Sentiero del Viandante, a scenographic path on Lake Como

The Sentiero del Viandante (meaning the wayfarer's path) is an original path that winds along the eastern side of Lake Como, between high mountains, wonderful sceneries and old alleys. It was given this name in 1992. The path is about 40 kilometers long and connects the city of Lecco in the south, to the town of Colico in the north. As such, it is an interesting - although more demanding- alternative to the highway or the railway line. Why should you travel along this shore of Lake Como in thirty minutes, when you have the possibility to see it slowly, step by step, and breathing its fresh air like a real wayfarer?

Over time, lots of people walked through this path to move along the Lake, perhaps with the purpose of reaching Valtellina or perhaps to get to Milan. Luckily, this track was never used by soldiers because there were no wars here. That is why we can talk about it as a path of daily life, of simplicity, of local people and here you can still see a lot of remains that keep this old memory alive. Over the centuries, the path has been constantly fixed, improved and more recently promoted for trekking purposes, which has made it very famous among trekking enthusiasts. Through the Sentiero del Viandante, everyone can stop being a modern man for a while and turn into a pilgrim in order to take a break from everyday life and take care of his/her body and soul.

USEFUL INFORMATION

The Sentiero del Viandante can be divided into four stages. Since it runs just above the villages of the lake, you can easily stop your trekking to visit a village and its cultural attractions, eat local food and then come back to your trekking. Moreover, the eastern shore of the Lake has a railway line and this makes it easy for you to stop your walk whenever you want and come back with the train to your starting point.

The path is clearly indicated by orange signals and it is not particularly difficult, even though in some parts there are differences in height. We recommend you walk through the path in spring or autumn, since summers are hot and winters are cold.

Each stage of the "Sentiero del Viandante" comes wih its peculiarities, its attractions and its incredibile sceneries.

It is definitely worth learning more about each one of them:

1) FROM LECCO TO LIERNA

2) FROM LIERNA TO VARENNA

3) FROM VARENNA TO DERVIO

4) FROM DERVIO TO COLICO