The Wayfarer’s Way
Walking on the Sentiero del Viandante in the footsteps of wayfarers, traders and smugglers is a reminder that journeying on foot was once part of everyday life.
We set out from our rented apartment in Varenna to walk a short section of the Sentiero del Viandante, the Wayfarer’s Way, to Bellano. Stretching around 60km from Abbadia Lariana to Piantedo, the trail was created in 1989 but follows a network of much older ways. These ancient mule tracks connected the lakeside towns with mountain hamlets.
“There’s a path along the eastern branch of Lake Como that seems to play with the water like a stone skipping across its surface,” says the website of Italae, a programme established to promote Italian culture and history. “It touches the shore, then climbs through chestnut woods and terraced hills, brushes against ancient villages, and returns once again to the lake.”
For us, this meant a day of leg-sapping climbs up wooded hillsides. With their summits came only the briefest of respite; the land soon dropped away into steep and tricky descents. Then another climb, followed by another descent. And another. It was tough going. Drifts of autumn leaves masked the loose stones underneath our feet, forcing us to pick our way carefully down the tracks to avoid sprained ankles. Why would travellers, pilgrims and armies choose to come this difficult way?