Birthday Weekend in Beautiful Lake Como

Hello Friends! Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday which got me reminiscing about how I spent my 30th birthday weekend last year in beautiful Lake Como! In all honesty, I meant to post this last week, but I was so exhausted from birthday dinner celebrations and lots of wine I didn’t quite make it LOL! Anyone else feel like they “can’t hang” after months of social distancing and limited social interactions or is it just me?! Anyways, I wanted to share all the deets from my magical 30th birthday that felt like a dream and forever ago!

How to get to Lake Como

My boyfriend and I made our way to Italy at the tail end of our 2019 Europe trip. We spent 24 hours in Venice (read more about that here) and then took two trains to to Lake Como to ring in my 30th year. It was also the first time we were able to finally relax after a jam packed week and a half. From Venice to Lake Como, it takes around 4 hours with a stop in Milan (Milan Centrale). Lake Como is north of Milan and is right where Italy meets Switzerland. Once you reach Varenna in Lake Como (Varenna-Esino) you can either catch a taxi or walk to the ferry station which is 5-10 minutes away. Since we got in super late, we hauled our bags down the cobble streets (I’m sure it was a hot mess to watch haha), got to the ferry and got our ticket to Bellagio! Once we got there, our hotel shuttle came to pick us up.

Where to stay in Lake Como

There are a few popular towns surrounding Lake Como – Bellagio, Como, Varenna and Menaggio. We decided to stay in Bellagio but by the time we could book a hotel all the hotels were booked! So don’t snooze, BOOK EARLY. We ended up staying near Bellagio in a suite at the Borgo Le Terrazze. It was honestly SO HUGE and felt so luxurious after all the tiny AirBnb’s we had stayed in. We reached the hotel around 11pm and we were exhausted (you can see the bags under my eyes below LOL) but Keeyan had arranged for rose petals on the floor and a “30” in more rose petals and my best friend got my favorite champagne delivered and I saw it all the moment I walked in the room*insert happy tears*.

Day 1

As I mentioned, we got to Lake Como and our hotel near Bellagio very late at night. It was so dark that I couldn’t see much besides the beautiful lights from mountains. Waking up to 30 and opening the curtains that morning was such a treat! I walked on to the patio and was BLOWN AWAY by the view. There was a brisk morning breeze and the birds were chirping, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking of it!

Private Boat Tour

Keeyan planned the most perfect day which I don’t think he can ever top ;). We started our day off with a boat ride on Lake Como! Keeyan booked a private tour on a taxi boat for 2 hours which gave us ample amount of time to relax, take pictures and absorb Lake Como and all of it’s beauty. The tour guide was very accommodating and also made sure to show us where Casino Royale was filmed. Keeyan requested champagne on board because he knows how much I love my bubbly. It was kind of chilly before the sun came out so and thankfully we took our coats with us.

Birthday Photoshoot

Keeyan planned a surprise photoshoot in Lake Como with Flytographer. If you are ever on vacation and looking to do a quick photoshoot OR if you are looking to gift some friends a mind blowing wedding gift – I highly highly recommend! We met with our photographer, Paola who was SO sweet and made our session so much fun! She took us to the Giardini di Villa Melzi, the spectacular botanical gardens in Bellagio and our pictures were amazing! Here’s a sneak peak but you can find out how the rest of them came out at the end of this post 🙂

Birthday Dinner

After a day of boat rides, photoshoots and calls and text messages we took rest before heading back to Bellagio for dinner. We ended up eating at a Hotel Suisse Restaurant (recent reviews look abysmal but the food was very good when we went last year). I got the fettuccine alfredo and they scraped the cheese from the cheese wheel *drool*.

Day 2

Since I was only spending a weekend in Lake Como, we kept our second day completely open. We were heading back to Milan the that night so this day we spent literally wandering the streets, eating our way around with no end in sight. It was the most perfect day! I wore comfortable clothes and my favorite travel sneakers!

We stumbled into a restaurant and ate the most amazing pizza – wish I remembered what it was called.

We ate gelato and got lost in the winding cobblestone streets. It was a perfect day!

My blogger friend BijPatel recommended getting drinks at Grand Hotel Billa Serbelloni the in the afternoon and it was a wonderful and peaceful way to relax before our train ride out!

The 2 days we spent in Lake Como exceeded my expectations and were beyond a dream. It was the perfect mix of beauty, nature, views, food, culture and luxury and definitely a place I would love to revisit and spend more time in. Maybe I can buy a retirement villa or something… one can dream 😉 Thanks for reading friends and let me know if are ever spending a weekend in Lake Como or if you ever have any questions about our trip.

Vidhya