Food & Wine Walking Tour in Varenna, Lake Como

Varenna is widely considered the most romantic village on Lake Como — a pastel-coloured fishing settlement of just 800 inhabitants, with a wooden walkway (the Passeggiata degli Innamorati) hugging the lake at sunset. Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi offer some of the lake's finest gardens, and the ferry from Varenna to Bellagio and Menaggio takes 15 minutes — making it the perfect quiet base from which to explore the whole lake.

Varenna is small enough to be walked end-to-end in a morning and dense enough that the family-run shops have not yet been replaced by chains. A three-hour food and wine walking tour with a local guide takes you to the salumeria that still cures its own bresaola, the cheese counter with the best Bitto, the historic enoteca for a Valtellina tasting, and the gelateria that is worth the queue.

Stops are spaced for grazing rather than full meals — six to eight tastings across the route, finishing with a lakeside aperitivo. Suitable for all ages; allergies and dietary preferences accommodated with advance notice.