There are so many things I love about Italy, like how you can go from a large city to a beautiful beach or lake in no time. Take Milan, a stylish metropolis that also happens to be a mere one hour from Italy’s most famous body of water thanks to the holiday jaunts of George Clooney: Lake Como. 

Though there were no Clooney sightings for my family and me, we did take a page from his vacation book and ventured to Lake Como while staying in Milan. After buying four tickets at Milano Centrale (each ticket costs less than €7 one way), we boarded the train to the Varenna-Esino station situated along Lake Como.

Once we got to Varenna we spent some time wandering around before taking the ferry across Lake Como to the seaside village of Bellagio. At the end of our day in Como, we took the ferry back to Varenna, hopped on the Milan-bound train and an hour later we were back in the city. 

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I figure it's time I stop rambling about my day trip to Lake Como and show you more of this unbelievably stunning Italian gem: