Descubre las vistas más espectaculares del Lago de Como: Ruta de senderismo a San Martino

There are a multitude of hiking trails that wind through the mountains around Lake Como. Most of them offer breathtaking views of the surroundings. And the fact is that, as soon as you get some altitude, the scenery takes your breath away... although, perhaps, the climb also helps! 🙂 🙂

However, if you are touring Italy,

• You may not be prepared for mountaineering. After all, in Italy, the most typical thing to do is to visit charming towns and cultural capitals, such as Rome, Florence or Venice.
• Also, you probably won't have enough time for a long walk around Lake Como.
• Or that you are simply not physically fit enough to go on a serious trek.

Then,

Are you going to miss this marvelous bird's eye view?

Psssh, psssh... I'm going to tell you a secret...

What if I told you that enjoying one of the most beautiful landscapes of Lake Como is within everyone's reach?

Want to experience firsthand panoramas like the ones you see in these photos? Well, you're in luck. Today I'm going to tell you how to do it:

Trekking to the church of San Martino.

Characteristics of the route

• Length: 4 km i/v
• Difficulty: slight. The first part is a steady climb, quite steep. The path is wide, easy to walk if you wear appropriate footwear. If you are not in great shape, just make more stops along the way, no problem! This way you will enjoy the scenery even more.
• Travel time: In our case, with photographic stops included, it took 1 hour uphill and 45 minutes downhill.

Starting point

The trailhead is in the small village of Griante.

The easiest ways to reach it are:

• By boat, from Bellagio or Varenna. The port is located in Cadenabbia, the fraction of Griante on the shores of the lake. From there, you will have to walk about 15 minutes to the church of San Rocco di Griante, where the hiking trail begins.
• By car. You can park in the free parking lot next to the church of San Rocco. A good way to reach this area by car is to enter the town on Via Indipendenza.

If you get lost, ask for the Chiesa San Rocco, keeping in mind that chiesa is pronounced "kiesa".

Once you are next to it, you will see clear indications towards San Martino. What's more, you will also see the church itself suspended as a small white dot on the promontory. So you can't miss it.

Anyway, I have marked the route on the map at the bottom of this page to help guide you.

Path

Even if you think the church is too high, don't be discouraged! The route is laid out in zigzag, so the climb is more bearable than it looks.

• The beginning is an asphalt road, well signposted, through the interior of the village.
• After a junction with a road open to traffic, the unpaved trail begins.
• This one, already uphill, is quite wide and is protected by the shade of the trees.
• After reaching the first scenic point, the road begins to narrow a bit, but it is still easily passable.
• As you gain altitude, the views increase in spectacularity.
• If at some point you come to a fork in the road and you are not sure whether to go right or left, don't hesitate: your destination is... uphill!
• When you reach the San Martino church, the scenery will be your reward.

San Martino Church

When we visited the site, the church was closed, so we were unable to see the inside.

However, the views more than made up for the effort.

From there, we could see all the branches of the lake; small villages, such as Varenna and Bellagio, reflected in the water; snow-capped peaks all around us; sunbeams breaking through the clouds....

You had to be there to understand it.

It was spectacular.

Around the church, there are several picnic tables and benches facing the viewpoint. I recommend you bring enough water and food to enjoy the place for a while, it's worth it!

A sandwich with fresh tomato and "prosciutto crudo", dried fruit and tangerines for dessert cost very little in a local supermarket. The scenery is priceless.

Have you been to this viewpoint? Do you know of another short and easy hiking route to discover a different perspective of Lake Como? Share it in the comments!

Useful Links

• Transport by boat on Lake Como.
• Apartment Cesare Cantù, in the town of Como.
• Flights to Italy:Trabber,eDreams,Momondo, andVueling.
• Get 5% off your IATI travel insurance.

And if you are planning to travel to this area of Italy, do not miss the route through the most charming villages along the shores of Lake Como and other nearby places such as Lake Garda.

And if you dare to travel the rest, or part, of the boot; you may be interested in all the practical information I share in the articles dedicated to Tuscany, Umbria, the Amalfi Coast or capitals of the stature of Rome, Florence and Venice.

Map