Our last stop on our incredible day out from Menaggio (see here, here, here and here for the previous instalments) was the charming Italian town of Chiavenna. We were dropped off outside the rail station (a small branch line connects Chiavenna with Colico near the head of Lake Como) and headed off to …
After our lovely interlude in St Moritz (see here) we rejoined our coach for the return journey to Menaggio. Having arrived in the Engadine Valley via the stunning Bernina Pass, we travelled back towards the Italian border on the south west route via the Maloja Pass. We’d never been this way before and it was …
Tirano marks the southern terminus of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Bernina Express line run by the Rhaetische Bahn Railway. We’d been on the famous railway that links the northern side of the Alps with the sunnier and warmer south a few years ago whilst staying in St Moritz and were excited to …
We don’t normally do guided tours apart from the occasional walking tour to get orientated with a new town or city. However we were keen to do a trip from Menaggio across the Swiss border to St Moritz having fond memories of a wonderful day out on the Bernina Express a few years ago (Railway …
Each night after an enjoyable aperitivo in the town square (see “Revisiting Menaggio” here) we headed off in search of dinner. Although small, Menaggio has a number of delightful family owned eateries. They all made use of the excellent range of local produce, lavarello the main fish from the lake, seasonal vegetables and regional specialities …
The pretty lakeside town of Menaggio was our base for our few days’ stay on Lake Como. We’d been here once before, when we stopped off for a late afternoon aperitivo at the Cafe Centrale (bar of the Hotel Du Lac) and were so enchanted that we vowed to come back (see Aperitivo Hour at …
This is a postscript to last week’s post, ” A Walk To Villa del Balbianello” as I subsequently discovered a further set of holiday photos hiding on the iPad! As well as more photos of the stunning Villa del Balbianello, there are some of the rest of our walk round the pretty little town of …
Sometimes I find the best days on our holidays are when we make no plans at all. We had one of those a few years back when we were staying in central Switzerland (Serendipity In Switzerland see here). Our first full day on Lake Como turned out to be serendipitous too! A wild storm the previous …
Apart from visiting our family in the UK , we managed a a trip across to Europe, which took in Lake Como for a few days and Berlin for a long weekend. Whilst it’s still fresh in my mind I thought I’d write up the continental part of our trip. A huge amount of photos …
One of the most civilised Italian customs is their love of the late afternoon/early evening aperitif. Both in the Italian speaking part of southern Switzerland and in northern Italy at 5pm on the dot (sometimes 6pm depending on where you are) their version of “Happy Hour” begins. We found when staying there, however, that the …
Le Chic En Rose 