Hotel Vapore’s View Upstages Hollywood

Hotel Vapore is a hotel & restaurant in Torno, which is a comune (aka a cluster of four villages) in the Province of Como, overlooking the lake.

I can’t speak to the “hotel” portion of Hotel Vapore itself because we didn’t stay there, but I have to RAVE ABOUT THE FREAKING RESTAURANT VIEW FOR A SECOND, alright? ‘Cause it knocked the fork right out of my hand.

This is not the view but it’s still a pretty nice view outside the hotel.

We met a group of friends at Vapore for a casual lunch—the venue seemed a bit fancier than I expected, but the staff were super sweet and accommodating. Food was ok, nothing to fall over backwards for: it was tasty but pricey comparable to other venues you can get in the area. The closer you get to Como, the pricier the venues get.

I didn’t document what we ate, as it was a sort of banquet — but I remember there were ravioli, fresh fish, and a bunch of starters that were all delicious. I just don’t remember it being mind-blowing, probably because I was distracted by the view. We had Aperol Spritzes and a series of fairly tasty wines.

The one issue we had was getting to the venue was quite tricky — some of us drove, some of us took the bus, and finding parking was a nightmare. The streets are very narrow and there’s nowhere to park near the restaurant, so be mindful it might be a while until you find parking. Or at least prepare yourself for a bit of a walk.

Once you’re down there though, it’s all worth it: the scintillating view of the lake, the trees and flowers ruffling in the breeze, the food, the wine…it’s straight out of The Talented Mr. Ripley, so if you’re not hungry, at least do it for the sights. The panoramic spectacle at Hotel Vapore is one for the books.

Liiike, are you kidding meee??

All that’s missing from this view is George Clooney.