Italy

We have all heard about the favourite place of celebrities where they like to spend some time in their own villas away from the fan crowds and busy cities – the astonishing lake Como.
For our three-day stay we decided to book accomodation in the town of Como, so that we have a bigger number of restaurants to choose from, supermarkets right behind the corner and big streets to park our car on. It is also a covinient starting point for a day trip around the lake.
We recommend AutoEurope for car rental in Italy. They have the best deals.
Here is a three day itinerary:

Day 1

Bergamo – Como

Our flight was to Bergamo, where we arrived early in the morning, rented a car from the airport and drove to the town of Como where we arrived around 11 a.m.. We spent the day there, walking in the old town, enjoying some great seafood and gelato. We found a great affordable restaurant near the lake with tables outside – Napule E’ Lago
Apart from the cathedral at Piazza Duomo, the lake is the other big attraction in town, so just walk around, enjoy the small Italian streets and the good food.
Tip: Go to a supermarket and buy products for sandwiches which to take with you on the next day, because you might get quite hungry from all the walking and it is great to sit next to the lake in one of the beautiful villas, enjoy a homemade meal and then continue with the sightseeing.

Day 2

Bellagio and Villa Melzi

We wanted to see villa Melzi first, so we left early in the morning and headed to the town of Bellagio – it is a 1h drive along the coast, with beautiful view of the lake. Before reaching the entrance of the villa, located closer to the town center (there is another entrance at the opposite side near the family chapel), on the right side you will see the free parking. You then have to walk down the road for a couple of minutes and you will reach the entrance. Unfortunately visitors cannot enter the villa but only the garden. Still, it is an experience not to miss. The ticket is Euro 6,50, check the website for further information.
Have a pleasant walk in Bellagio, see the villa Serbelloni at the end of the lakeside (now a luxury hotel, then turn right up the hill and then another right turn to walk along the street which is parallel to the lakeside. You will then see the small piaza with the cathedral, where you will find many souvenir shops, coffee places and yummi gelato. If you walk a bit further you will see the sign for the library, then turn right. The library will be on your right and on the left you will see the entrance for a nice small park, which will lead you back to the lakeside.

Varenna and Villa Monastero

Take your car and drive to the ferry stop in the center. The “ride” to Varenna takes 10 minutes, costs 15 Euros for a car and two adults. Then look for Villa Monastero. A huge paid parking is located right in front of it, so you can leave the car there. The entrance for the garden is Euro 5, for the garden and the house museum – Eur 8. Keep in mind that the museum doesn’t work every day so plan your visit accordingly. We only got to see the garden, but it was still worth it. Check their website for more information.
Then it was time to enjoy the Italian cousine – II Cavatappi is a small restaurant with only three tables outside and a few more inside so you will be very lucky if you get to sit there without a reservation. A table was waiting for us outside and we enjoyed some nice food after a busy day.
On our way to the car we found a great small beach in front of hotel Royal Victoria, a swan family kept us company while we were enjoying the last rays of light. Then we drove back to Como town.

Castello di Vezio

Initially the plan was to go and see also Castello di Vezio, but there was no time left for it. If you get up earlier and leave for Bellagio on time, you will have enough time to see the castle as well. http://www.castellodivezio.it/ It is located in a 20 min drive from Varenna, and after a short but strenuous walk up to the castle, you will be able to enjoy a breathtaking scenery.

Day 3

Villa del Balbianello

Our plan for our last day at the lake was to see the fairytale-like Villa del Balbianello.
I was quite surprised when I found out that the villa I have seen in so many movies is actually located on the tip of a small peninsula on lake Como. The entrance fee for the garden is EUR 10, for both garden and the villa – EUR 20. It is open every day except for Mondays and Wednesdays. There is a free parking where you can leave your car and then you have to walk to the villa for some 30 minutes. Only the visit of the villa takes 1h, so 2-2:30 h for the whole place would be sufficient.
Tip: Wear comfortable shoes.

Villa Carlotta

We wanted to go to Villa Carlotta afterwards, since it is located in a 10 min drive from Villa del Balbianello, but the weather was not so good and we decided to go back to Como town, have an evening walk and dinner. Here is the website of the villa.
Tip: If you plan your day and leave for Villa del Balbianello earlier in the morning you will have time to visit both places.
For the dinner we chose Ristorante Funicolare which is a great place, with excellent service and food, and a view of the lake.

Plan a long weekend in this magical place, you will fall in love with it!

FERRY

There is no direct service from Naples to Amalfi so you could take one to Sorrento and then another one from Sorrento to Amalfi. You have to check the schedule of the different companies in advance, though, as they don’t operate during the whole year.

Here you can check the schedules of the different companies:

http://www.travelmar.it/

http://www.lucibello.it/web/

http://www.napoliunplugged.com/get-amalfi-coast.html

http://www.alilauro.it/

http://www.navlib.it/eng/acquistaonline/index.asp

http://www.gescab.it/

What we actually did is to just go to the port and ask for the next ferry.

BUS

Another option would be to take a bus from the airport or the central train station in Naples to Positano.

http://www.positanoshuttle.com/

PRIVATE CAR

If you don’t have a tight budget you can also book a private car for your journey.

This is one of the companies offering the service: http://www.positanocarservice.com/

TRAIN

There is a Naples-Sorrento train which would be perfect for coming back to Naples especially if you catch the late one when it is already dark outside.

HOW WE DID IT

We took a ferry from Naples to Sorento. Then took the bus in front of the train station to Amalfi.

On our way back we took the ferry from Amalfi to Sorento and from there caught the late train to Naples. This allowed us to spend more time at the coast as the last ferries to Naples were leaving somewhat earlier. Plus you get to see the coast from different angles 😉

Italy has always been among my favorite travel destinations in Europe and this where I feel I have found heaven on earth. No matter if it will be the incredible feeling of walking on the streets of ancient Rome, staring at the marvelous Tuscan landscapes or enjoying an aromatic coffee while catching up with a dear friend on a small fairytale-like street. Italy has so much to offer that I can never get enough of it.

Our plan for September was to check the heel of the Italian boot. This region – Puglia – has attracted me in particular with a place called Alberobello and its trulli buildings which I wanted to see with my eyes.

And so the decision was made – I booked tickets from Sofia to Bari and from Napoli to Sofia. At that time Ivo was in Italy just for a workshop so we met in Bari. We had a short walk in the centre, which I barely remember since I hadn’t slept much the previous night, and then took a train to Lecce.

There we spent one day exploring the small Lecce which didn’t impress me that much. There were almost no people and it felt a bit like an abandoned town. However, our plan was only to sleep there and to explore the region during the day.

So the next day we went to the train station to catch a train to Alberobello. This turned into such an adventure. We were told on which platform to wait for the train but there were neither any signs, nor information table. Trains were coming and leaving from this and the next platform and we had to ask the train driver which direction he is going. So we waited and waited until, 40-50 minutes after the scheduled time, we finally got onto the one which was going to take us to Alberobello. After about 2 or 3 hours (I don’t remember how long exactly it took) we were there, walking around these incredible igloo-like houses, which were like dwarf houses – so tiny and fairy. It takes not more than 2 hours to have a thorough walk and go back to the train station.

On our way back we decided to also check Martina Franca which takes just about 30 minutes to reach with the train from Alberobello. It has an impressive old town with small piazzas which we had almost only for ourselves as there were just a few people in the old town. After spending another two hours there we caught the train to Lecce.

Our plan for the next day was to go to Otranto and from there to the nearest beach. In one hour the train took us there and we could have a pleasant walk within the fortress located on the coast. Then we found a taxi company where we booked a rickshaw and went to Baia Dei Turchi beach. We walked along the coast until we reached a beach restaurant – the only one in the area and enjoyed a great lunch with seafood at decent prices.

On the next day we took the train to Naples. There was no direct train so we had to travel to Taranto and then catch a connection train in one hour. So for one hour we managed to cross the bridge to the central part and have a short walk through the narrow streets. It looked like a place worth visiting for at least one day, so maybe next time..We then caught the train and arrived in Naples around noon. We had to meet the guy renting the place we have booked through airbnb. We had to climb a lot of stairs to reach it. It was located in a very old building with huge 4m ceilings. It was a one room apartment with a tiny balcony facing the inner courtyard. Once done with checking in we headed to the center which was pretty close to our apartment. We had the rest of the day to explore the city and didn’t focus on any museums, we were just walking and it felt a bit like India with the narrow streets, packed with people and the cars desperately trying to make their way through the crowd.

On the next day we made our way to the ferry port and bought our one-way ticket to Sorrento, a town on the Amalfi coast which was the furthest point to which we could get with the ferry. It was incredible – once the engines started, Naples was becoming smaller and smaller while Pompei on the other side of the ferry was getting closer and bigger. The view was quite impressive and is really worth taking the ferry on your way to the Amalfi coast, especially when reaching Sorrento with its colorful hotels and houses perched like birds on the hill. From there we took a free bus to the centre and looked for the busses to Positano and Amalfi. The bus stop was located close to the train station and there was a huge line of people waiting to get on the next bus. We managed to get in as well, but there were no seats left for us so we had to travel standing which was one hell of adventure. The road offers an amazing view over the coast and the aquamarine water, and it was actually good we were standing as we could see everything from both sides of the bus. The only problem was how to keep balance while the bus was taking these sharp turns every minute. We managed to survive but if you, like me, suffer from motion sickness – take a lot of pills before getting on the bus or the ride might turn into a nightmare.

We didn’t have time to stop both in Positano and Amalfi so we decided to enjoy the view over Positano from the bus and then spend some more time in Amalfi. I am not sure if we took the right decision as Positano looked very cute and not as touristic as Amalfi but we will never know until we go there again 🙂 On our way back we took the ferry to Sorrento which allowed us to see the coast from a different point of view. This was actually the best part of the trip so I highly recommend it. Once in Sorrento we spent some time eating Italian gelato and pastry and then took a train to Naples.

We were totally exhausted and felt asleep almost immediately after getting to the apartment. Early in the morning on the next day we had to catch our flight back to Bulgaria.

If you are running out of paid leave balance for the summer, but you feel like spending a couple of days abroad, then here is one idea for a weekend trip to Italy.

As I wanted to go to Iseo lake for Christo’s art project in June, I had to find affordable tickets with a late departure on Friday after work and a late one for coming back on Sunday evening. The only option I was able to find was to fly with Wizzair to Bologna and then come back to Sofia around 1 a.m. on Monday.

I decided to rent a car for the stay and thus reach Bergamo, where a friend of mine and me had booked accommodation. We were also going to need the car to go to Iseo, so for me this was the best option, as we really didn’t want to be dependent on Italian railways as both Lily (my friend) and me have already had some terrible experience with it.

So I arrived around 9 p.m. at Bologna airport and got a free upgrade to a more expensive car than the cheaper one I had initially booked as it was available only as automatic which I refused to take. So without realizing there is a GPS in the car I started driving using a paper map I took from the office of the car rental company. Well, as you can imagine, I got a bit lost, traveled through some villages instead driving on the highway. But I was soo happy to be in Italy and didn’t realize how I arrived in Bergamo. The difficult thing was to find the apartment. I only knew the name of the street and since it was about 1 a.m. and there were no people on the streets I drove until I saw a young guy and an older man sitting outside. I stopped the car and asked for help. They, of course, didn’t speak any English, so with the 5 words I know in Spanish I managed to understand which way I should drive. The place we had booked was absolutely amazing – it had a great location in the heart of the city, we felt very comfortable in it and especially loved the super cute little balcony on which we felt like two sparrows while smoking cigarettes and absorbing the Italian vibe from the street.

On the next day we started exploring the city center and while we were looking for a place to have breakfast we found this cafe full of Italians. At first glance I was not impressed by it, but when we saw that it was packed with locals we were sure we made the right choice. The place is called Arri’s kitchen bar and is located on Via Piccinini 10. It works 7a.m – 9 p.m. We had breakfast with coffee and tea for less than 15 Euros which was a pretty good deal.

After a long breakfast, as expected from two friends who see each other for the first time in months, we were ready to conquer the old town. We were surprised to see that all the people who we didn’t see in the downtown pedestrian zone were actually in the old town. The atmosphere was so relaxed that we couldn’t help but feel that inner piece almost immediately. We entered the old town – Citta Alta through Porta S.Giacommo and after climbing up the hill we reached Piaza Vecchia. We spent some time sitting on the stairs staring at all the tourists, listening to the sound of the guitar of this street musician who was trying to impress these two young butterflies, giggling right next to him.

We then entered the Chapelle Colleoni and were absolutely astonished by its interior. What we saw inside was quite unexpected from the outside – the altar, the frescoes and sculptures were all so impressive.

After walking around in the old town we decided to go back to the center of Bergamo, take the car and drive to Iseo lake in the late afternoon. We exited the old town through Porta di S.Lorenzo and we felt like being in the countryside – small houses, vineyards, birds singing, the distant sound of a small river. We started having doubts whether we were where we actually thought we were while looking at the map. After walking for some time a very kind lady gave us directions to the city center. Apparently we exited the old town through a gate we haven’t even seen on the map.

We reached the central train station, where we met our friends Rita,Lidia and Gosh and headed to Iseo. As we were getting closer we were seeing more and more people walking in the same direction. Police officers tried to stop us but with Rita’s press card we managed to park the car in Pilzone, the village before Sulzano – the starting point for those willing to walk on water. We had to walk for about 30-40 minutes to reach Sulzano and once there we were unpleasantly surprised with the fact that the temporary bridge connecting Sulzano with the Isola island in the lake was closed due to the expected light shower. So we took a ferry to go to the island. The whole walking area on the side of the lake was covered with the saffron-colored fabric which was used for the temporary bridges in the lake as well. The streets in Sulzano close to the temporary bridge were also covered with it. Every single corner and specific shape of the street was taken into consideration when preparing the huge pieces of fabric to fit perfectly. It was amazing! We spent the evening on the island, enjoying the company of all friends who were staying there and finally decided to sleep at their place as we feared that we might not be able to reach the lake with the car from Bergamo on the next day.

This was a great decision as on the next day it was a total nightmare to reach Iseo – trains were being stopped, the cars were not let through, etc. So when we woke up early in the morning we were extremely happy to see people walking on the saffron path. We found a place to take some croissants and coffee for breakfast which we enjoyed in the company of some ducks and swans in the lake. Then we had our walk on water. It was so crowded – people at different age, some with baby strollers, others with their dogs, some sitting close to the water and enjoying the view, others heading to the house on the little island which is the heart of the project. A swan couple was walking undisturbed on the bridge while people were forming a circle around it to take a shoot with the beautiful white birds stepping on saffron. We enjoyed a more than an hour walk on the “Floating pierce” and had to then leave so that we are able to catch our flights.

On our way to the car we came across a gallery in a building in the water with the photographs of Jean-Claude and Christo’s art projects taken by Wolfgang Folz.

After reaching Bergamo and packing our luggage we found a great pastry place where we spent about an hour – the Botega caffe cacao, located on Via Zambonate 89. Everything was so delicious there, highly recommended! After this sweet end of the weekend it was time to catch our flights (I had to drive to Bologna first).

This was an amazing weekend so if you wonder how to spend a couple of days in Italy without taking too many days off – this is an easy way to escape from the routine.