The interlake ferry run by the Navigazione Laghi has a schedule of sorts, but it is posted in Italian only and the boats are often late! The ticket-sellers and boatmen are sometimes helpful but seem to lose patience quickly with dumb tourists and their dumb questions.
Despite concerns about long line-ups for tickets, we had little difficulty buying return tickets to Varenna, across the eastern part of the lake from Bellagio.
The ferry from Bellagio to Varenna took about 15 minutes.
In Varenna, we hiked a short but very steep trail into the hills above town to the Castello di Vezio.
Built in the late 11th C, the castle has been restored several times.
Most recently, Castello di Vezio was used as a strategic defense during WWI to halt German invasion southward from Switzerland.
On the grounds of the castello, artists make ‘ghosts’ out of chalk and gauze each spring (and often use tourists as their foundation!)
The castle tower houses an exhibition dedicated to the Lariosaurus, an extict sea reptile from the middle Triassic period.
The swimming dinosaur may have lived in Lake Como.
Back in town, we took a wander along the coast on the Passeggiata degli Innamorati or the Lover’s Walk, stopping along the way for lunch, gelato and a bit of shopping.
The Villa Monastero at the south end of town was a Cistercian nunnery built at the end of the 12th C.
It became the Villa Leliana in mid 16th C under the Mornico family then became the Villa Monastero and had several foreign owners in the later 1800’s.
The site was sold to the government in 1918 as part of a war debt and was opened to the public in 1939.
Back in town, the line-up for the Bellagio ferry was several blocks long! Lucky for us, two boats came along at the same time and we didn’t have to wait too long to board.
We ate dinner at the (snooty) Ristorante La Punta on Bellagio’s northern tip before hiking back up the hill to our hotel.
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