Photo Ashley Pomeroy, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lecco · Lombardy
Things to see in Varenna
In Varenna the atlas lists 8 historic places: 2 abbeys and monasteries, 2 castles, 2 museums and 2 historic villas and palaces.
For most of these places we don’t have verified opening hours yet: always check the official website before you go.
Don’t miss: Villa Monastero (1800), villa in Varenna, Italy.
By date of construction, the most common period is the Modern era (60% of dated places) and the Early modern period (20% of dated places).
- 8historic places
- 693inhabitants
- 220 maltitude
The town
Varenna is a fairly sedate, attractive lakeside village in the central part of Lake Como in the Lombardy region of Italy. Varenna is the fifth richest municipality in all of Italy for income paid by taxpayers.
It is traditionally a fishing village and has colorful houses and villas built close to each other on a little piece of land just below a mountain. With staircases and steep paths, the historical centre of Varenna is nicely cozy and has bars with terraces and a pedestrian walk along the lake shore.
The village has some nice hotels and restaurants (some of the best on the eastern shore of Lake Como), a conference centre for physics (Villa Monastero regularly hosts the national Italian research conference) and two botanical gardens worth a visit in Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
8 places
Castles 2
Villas and palaces 2
Getting there
By train: Varenna is on the line that runs from Milan to Lecco, up the eastern side of the lake through Varenna and on to Colico, then to Morbegno, Sondrio and Tirano. Express trains leave from Milano Centrale station, stop at few stations, and reach Varenna in approx. 1 hr. Regional trains leave from Milan Porta Garibaldi, stop at all stations (including Fiumelatte, a southern subdivision of Varenna), and reach Varenna in 1½-2 hr. The trains are a convenient way to move along the eastern shore of Lake Como, but the service finishes quite early in the evening (the last train leaves Milan at 21:20).
Stazione di Varenna-Esino-Perledo, Via alla Stazione (at the village of Perledo, just across the stream of Esino at the N border of Varenna). Regional services R13 line Calolziocorte–Lecco–Colico–Sondrio, RegioExpress train services on the RE8 route Milan–Lecco–Sondrio–Tirano. Ride from Milan costs €6.70 and takes 1–1¼ hr. Check Trenord website for timetables and fares.
By plane: The nearest airport is Orio al Serio International Airport (sometimes referred to as Milan Bergamo) in Bergamo, which is served by several low-cost airlines. Driving distance is around 70 km (43 mi) (1 hr 10 min); by public transport the easiest way is to take a bus from the airport to Bergamo railway station where you can catch a train to Lecco and then change to a train to Varenna.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
What to see, according to Wikivoyage
Villa Monastero. It was built as a convent, and in the 17th century, converted to a manor. Villa Varenna and a garden around it are now a museum. It is preserved as a house of the late 19th century and its 14 furnished rooms can be visited. It also hosts conferences (in particular it has hosted physics courses that have been attended by over 60 Nobel Prize winners) and is owned by the Province of Lecco. The garden is on a narrow strip of land that stretches 2 km (1 mi) along the lake shore until Fiumelatte. Villa Cipressi gardens. The villa is now a hotel and restaurant, but non-guests may visit the gardens, which are charming, while not as grand as some others on the lake. Costs a few euros, or a Villa Monastero ticket may give you entrance here too. Church of San Giorgio. Church of San John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista).
Museo ornitologico e di scienze naturali Scanagatta (museum of ornithology and natural sciences Scanagatta), Via IV Novembre 18, ☏ +39 0341 830119. In general Sat and Sun. €3.
Vezio Castle (Castello di Vezio). The castle is in the municipality of Varenna, while the little village of Vezio is in the municipality of Perledo.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage · Underlined names link to our own pages.