San Giovanni, the other face of Bellagio

I have been to Bellagio many times, I have told you the must-see things about this village and I have told you about its most famous villas. But I haven’t yet revealed to you its less touristy side, the one that is a bit of a backwater, the one that you have to go looking for to discover.

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It is the neighborhood of San Giovanni.

It is only a 15-minute walk from the center, you can also reach it by boat, and yet so many do not know it, or at any rate have never been there.

Well, this summer I finally pushed a little further from the beaten path and went to poke around. I can only suggest that you do the same, if you, like me, also love to discover the less touristy corners of a place.

The San Giovanni neighborhood in Bellagio is just a small, collected nucleus of houses, but it can be said that it lacks nothing at all!

It has a beautiful eighteenth-century shaped church (dedicated to St. John, precisely), it has its own little harbor, tangled streets with characteristic houses, one leaning against the other, and little restaurants and bars to absolutely pin down.

But the great thing is that, as is often the case, even the route to get there is itself a continual surprise.

On the way to San Giovanni, the charming neighborhood of Bellagio

Of course, one can follow the main road that, from the boat dock in the center, heads to the right.

But my suggestion is to combine business with pleasure and walk through the gardens of Villa Melzi, which are always a great sight! The entrance fee will allow you to enter, visit its grounds, exit on the opposite side, reach the hamlet of San Giovanni, and, on the way back, re-enter again and retrace the avenue.

In this way you will avoid a not particularly pleasant stretch of road.

Immediately outside the gardens you will find yourself in the neighborhood of Loppia, another charming corner of Bellagio.

And here you cannot fail to notice the imposing boat resting in the waters of its dock.

She is the Rosina, class of 1903, the last still-functioning gondola in Lake Como, which in the last years appeared in public only for big occasions, such as the Festival of Saint John, on Comacina Island. Until 2016 this beautiful boat was used to be seen paired with “the Giulia,” her “almost twin” some 20 years younger, now retired to the Lake Como International Museum of Vintage Boat, in Pianello.

She looks like something out of an old photo or one of the many paintings from the turn of the last century and brings the mind back to times when the lake was a bustle of boats loaded with goods, people and animals.

Speaking of things a little more practical instead, they say that here in Loppia there is very good food at Alle Darsene di Loppia restaurant and Da Silvio, a hotel located at the top of the steps going up beside the Church of St. Mary.

And speaking of the church, dating back to the 11th century, since it is built on private property, it cannot be visited, but it is still a pleasure for the eyes to observe it perched there on the top of the hill, with its beautiful bell tower soaring skyward.

The final stretch to reach San Giovanni unfortunately involves a little piece along the state road, it will be about a hundred meters, so you go down to the right and immediately after the public gardens you finally begin to discover the hamlet.

The hamlet of San Giovanni in Bellagio

As with all the more historic parts of the villages, the beauty here lies in wandering through the narrow streets, admiring ancient doorways, windows decorated with flower pots and colorful facades.

At a certain point and suddenly you will find yourself in the beautiful lakeside square, the facade of St. John’s Church behind you and, in front of you, the small harbor and wharf .

Look around, would you ever say you are in Bellagio?

San Giovanni neighborhood is a corner where life runs a little quieter than in the renowned streets of the center and where seeing a retired couple sitting reading on deckchairs stretched out in the square, screaming kids launching themselves into the water from the low walls and small groups of elderly people communing in the shade on a bench is the norm.

Now it’s time to retrace your steps and, if you missed them, go find the 3 goodies in this hamlet: the Ittiturismo Mella, Nenè Food, and…the bike house!

Let’s go in order.

1# Ittiturismo Mella

Here the fish they serve you is freshly caught by Alessandro Sala, the last professional fisherman left in Bellagio. The restaurant is also a fishmonger, and if you are interested in going out fishing with him, you are welcome.

For more addresses on where to eat lake fish follow my suggestions.

2# Nené Food

A little bit coffee shop, a little bit bistro, but also the right place for an aperitif. I recommend you read this other article where I talked about it in more detail.

3# The House of Flying Bikes

What it’s all about.

About a house “decorated” with vintage bicycles put there by the owner Ivan, a carpenter with a passion for bikes and space problems. Having no more place to keep them, he thought it best to hang them on the walls!

There is the firemen’s bike, the Post Office bike, and the used bike of the sweepers of Milan. Ivan collects the bikes, repairs them, and puts them on display.

And in doing so he has created an open-air museum, in the true sense of the word!

In short, the neighborhood of San Giovanni in Bellagio is all this and much more.

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

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