We reached the top half of Lake Como and stayed four nights in Varenna which is perfectly sited for catching the ferries to Bellagio and Menaggio which everyone has to visit at least once.  Varenna is noted as vying for the prettiest town in this area with Bellagio.  I chose Varenna as we had a car and could travel north or south without having to ferry.

This worked perfectly for us as we retraced ours steps back through Switzerland one day to just below St Mortiz where we had spied a new Primula out the car window and the Swiss meadows definitely needed to be revisited up close.  On another day we ventured into the mountains above and to the very north of the Lake – spectacular scenery and I can recommend the climbing powers of the little Nissan Micra.  

On the day we left we ferried from Varenna to Menaggio (15 Euro) and took the inland route through some more beautiful scenery to the top of Lake Maggiore before driving down the coast to our new base at Belgirate.  Travelling without a car per passenger is just 4-5 Euro.