If you’re reading this blog you know that I love traveling. COVID made travel abroad harder and I borderline started to get depressed about it. So when opportunity for a weekend abroad arose, I didn’t let it go. We took this trip in early October 2021 when Omicron wasn’t a thing yet. My husband was already in Lake Maggiore for a work related event. I joined him there after re-visiting Milan and our road trip in Italy and Switzerland began.
Day 1 Milan to Locarno
My trip started with (re)visiting Milan for a few hours. The Duomo place was of course my first port of call in the city. It is after all one of the most Instagrammable places in Milan. I also walked through Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II to get to Teatro Alla Scala.
La Scala is one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in the world. Then I set off to explore La Brera. It is a pretty neighborhood with pedestrian streets and cozy restaurants. I wish I had time to explore more! Before leaving Milan I had lunch at Rom’antica in via Dante, which is a pizza place. They don’t have a menu in English, but I managed to order and the pizza was very delicious!
Then I took the train back to the airport and pick the rented car. Thanks to Google Maps and a minor mishap I managed to drive to Stresa and pick up my husband. We then drove along Lake Maggiore and reached Locarno late in the afternoon. It was getting late and we were tired, so we settled in our hotel we went for dinner.
Now for dinner we had booked a table at Blu Restaurant in advance. It was the only fancy meal we had on this trip and a very good choice of restaurant. The restaurant is very spacious and located by the lake next to Locarno’s spa. The food was amazing! I particularly enjoyed the dessert that looks like a deconstructed pot. It was so pretty and delicious.
Day 2 Locarno, Lugano and Lake Como
Our second day started with a walk around Locarno’s old town and waterfront. We explored Piazza Grande, which is the city’s main square and commercial center. We walked all the way up to Sant Antonio square. Before leaving town we walked along the waterfront and the ferry harbor.
Then it was time to get in the car and drive to Lugano. We found a parking and set out to explore the old town as well. The city was very busy at it was Saturday. The weather was nice and there was a lot of people out and about. We stopped by chocolaterie Läderach and bought chocolates to bring back home. It was a good choice.
Lugano’s waterfront is very pretty as well and worth a walk along the lake. I found Parco Ciani particularly charming.
Our next stop was Menaggio in Lake Como. This was our lunch stop despite the fact that it was late. One thing to keep in mind is that restaurants (or the kitchen at least) close around 3-4pm. We managed to eat some sandwich in Bar Al Paladar De La Memoria just before the kitchen closed. I also bought some cannoli from Pasticceria Cassera Moretti. The waterfront is Menaggio’s best feature.
Lake Como is very charming. From Menaggio and Cadenabbia there is ferry connection to Bellagio and Varenna. We took the (car) ferry from Cadenabbia to Bellagio. It’s just a 10′ trip.
Bellagio is one of the most popular villages in Lake Como and was very busy. It’s also a small village and easy to explore within one (1) hour. Parking is a challenge though. We made our way through the picturesque streets to reach the waterfront. Then walked uphill again to reach our car and reach our next destination: Bergamo. The road along Lake Como is very scenic but also very narrow but I made it!! We reached Bergamo late in the evening so we only managed dinner and a short walk.
Day 3 Bergamo
The last day of our trip was moody and rainy. We had umbrellas but it wasn’t easy moving around so we didn’t explore the city as much as we wanted. Our first stop was the old town on the hill: Città Alta. There are a few ways of getting up there: funicular, bus and stairs. We took the latter and entered Città Alta from San Giacomo Gate.
Then following the cobblestone streets we reached Cathedral square. In this square 3 are the buildings of interest: The Cathedral, Santa Maria Maggiore and Capella Colleoni. There is a pass underneath Pallazzo della Ragione which leads to the Old Town Square. The square is surrounded by restaurants and cafes.
We walked along Via Colleoni up to Piazza Della Cittadella on the northwest corner of the Città Alta. From there you can get out of the walls and there is a second funicular up to Castello Di San Vigilio. From there you have not only a view of Bergamo but also of Città Alta as well. It was very cloudy on that day so we didn’t even attempt going up.
Back in the new city we walked around Piazza Vittorio Veneto and Piazza Giacomo Matteoti. Piazza Vittorio Veneto is a beautiful square with an obelisk in the middle. It’s in front of Banca Populare di Bergamo. The rain started again and it became rather annoying. So we packed our stuff and drove back to Malpensa Airport.
Road Trip Overview
It has been a while since I took a road trip. It was exhausting because we had 2 full days, but refreshing as well. The lakes of northern Italy and Switzerland are very charming and I totally recommend a road trip around the area. We added Bergamo on the mix because we had many recommendations about it. The rain did dampen our plans though and we didn’t explore the city as much as we would like to!
I'm Anna and this is my lifestyle and travel blog! 
