NCERT books might have taught you that the world’s deepest freshwater lake is Baikal, world’s largest is Superior, world’s biggest inland waterbody is Caspian Sea, and the saltiest is Dead Sea, but search for ‘Lake Como’ on Google India and results will be far ‘superior’ than any other lake – thanks to two weddings, a villa, and countless films.
In 2018, Isha Ambani got engaged to Anand Piramal on the banks of the Como, followed by Deepika Padukone marrying Ranveer Singh at Villa del Balbianello, overlooking the Como.
Films shot here include ‘Star Wars: Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Casino Royale’ – and the world’s rich and famous own villas here, including the most famous one owned by George Clooney.
How to reach?
The nearest airport and major city is Milan (Malpensa airport), where you can easily find rental cars or bikes. I picked up the Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally – a motorcycle made for travelling the world. Priced in India at a hefty Rs 29.72 lakh, it’s got good fuel efficiency (20-25 km/litre) and ultra-long range (thanks to its car-like 30-litre fuel tank). Powered by the 1,158-cc engine, it can keep up with high-speed cars and trucks on highways, making it exceptionally safe.
The lake
Called Lago di Como in Italian (also Lario), Lake Como has an area of 146 square kilometres (third-largest in Italy, after lakes Garda and Maggiore). Looked at from the sky, it has an inverted Y shape.
What to do?
Love the scenery: In winters, the Alps surrounding the lake are white, and in summers they are green. Both colours are a nice contrast to the deep blue waters.
Hike: It’s a paradise for hikers, with trails passing through waterfalls and forests. You can even climb the Monte Legnone (2,609 metres above sea level) – 7-8 hours, but with magical views of the lake.
Eat, sleep, pray, shop, walk, bike: There are dozens of towns around the lake (most famous are Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna, and Como), with hotels costing thousands of euros per night, to affordable hostels. There are manicured gardens, shops, restaurants, or just empty places to meditate. One amazing activity is taking a bicycle on rent and biking a loop around the lake (almost 200 km).
Ride: In case bicycling is not your thing, the roads around Lake Como are a motorcyclist’s delight. These are narrow two-lane roads, but with extreme elevation changes, and passing through narrower streets of mediaeval towns. The Multistrada V4 Rally is exceptionally good at handling such winding roads – especially while exiting a corner with the bike still in a leaning position and the rider accelerating.
Watersports: While swimming isn’t allowed except a few places, there are a lot of watersports activities such as paddleboat, standup pedalling, kayaking, and canoeing.
Local food: Although most restaurants serve Italian and global cuisines, there are some nice regional touches you shouldn’t miss, such as missoltino (made from dried agone fish that are salted, sun-dried, pressed for weeks, and finally grilled and served with polenta), fried alborelle (a lake fish), risotto con filetti di pesce persico (creamy risotto served with fresh perch fish from the lake), brasato di cinghiale selvatico (braised wild boar), and for vegetarians there are pizzoccheri (buckwheat pasta) and pan de Comm (Como’s signature bread).
Why the Como is so scenic?
Most roads around most lakes are almost water level, or a few metres higher. But roads around the Como are so high that you get a bird’s eye view of the lake just about from anywhere.
That view is what makes it special – that view has attracted thousands from across the world, who have invested in villas, restaurants, hotels, offices, museums, attracting even more tourists and more money.