Lake Como, Italy

5/10/2019

Will and I have spent the last week and a half on a wonderful European roadtrip. There were places we wanted to knock off our bucket list and this was the perfect time! (A huge perk in France is the wonderful vacation time... I had over 20 paid days I still needed to use before June!! Thanks France!!)

Our original Roadtrip plan was visiting:
1. Lake Como, Italy
2. Venise, Italy
3. Salzburg, Austria
4. Munich, Germany (Later Changed to Cinque Terre, Italy)
5. Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany (Later Changed to Cinque Terre, Italy)
6. Interlaken, Switzerland (Later Changed to Cinque Terre, Italy)

A few days before we left the weather said that it would be raining and snowing in Germany and Switzerland. (IN MAY!!! CRAZY!!) We ended up not booking any hotels/Air BNBs until we got a better idea of what the weather would be. The day before we were to leave for Germany, the weather still said snow the next few days and since we knew we would be more north and in the mountains, we decided to head back to Italy for warmer sunnier weather. We're so glad we did! After leaving Salzburg, we headed to Cinque Terre Italy for a few days and really loved it!

I am so grateful for the flexibility we have of living in Europe and having a car to go where we want and change plans when needed. The full Roadtrip itself was about 30 hours of driving. Our first stop was Lake Como Italy.

Lake Como, Italy

Neither of us had ever been to Italy and we were very excited! Will and I have both decided Lake Como was probably our favorite roadtrip stop. It's a really great place if you want a more relaxing trip full of amazing scenery. We enjoyed incredible views everywhere we went, ate delicious food, took a boat out on the lake, and also got to enjoy a famous movie Villa, seen in Star Wars and James Bond. The narrow streets and colored buildings were beautiful, the mountains and lake were breathtaking, and we had plenty of time to explore and find random shops, waterfalls, and places to enjoy by the water. If Italy is on your future bucket list, Lake Como is a great stop to include. We'd love to go back!

The Drive

We had about a 6 hour drive from Lyon to Lake Como, most of which is beautiful mountains. We drove under Mount Blanc for our second time, and ended up coming home that way as well.

Our Lake Como Home

One of the perks of traveling in the off season is finding great AirBnBs and hotels for about half the price. It was about a 20 minute drive from the towns we ended up visiting. It was a small hotel, with only 8 rooms and a few employees. (They didn't come to the hotel to work until after 10am)

Our hotel on the right

The lobby view

Our room view

We started off our visit with a delicious seafood meal at the hotel restaurant.

Our hotel

Hidden Adventures

We had an hour to wait before our bus took us into the town so we started down random streets, following a waterfall we saw. We ended up finding tiny cobblestone streets, the beginning of the waterfall and random stops along the water. We typically prefer to travel without many solid plans, so that it leaves us the flexibility to choose once we get to the place... Often our favorite spots are the ones we accidentally find.

Bellagio, Italy

We spent most of our time in Bellagio, walking along the lake, eating lots of carbs (LOL), boating, and enjoying the incredible views of the mountains and water.

Boating!

This was literally the best croissant I've ever eaten. It had just come out of the oven so it was nice and warm and full of an orange flavored jam

A new way to eat a hotdog... I had a weird hotdog craving and when I ordered it, they gave it to me on a baguette with a delicious mystery sauce

Beautiful Bellagio

Villa del Balbianello

Will found this beautiful villa and I thought I would pass out when I found out where we were going… This villa was used in Star Wars (Episode II – 2002) and James Bond (Casino Royale – 2006) I’m a HUGE Star Wars fan and also enjoy the James Bond movies so being here was totally crazy. Will was very lucky the villa was too crowded or I would have made him reenact the wedding scene with me! LOL The mountain and lake view from this Villa was incredible...
This was definitely a super cool experience!