side note on eating in Varenna

I love Rick Steves Guide Books for walking maps and tours, for what to do in each city or town and for practical recommendations like where to find laundries. But I do not use his hotel or restaurant suggestions any more.

You may want to leave a comment here as well---- https://www.ricksteves.com/forms/guidebook-feedback-form

I've never been unhappy with a RS recommended hotel or restaurant. That said, I also check other reviews as well. Thank you so much for posting. That sounds like a place we definitely want to skip! Did you do anything or eat anywhere you can recommend?

I'm with Suki on this one, especially in regards to restaurants.

Our first hint about that was in Sorrento where we went to a place highly recommended and featured in film. It was my husband's first trip to Europe. It wasn't mine.

The service and food were disappointing to say the least. My husband's meal didn't come with wine. Mine did and I don't drink.

But the server totally ignored my suggestion to give my wine to my husband and insisted that he buy wine separately. Of course, they didn't reduce the price for my wineless meal.

Then the staff were miffed at giving us the change that was due after I paid in cash, so I could decide whether or not to leave any of it on the table.

From that event, I concluded that the dining experience seen on film might not exactly be the same as the one we might have. Combined with a few other restaurants where the food was mediocre and the vibe was nothing like what was shown on film or described in the books, I gave up on relying on those restaurant suggestions.

I didn't eat in Varenna, except that one bad experience. I did eat all over Bellagio, and posted restaurant recommendations in the hotel and restaurant review forum. Some great options there.

Thanks Monty. We are staying in Varenna 2 nights. We really only have one full day on the lake. It will be mid October so we decided to focus our time further south in Italy. Did you drive? We are using the trains so I thought basing myself in Varenna would limit the need for the ferries that I'd heard, and again from you, have "surly" staff. I appreciate your comments on Bellagio. It sounds like I should structure my day to put myself in Bellagio for meals.

Jules,
I'd definitely take part of your day and do a boat tour of the lake, getting off in Bellagio for a meal.

No, we didn't drive. We took the train to Como, then the ferry to Bellagio. A car is worse than useless in the small lake towns--narrow roads, no parking, access to downtown very, very limited (but the ferries are awful, so what to do...).

We had a bad pizza in Varenna too, at a different restaurant than the one mentioned, but also at a place that is well known. I am pretty sure it was frozen. We were advised (by locals) not to order pizza at lunchtime in Tourist Italy because what is served is often the leftover pizza from the evening before. The explanation being that its too time-consuming to work the dough in the morning to be ready for lunch. Dont know if that's true but thought it was interesting enough to mention.

I will say that we had excellent meals in other places in Varenna.

@monty, yes, our full day we plan to use the ferry (now I'm scared, haha!) to tour the lake some. A visit to Villa Balbianello and walk around Bellagio, for sure. Stan, we will probably need to eat dinner our first evening in Varenna. Any possibility you recall the names of places you liked? It will be our first night in Italy so we'd probably love a more casual place since we'd probably want to go to bed earlier that evening.