little trip to Italy where Paolo and I hired a campervan to explore Lake Como and the surrounding mountains for a long weekend of hiking, swimming and amazing Italian food.
Day 1
We got in late Wednesday night on separate flights, I a bit earlier than Paolo so I collected the camper and picked him up from Malpensa Airport. Off we went north to Como to spend the night before getting up for a delicious coffee and creme krapfen (creme filled doughnut). Todays hike was to Monte San Primo, which stands at 1642m. We drove up the winding roads to the rifugio and the trailhead. We travelled clockwise along the loop, up through farmland with the sheep and goats to then follow the ridgeline across to the summit. It was a short hike in the beautiful sun and warmth and we got to the summit in about 1hr (4km, 625m elevation change). We came down the front valley on a much steeper path and ended up at Ristorante Rifugio Martina where we had our first amazing rifugio meal of polenta, a cheese and meat platter and a carafe of rossa del a casa (house red wine). After lunch we continued on another 10 minutes back to La Baita. A total day of a bit over 7km.
From here we drove back down the mountains to Bellagio where we spent the afternoon exploring the city and swimming in the very cold Lake Como. We then packed up and moved on around to Lecco where we had aperativo on the water and went up through the city to eat dinner at an amazing local trattoria called Taverna ai Poggi. The pizzoccheri here (a local Italian dish made of pasta, potatoes, veg and cheese) was to die for and this was easily one of the best meals we had on the trip. Up further into the mountains we went to find a camping spot overlooking the valley for the night.
Day 2
Day 2 saw us move to another trailhead and start out second hike of the trip at about 9am. Monte Legnone was a much different beast than the day before with the wind a lot stronger and the temperatures low enough to have us wrapped up in our jackets and our hands freezing at some parts when scrambling along the exposed ridgelines. A bit of climbing the vertical ridge and marvelling at the snow still caught in the valleys and we made it to the summit in about 2hrs 20min (6.5km 1200m elevation change). Another 2hrs down and we’d completed about 13km. At 2,609m, this is the highest mountain in the Como regain and we had a fantastic morning conquering it.
From here we found a little trattoria simply calle Bar – trattoria Monte Legnone where I had the best ravioli I’ve ever eaten. We asked for seconds and washed it down with a frozen slushie (called a granita in Italian) and a raddler. Down into Bellano we went after lunch for another swim and to explore the little town. This included a visit to Orrido Bellano, a deep, narrow, 15 million-year-old gorge with waterfall, accessible by a suspension bridge and a visit to the stunning cemetery overlooking the city and river. Another afternoon of aperativo. That night we slept on the waterfront with the camper opening directly across the Lake.
Day 3
No hiking today, instead we had a late start with a swim before driving along the coast and exploring the Lake. We decided not to take the ferry across from Varenna to Menaggio, but instead drove the complete loop of the Lake, around the north and down the western side. After exploring around, and unable to find a good park in Como, we continued on to Nesso. We parked up on the main winding road and walked down some narrow steep stairs to stumble across a hidden gem called Orrido de Nesso. This place was a stunning broad little set of stairs leading down into the water in the afternoon sun. Boats kept pulling up to photograph the picturesque bridge and vine covered buildings lining the Lake and up through the steep gorge. This afternoon swimming spot was definitely our favourite of the whole trip and we made sure to come back again the next morning. Up again through the mountains for dinner and then on further to Colma di Sormano where we camped for the night but not before getting out our camping chairs and drinking two bottles of wine while we watched the sunset down the valley and then the sky light up with the moon and stars.
Day 4
Up early for a morning run across the mountains behind where we hiked on the first day to Monte San Primo. We ran 5km up and down along the broad grassy ridgeline to end up at Monte Ponciv right beside San Primo. Back again to complete a 10km return in a bit under 1.5hrs and 420m altitude change. A drive back down to Orrido de Nesso for a morning swim before we made our way back to Como to spend the day. Como was a lot busier than anywhere we had been so far and was heaving with tourists and locals alike out enjoying the Sunday sun. It didn’t have the same charm as the other smaller places we had visited around the lake but did have its own beauty. From here we drove out to Lago di Alserio where we slept for the night.
Day 5
We dropped the camper back and made our way into Milan for the day. Food, gelato and a walk in the Duomo di Milano was about all we had time for before making our way back to the airport to return to London. Overall it was an amazing trip, with some incredible day hikes, beautiful swimming spots and mouth watering food. Shout out to Marco, my housemate for all the advice while visiting his home.
