
We needed to move our body today, so we planned for a hike. Nothing too hard: 6km with less than 300m of elevation gain.
We now have our morning in Como settled. Get up a little past 10:00, shower and prep for the hike, head to Mr. Panino for our panini breakfast and then hop on the boat. We were hiking by 12:45; the boat being at noon and taking 45 minutes to do the distance from Bellagio to Bellano.
While talking about village names, it sure seems like there’s a theme around how they are named. I’m sure Bellano and Bellagio have been mixed up more than once by less attentive travellers. I believe the same is true with Menaggio and Bellagio that can sound the same over a boat PA. Then you get with names that look like derivatives of one another like: Lecco, Lenno, Lezzeno, Musso and Nesso. All that to say, check on the map where you want to go.
We hopped off the boat at the right village and made a quick stop at the 📍Orrido di Bellano, a narrow canyon with waterfalls and lush vegetation. We then hiked up to the Sentiero del Viandante, a multi-stage trail that spans the eastern shore of lake Como. The trail is an ancient passageway that dates back to the Roman period. It connected various fortifications and was likely used by pilgrims, with ancient churches and monasteries along the route. It usage was abandoned in the mid-19th century but was restored in the early 1990s.




We picked the segment between Bellano and Varenna. It’s essentially from one ferry stop to the next. The 6km we hiked was surprisingly well marked. We’ve come to expect missing blazes and unclear intersections from our adventures in the south of Italy. But all for one intersection, we would have had to try hard to lose the trail. Thanks to the time of day we chose, we walked mostly in the shade of trees with the sun a little above the cliff tops illuminating the opposite shore. The temperature was warm but comfortable and thanks to the low elevation change and the shade of trees, we barely sweat.
Wayfarer's Path: Bellano - Varenna, Lombardy, Italy - 536 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
This is a beautiful hike with changing landscape and scenery between chestnut forests and cultivated landscapes and with enchanting views of Lake Como. It takes place on the well-known Sentiero del Viandante also called Cammino del Viandante, Via Ducale, Via Regia or Via Napoleona, an ancient commercial route. This is one of the segments of the longer 60km route that connects Milan to Switzerland along the lake shore and can be done in 8 short segments or even 4 long segments. Between Bellano and Varenna there are no ferries but a comfortable train takes returns to the starting point in 4 minutes. Here is the list with some other possible segments for this long route: https://www.alltrails.com/lists/il-sentiero-del-viandante

www.alltrails.com



We were lucky enough to get off the trail in time to grab a ferry right away. After a shower and change, we headed out for our now traditional Hugo spritz apéro and some gellato with plenty of time to spare before our dinner at a restaurant held by local fisherman in San Giovanni; a 35-minute walk away.
Diner at 📍Ittiturismo Ristorante Mella was delicious. While the presentation on the plate wasn’t the best and what wasn’t fish was middle of the road, the lake fish was excellent. We had it every which way and all of it was excellent. Mostly they are small fish (think Sardine), but there’s also some form of trout: freshwater Salmon was how it was described to us. It landed in second place for best diner in Bellagio.
Overall, 📍Trattoria San Giacomo won best meal in Bellagio!