Brunate – The balcony on the Alps

Shelter-in-place measures have been lifted! We can travel around and enjoy day trips in Italy’s mild summer weather, in one of my favorite places on Earth: Lake Como. After so much time indoors I wanted to spend a day in the open, still respecting the safety measures. So facemask on and hand sanitiser in my bag, I left for Como with the intention of a short day trip.

Sitting right on the shore of Lake Como

Sitting right on the shore of Lake Como

Not even an hour from Poggio Verde, perched on the mountains above lake Como, there’s a little town called Brunate. It is a favorite place around here. The reason why, is that people can reach it by car or by the picturesque Bru-co funicular. “Bruco” in Italian means Caterpillar, but is also a combination of the two words Brunate and Como, the two towns the funicular connects. Funnily enough, in September (when I could not have known what life was about to become) I had gone to Como and bought a ticket to visit Brunate, but due to unforeseen circumstances I couldn’t do it. The end of the lockdown seemed like a perfect occasion to take advantage of my unused ticket!

The Bruco funicular is part of the joy of this experience. The cities of Como and Brunate built it in 1894 to ease movement between the two. The cars, renovated in 2011, still bear the typical colors: lilac going up and red to come down. From the windows one can admire the beautiful landscape opening on the lake as the cars go up. 

The view from the funicular

The view from the funicular

Once we arrived we immediately stopped to take pictures from one of the many viewpoints, which make the town famous. They are so many they grant Bruante the well-deserved name of “balcony of the Alps”. The sun was bright and the Lake shined at the bottom of the valley. What a marvellous view, even though the haze made it difficult to take perfect pictures.

We stopped for a coffee at one of the cafes near the viewpoint and got ready for a short walk. We wanted to enjoy the many art nouveau villas scattered throughout the town. Brunate has more than 20 architectural beauties, varying from art nouveau to Italian eclectic style, packed in just 2 square kilometers of surface (less than 1 square mile). 

Another main attraction in Brunate, less easy to reach, is the famous Lighthouse dedicated to Alessandro Volta. He invented the electric battery, and also the reason why Volts are the unit of measure for electic power. The lighthouse sits at the very top of the town and you can reach it on foot (a 30 minutes city hike) or by bus. The view from there is simply beautiful and, when open, it is also possible to climb on top of it, to see the world 100 feet on top of the mountain. The lighthouse is lit every evening and is colored red, green and white to light the Lake nights with the colors of the Italian flag. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic it was not possible to go inside it. I will surely come back one day to climb on top and see the world from above.

After taking loads of pictures and sitting for a little while under the shade with an ice lolly, we returned to the station. There we waited for the Brucoand returned to Como.

It was almost dinner time, and what better way to end a day trip than with a good restaurant dinner? If you are in Como, we recommend Gretchen’s favourite restaurant there, L’angolo del Silenzio (the corner of silence). Here’s her comment:

The restaurant is a very low-key place, a typical “Trattoria” run by a family that has been managing this locale for more than three generations. It feels a little bit like going into someone’s home. Not terribly fancy but with food and service that makes you feel like a guest. I always enjoy going to restaurants in Italy where the other diners are not only other foreign visitors, but also “regulars“, members of the local community who return again and again. It is also a pleasure to support a restaurant like this that you know is run by several generations of people dedicated to fine Italian cuisine. In this case they are masters in specialities such as stuffed pasta, local lake fish and almond cake. I highly recommend it!”  

Pictures by: Judith Wencel and S. Bechi

Be Charmed: Mantero, Como, Brunate

Our delightful driver arrived after breakfast to take the group on yet another wonderful adventure.


First stop was Mantero, a silk outlet outside of Como. On first glance the shop looked small but the longer the group was there, the more they realized there was to choose from. In addition to the wide variety of scarves, there were some lovely ties. The ladies made many circles, picking things up and trying them on and eventually settling on a few things. On the way out the group noticed there were workers inside touching up some of the beautiful fabrics by hand.


From there it was a short drive to the restaurant for a nice lunch. After lunch the driver delivered the group to a spot where they could walk through a beautiful old square and along the lake to the funicular. The ride up the side of the mountain provides a beautiful view over Como and the Lake and ends at Brunate, a surprisingly pretty little village above Lake Como.


Brunate turned out to be a lovely little village and on a nice day or with a bit more time it would be worth spending more time exploring the area. It appears there are a number of excellent hikes from there (with stunning views, no doubt). After walking around a bit and visiting the lovely little church, the group decided to stop for a cup of hot cocoa or tea and was happy to find an outdoor cafe with blankets for the customers.


After a funicular ride back down (before which a certain 82-year-old female was observed jumping back over the turnstyle when she realized she’d gone through too early, and which happened so fast and so unexpectedly it was not be captured on camera), the group walked back along the lake and reconnected with the bus. A quick decision was made to visit Villa Olmo for a few minutes since it was so close. Despite the cloudy day it was beautiful.


Luigi, whose family has owned the Poggio Verde villa for several generations, had arrived from Milan and he graciously fielded many questions over cocktails and then a lovely dinner of typical Northern Italian specialties.