Sublime

Travel can feel like an indulgent activity, but I prefer the philosophy of Rick Steves that it’s actually something you owe to others: learning about other cultures, seeing others’ lives and homelands, experiencing what’s important to them.

This well-manicured community of 800 people offers the best of all lake worlds. Easily accessible by train, on the less-driven side of the lake, Varenna has a romantic

$$ Il BoMa—named for the owners, American Maddy and her Italian husband Bombetta—has three pricey but well-appointed rooms right along the main drag (Db-€90, includes

Perhaps that’s why it’s a favorite among savvy Europeans seeking a relatively untrampled home base. The touristy zone squeezed between the cement-encased train tracks and the harbor can be stressfully congested, but head just a few steps uphill and you can breathe again.

They

Buy a ticket from the tobacco shop inside the station (€1.30/90 minutes, €4 day pass valid until midnight), or buy one

Aldo Lorenzi, That Shop in Via Montenapoleone (Ulrico Hoepli Editore, 2008).