Road trip around the Northern Italian Lakes in 7 Days
I started the tradition in 2014: I grabbed a bag and when on a solo trip in October, for my birthday, travelling around Europe, visiting 4 countries and friends along the way, from The Netherlands to Belgium, to France, finishing in Spain. In 2017, I spent it in New York, in 2018 in Scotland for the first time and for 2019, I opted to go back to Italy for a road trip in the North and then venture into cruising the Mediterranean for the first time.
That is exactly how the planning began: we knew we wanted to go on a cruise and decided where should we depart from. And as we chose a Venice departure, we thought about road tripping in Northern Italy first. I had already been a few times - in Rome in 2002 and in Torino for the Winter Olympics in 2006 - and my husband had never set foot in Italy. So it would be a great discovery for us both, as I wasn't very impressed from my 2 previous visits. I must confess I was a bit scared of heading to Italy as the racism is notoriously abundant but I still gave it a go.
I remember that anytime anyone would share about their trip to Italy or how happy they had been there, I asked myself if it really could be true? But reality is that I also have my own biases that I have to shatter and and reassess from time to time. This was a great experiment at that.
We had several ideas about the trip we wanted to take, and one of the first plans was to arrive in a place, stay just one night and then head off to another, so we could see as many cities as possible, just like we did during our first road trip to Scotland in 2018. However, we thought about it and realised we didn’t want to spend a whole week rushing from city to city, so we chose instead to stay two days in each, until it was time to head to Venice for our cruise.
We landed in Milan, grabbed our bags and the car, and headed straight for Lake Como, about 50 kilometres north. Since we arrived late in the day, we just went out for dinner, though our first choice turned out to be anything but great. Both online and offline guides listed Cascina Respau as one of the top restaurants in Como, so off we went. When we rang to book, they told us, ‘On that street, park the car when you see a pharmacy, and then walk 15 minutes.’ I thought, what kind of restaurant is this? They explained it was in a protected area, which should already have raised red flags but we still went. Now, 15 minutes walking uphill in the dark could well be to the most beautiful spot in the world (and from the pictures on Google, it does look stunning by day), but at night it was just a hassle. The restaurant itself is cute and tucked away, but by then we were knackered from the trip and that long trek and the food was just… fine. Not bad, but nothing to write home about, and I didn’t have the energy to try and be positive.
After this little "adventure", we headed to Torno, a small village right on Lake Como. It was nighttime, and all we could see were the lights reflected on the water. We couldn’t wait for the next day to finally explore this new area. We stayed in a really lovely Airbnb for two nights.
The next morning, we had breakfast outside (a cappuccino and a cornetti, which is what they call a croissant). Then we caught a boat to cruise around Lake Como and go see George Clooney.
It was one of the best outings of my life. ‘Mountains and sea’, just like I love in Cape Town, South Africa. There nothing makes me happier than that! Those fjords are absolutely breathtaking!
We saw the most stunning natural landscapes (waterfalls as far as the eye could see), as well as the incredible feat of building on such steep terrain. And then there were the houses, each one more beautiful and unique than the last, straight out of a film set.
For lunch, we chose the town of Menaggio, from where you can see Bellagio across the lake, right at the tip of the famous inverted Y. We had a salad and a pizza at a random little café.
We hopped back on the boat to return home, which gave us a few more hours of cruising around.
At the end of the day, we went for our first Aperitivo (the first of many many many in our lives), which in Italy starts in the late afternoon at the cafés. It’s basically a drink served with some nibbles. On top of that, we ordered a gelato. It was, hands down the best one of the whole trip.
Jess
At this restaurant we had our first Aperol Spritz, the first of MANY more to come throughout the trip.
On the way back home, we saw families and friends fishing together, with a serenity that really struck me. I truly felt like I was on holiday!
Since we decided to skip dinner, we went to another café for a second aperitivo. With that window view over the lake, it should have been a dream. Or at least it was meant to be. Then we headed to bed, for what would be our last night in Torno.
The next morning, we took the chance to visit the city of Como before heading further east, towards Lake Garda. On the way, we passed through Rovato, where we stopped at Osteria Quattro Rose, a place with an excellent reputation.
Osteria Quattro Rose - Best restaurant of the whole trip
Without any suspense or delay, it was the best restaurant of the whole trip. The service was excellent, the food was divine, and I found myself searching for those flavours again in every restaurant we went to afterwards. After this wonderful meal, we passed by Lake Iseo, a lake tucked between the larger lakes Como and Garda.
The lake area is a wine region called Franciacorta. We took the chance to visit some vineyards and admire the scenery. The Italian cypress trees are so beautiful! I want to have them at my house when I grow up.
In this area we also stumbled upon a fantastic outlet, packed with big-name shops offering huge discounts. I went on a bit of a spree and picked up a dress for the cruise, plus some work clothes that I still wear to this day.
Then we arrived at Lake Garda, where the second part of our trip around northern Italy was about to begin.
Like this content? We can connect also on BlueSky | TikTok | Youtube | Pinterest
Comments ()