Varenna is one of the most recognisable villages on Lake Como: colourful houses packed between the lake and the mountain, an old town gathered around two almost-twin churches, two villas with gardens facing the water, and, higher up, a castle overlooking the point where the lake splits into its two branches. This itinerary follows the village from the shore upward, from the main square to Vezio.
Piazza San Giorgio, the two churches
The centre of Varenna is Piazza San Giorgio, where two distinct churches face each other: the Chiesa di San Giorgio, the village’s parish church, in fourteenth-century Lombard architecture, with a late-fifteenth-century polyptych and thirteenth-century frescoes; and San Giovanni Battista, likely older (11th century), with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century frescoes on its side walls. The two churches both claim, without a definitive answer, the role of Varenna’s original parish seat.
The Passeggiata degli Innamorati and the two villas
From the square, the walk descends towards the lake to the Passeggiata degli Innamorati, the walkway suspended over the water that links the pier to the old town. Continuing along the lake leads to, side by side, Villa Cipressi — a complex built between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, now publicly owned, with a terraced garden that belongs to the Grandi Giardini Italiani network — and Villa Monastero, a former twelfth-century Cistercian convent turned house-museum, with a botanical garden stretching for nearly two kilometres along the lakefront that hosted, in the 1950s, international physics courses attended by Enrico Fermi.
The Fiumelatte
A short distance south of the centre lies the source of the Fiumelatte, one of Italy’s shortest watercourses (about 250 metres), intermittent and mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci in the Codex Atlanticus. The stream flows only from roughly late March to mid-October, linked to a karst system in the Grigna massif.
The climb to Castello di Vezio
From the old town, a stepped mule track climbs to Vezio and Castello di Vezio, on a promontory overlooking the point where Lake Como splits into its two branches. The castle, which tradition attributes to the Lombard queen Theodolinda, houses a watchtower open to visitors all the way to the top and a permanent exhibition on the Lariosaurus, the prehistoric reptile whose fossils were found in the Lake Como area.
Practical information
- The route runs almost entirely on foot through Varenna’s old town, except for the climb to Vezio, on a stepped mule track.
- Villa Cipressi and Villa Monastero charge an entry fee and have seasonal opening hours: check the official sites, villacipressi.it and villamonastero.eu.
- Castello di Vezio has seasonal opening, roughly from early March to early November: hours and tickets on castellodivezio.it.
- The Fiumelatte is worth visiting during the months it flows, roughly late March to October.
- Varenna is served by the Varenna-Esino-Perledo railway station (Milan–Tirano line) and by Navigazione Laghi boats.