17 days in Switzerland and Italy (13) - Bellagio (Lake Como), Italy

Ballegio! This name always makes me think of the luxury hotel in Las Vegas. Well, in Lake Como area, this is actually the most popular town, and it attracts most of the tourists. (So true! We actually saw a lot of tourists in Ballegio, although it's not even the peak season yet.)

Ballegio is really close to Varenna. As I mentioned in my earlier post, a lot of people choose to stay in Ballegio during their visit to the Lake Como area. The town is more commercialized in my opinion, with more shops for souvenirs and more restaurants and hotels. Salita Serbelloni is the main street of Ballegio taking tourists from the pier all the way up to the town center.

 

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17 days in Switzerland and Italy (12) - Tremezzo (Lake Como), Italy

Lake Como - Tremezzo (Villa Carlotta)

Tremezzo, another small town in Lake Como, is where the villa Carlotta is located. With the one-day ferry pass, we had the flexibility to just hop on/off ferries anytime we want. Thus, on our way back from Lenno, we decided to stop by this small town to take a close look at villa Carlotta.

17 days in Switzerland and Italy (11) - Lenno (Lake Como), Italy

Lake Como - Lenno (Villa del Ballbianello)

The reason why we decided to go to Lenno is because we REALLY REALLY wanted to visit the Villa del Ballbianello, the villa featured in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002) and Casino Royale (2006). I got to know it from Alex that the villa is in the Lake Como area but had no idea where the exact location is. Asking my friend Patrick didn't give us any help either because the two times he went to Lake Como he only stayed in Bellagio. Well, after a thorough online research, I found out that it is actually located in Lenno and fortunately, we can go there by ferry.

17 days in Switzerland and Italy (10) - Varenna (Lake Como), Italy

Lake Como - Varenna

Most people visit Lake Como and stay in Ballegio. We, however, decided to stay in Varenna during our visit. Two reasons: 1) When I did my research, I saw some really nice pictures of Varenna and wanted to spend some time exploring this small town; 2) We needed to catch an early train to Venice after staying in Lake Como for two days. Varenna is more convenient than Ballegio.

My friend Patrick has been to Lake Como twice and each time he chose to stay in Ballegio. Varenna, to him, was just a stop to catch the ferry to Ballegio. I, on the other hand, really wanted to spend some time in this small town because I really like the colors of the town buildings and the steep stairs in the pictures I saw. The town turned out to be as nice as I imagined it to be. Alex and I both really enjoyed our stay there.