Lake Como travel diaries

 September is the perfect time to go on a European trip to extend the Summer just that little bit longer, when the UK starts to get the signs of Autumn coming in.  We picked the perfect week to go as the UK was pouring with rain all week, so we weren't smug at all!!!  This was my first holiday of 2025 and if I'm being honest, I was only able to go as it was so affordable.  My husband and I have been saving really hard to move house and anything more expensive than this just wouldn't have been possible.  There were 6 of us on the trip, it was a girls trip, so breaking the costs down individually, the airbnb, flight and transfers cost £350 total!!  Happy to share any extra information on this if anyone would like, just comment on this post.  We chose to stay in Cremia, which was so lovely as it was completely non touristy, so we could travel to the touristy places in the day and come back to some peaceful relaxing.  I think this also contributed to the fact that it was more affordable.  We were there for 4 days and we wanted the perfect mix of exploring and relaxing and I think that we did just that!!  

Day 1

We arrived at about 2pm by the time our transfer dropped us off at our airbnb, we used the company Zip Transfers and they were so good!  We walked up the hill to the local shop to do a little food shop and then we honestly just spent the rest of the day cooking and eating pasta, enjoying the views of our Airbnb balcony and reading!

Day 2

Day two was our first day exploring one of the towns of Lake Como and we chose Mennagio which was only a 15 minute bus ride away from Cremia, so very convenient.  Our Airbnb was high up in the hills, so it was a walk down, but a beautiful walk to the bus station.  There was a really lovely market all along the lakeside and I bought some great jewellery pieces and we enjoyed pottering down all the streets and eating all the gelato and pizza.

Day 3

Day Three was a relaxing day and we decided to head down to the Lake at Cremia and have a wild Swim, which was absolutely magical!  We enjoyed a coffee and then headed back up to the Airbnb for card games and reading.

Day 4

Our final day before we headed back the next day, we travelled to the most popular town of Lake Como which is Bellagio.  We caught the bus to Mennagio and then the ferry over to Bellagio.  The ferry ride was a highlight of the trip as it was so beautiful.  The colours of the buildings as we passed the town Varenna was breath taking, like out of a movie.  You can't travel to Lake Como and not go on a boat!  Plenty more food and street wandering and shopping was done, including standing at the top of one of the streets for the iconic street view of the shops with the lake in the background.  This street is called Serbelloni if you were interested in visiting.  My gelato was cheesecake flavoured and it was the best gelato I had the whole trip and I had my first Carbonara which was sensational!!