If you tried to travel to Europe this summer and were patient enough to do so, you probably went to Italy. After all, a report from Confcommercio, an Italian group that represents tourism businesses, said that the 2.2 million Americans who visited Italy between July and September, a 20% increase over the same time period in 2019, were the main reason why tourism in the country picked up this summer. And if you went to Italy this summer, you probably went to the Amalfi Coast, which many travel agents said was the most popular place to visit in the country this year.
For my trip to Italy, I went to another dreamy, popular place that even the best Instagram accounts can’t do justice to in a single post. Lake Como is what I mean. And before you ask, it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be like. Things got better.
Even though Italy’s lake district is known as a place where rich people like the Clooneys and the billionaires from “Succession” go on vacation, it has many sides, and Lake Como may not be what you think it is.
Are there villas here that cost $40 million?
Yes.
Did I see a Ferrari?
Obviously.
But there are also apartments by the lake that you can rent, pizzas that cost $8 and beers that cost $5, and people who have lived in Lake Como their whole lives and are very down-to-earth.
“People think Lake Como is a big resort, but it’s not because there are also people who have always lived here,” said Pietro Radoicovich, one of my new favourite tour guides who was born and raised in Lecco, a city in the Lake Como area.
During a two-hour boat ride on the lake, we talked about a lot of interesting things. The boat ride was provided by Lake Como for You, a tour company also based in Lecco. Italy expert Perillo Tours booked it for me at the last minute.
It wasn’t hard to see how right Radoicovich was and how much my own observations matched up with his assessment.
There was more to the city than the fancy villas on even fancier plots of land with perfectly manicured gardens, the many expensive cars, and the crowds of well-dressed tourists walking around. During my four-night stay, I noticed it every time I left the Hotel Metropole Suisse: Lake Como has a lot of natural beauty, and its luxury comes from its landscape.
No diamond sold in Piazza del Duomo could ever shine brighter than the hills around Lake Como at night. No Instagram filter could come close to the natural glow of golden hour that hits the Viale Geno promenade at sunset. And there is no better way to show off your wealth than to dine al fresco at a restaurant with a roof for only 20 euros in the late afternoon and have time to linger and enjoy it.
