Escape to Italy: Milan and Lake Como

I spent two and a half weeks of September eating, drinking and walking my way through Italy with my parents. We flew from London to Milan to start the holiday. This was my first time flying out of London City Aiport and it was so much better than trekking all the way to Heathrow or Gatwick - I will definitely be looking for flights from London City for my next European adventure. I did absolutely no planning for Milan since it was more of a starting point before going on to Lake Como. It wasn't a city previously on my hit list but I was actually quite surprised by Milan. We only had around 26 hours in Milan so we didn't over-plan our time.

Milan

On the afternoon we arrived, we walked from our hotel through the old city to look at the architecture and walked through the stunning Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II, a 19th-century glass-covered shopping arcade. We then made our way up to Parco Sempione. This beautiful park also houses Castello Sforzesco, a Medieval-Renaissance fortress. We managed to find a restaurant just outside of the park near Arco della Pace with an amazing all you can eat buffet for a bargain price so we stopped here for Aperol Spritz and dinner. The journey back to the hotel was made interesting by a sudden storm that absolutely drowned us in rain! Having come from London's usually light, drizzly rain, we hadn't quite prepared ourselves for the torrential downpours of Italy.

We had pre-booked a personal tour of the Duomo for our second day. The Duomo was huge and very beautiful - especially the decoration on the exterior of the building. While the tour was informative, it was probably the least impressive guided tour that we did in Italy. I would suggest regular entrance would be enough to just see the architecture and interior of the building. Our tour also didn't include going to the top of the Duomo, which would have been nice. We then wandered through the streets of the old city and found our way to an amazing, authentic restaurant. Mum and I had the local saffron risotto for lunch, which was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this restaurant.

Lake Como

Mum and I in the garden of our Tremezzo villa

Lake Como was definitely my favourite of all the places we visited in Italy this time around. It combines breathtaking views, beautiful old villages, and a relaxed vibe. One of the things I loved about Lake Como was that even though it is obviously a tourist destination, it didn't feel like a cram-packed bucket list destination. We stayed in a gorgeous Air BnB in Tremezzo. The host, Nicola, was so helpful and gave us a lot of information about the area. The house itself was absolutely packed with everything you could possibly need, including a delicious homemade chocolate cake made freshly for us. I would definitely recommend Tremezzo as a good area to stay in Lake Como - it is ideally situated half-way up the lake with easy access to the beautiful villages of Belaggio, Varenna and Menaggio.

Belaggio was my favourite of the villages that we visited in Lake Como but Varenna came a close second. The steep, narrow staircases leading up the hill provide such beautiful views - take me back! I also bought a gorgeous Panama hat while I was in Belaggio - a total splurge but such a beautiful hat. We bought freshly made paninis for lunch from a deli towards the top of the hill and then took them to the Botanical Garden to eat. Oh, how I miss Italian paninis. Sorry England, but sandwiches from Pret and M&S just don't cut it!

Varenna was also stunning. If you visit, make sure you go into the botanic garden at Villa Monastero. The view from this garden is simply unbeatable! We also stopped at Menaggio briefly on our way back home from Belaggio and Varenna. While it has nice views, this is more of a town and much flatter. I personally preferred Belaggio and Varenna but then again, I'm not sure we fully explored Menaggio since it was the last stop in the day.

We visited Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo one day, which was really worthwhile. This was the only villa we went inside while we were in Lake Como, but I would definitely recommend checking out at least one of the villas. Villa Carlotta is situated on the edge of the lake facing Belaggio and has stunning gardens and views. Originally built in the 17th century, the villa's namesake, Carlotta, was a later owner. Later the same day, we had a swim in the lake from the jetty at Parco Civico Teresio Olivelli, a park with steps straight down to the water. There's no beach as such but as someone who grew up regularly visiting sandy beaches, this was an interesting swimming experience!

On our last full day at Lake Como, we decided to visit the city of Como. Some people might decide to give the city area a miss, but it was interesting to see how it compared to the cute villages along the lake. One tip, if you do visit Como (or any small city in Italy), is to keep in mind that the shops close for a few hours over lunch so you won't be doing much shopping between 1-3 pm. I found the architecture quite interesting but it definitely had a different vibe to places like Belaggio.