MARIA'S HOUSE VARENNA LAKE COMO ITALY Rick Steve's Book

Having travelled to Italy more than 25 times, we are very happy to say, that Marias House is one of the very best acommodations, we have experienced! The description fits perfectly to what you get. The price is quite all right, and Maria and Pietro are very kind and helpfull hosts. They picked us up at the railway station, showed us the whereabouts of Varenna and answered every question in a familiar and friendly way. Varenna itself is to us the pearl of Lake Como. Bellagio is bigger and has more shops and restaurants, but the atmosphere of Varenna is quite unique. Our visit took place in off-season, so we quickly felt, that we were part of the everyday life of Varenna: We met the same local people in the grocery store every morning. We enjoyed the quietness of the town, and especially we enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere in the area of cafés at the small bay just below Maria House. To sit here in the sunset and drink your Aperol Spritze while watching the ferries crossing the lake, the families feeding the ducks and the lovers doing their romantic show off makes this place worthy of the comment: Romantic getaway! And afterwards you can pick between at least 10 good restaurants no more than 5 minutes away, some of them with brilliant lake-views. The views of the lake gets even better, if you in daytime take a walk in the hillsides just above town - in fact it is breathtaking! And Varenna is situated very convenient, if you want to take boattrips, either to Lecce, Como, Bellagio, Menaggio or you just want to take roundtrips. And the best place to return to!

We had been travelling for 36 hours before arriving in Verenna. We were tired, hot, thursty & pretty grumpy. Getting off the train we were met by two beautiful people - Marie & Piedro, what a treat! They were so welcoming, friendly, kind & generous, we knew straight away we had made the best choice for the start of our 3 month Italian holiday. They drove us around town hi-lighting all the tourist spots, where to shop for groceries, the best eateries etc. We were then shown to our accommodation, which was spotless, very comfortable, and had everything required to make a great meal (which we find lacking in a lot of places). It was in a wonderful position with views to the lake, most nights we sat on the balcony watching the facinating crowd pass by. This place was like a fairyland, the cobbled laneways & dancing lights across the lake. It was so close to everyting and the food & wine in the area was like nothing we had experienced before. The ferrys are so close, as is rail - where you can go to any part of the lakes and very cheaply - we actually were suprised by the price - thinking everything would be very explecive, but not at all - on par to Melbourne & perhaps even cheaper. We spent 10 days in Annina's & have not long been back home from our trip, but this is, when I look back on Italy, where I would love to be right now - on that balcony with a glass of wine. My only hesitation in writing this review, it that once everyone finds out about Maria & Annina's, they will be booked years in advance. When we left, both Piedro & Maria came to see us off & we felt as though we were leaving home - it really was sad to leave them and Verenna. It was a wonderful starting ground for Italy and I often think about that first day. I highly recommend this place to anyone. WE LOVED IT!

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived. Not only was it a lovely, fully equipped apartment, but the location couldn't have been better (for the price). Sure, we could have spent 3-4 times as much per night on a hotel room with balcony overlooking the lake. However this apartment was located on the #1 most picturesque sidestreet in Varenna. Centrally located with only a short climb, we were steps away from the upper level of town (the piazza, shops & etc) and only steps down to the central part of the harbor and it's restaurants. We had informed the owners, Maria & Pietro, when our train would arrive. They met us at the station and drove us the short way to the piazza. Then Maria, a very nice lady, showed us around the town, and got us settled in for our stay. She speaks only a bit of English, but we were able to communicate easily. The bed was comfortable, the apartment clean, with a washing machine, satellite TV, and a kitchen. We had a nice patio to sit on, and look at the lake with our glass of wine. This is a real bargain in an area with very few of them. Perfetto!