Varenna

Castello di Vezio

A medieval watchtower above Varenna, with a view over the whole centre of the lake.

Today
Visit duration: 45 min – 1 h 30
Booking: Not required
Area: Centro Lago

Maurizio Moro5153 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sturm · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sturm · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

The Castello di Vezio is an early medieval fortification above Varenna, at about 350 metres, overlooking the point where the lake forks into two branches.

You enter over the drawbridge and climb to the top of the tower; the tunnels of the Cadorna Line can be visited too. In summer “ghosts” appear in the castle: white plaster figures moulded on volunteer visitors, which stay in place until the snow undoes them.

From the tower you look down on the point where the lake forks.
The path up from Varenna is short and well signed.

Highlights

The tower and drawbridge
The Cadorna Line tunnels
The garden of figures

Getting there

On foot from Varenna, a steep mule track of about 25 minutes.
By car to Vezio, then 10 minutes on foot.

One of the white plaster ghosts on the garden wall, among orange autumn leaves and olive trees, with the lake and the mountains behind.

Accessibility

The paths up to the castle cannot be walked with a pushchair, and the way back down towards Olivedo is a cobbled mule track, steeper than the way up.

Visiting

Opening

What else is open now

From 1 March to 1 December every day from 10:00: closing at 17:00 on weekdays in March and October (18:00 at weekends), at 18:00 in April, May and September (19:00), at 19:00 from June to August (20:00) and at 17:00 in November; from December to February it opens on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays in good weather, 10:00 to 17:00, except 25 December

Last entry 20 minutes before closing. In November it closes when it rains. On fine Friday and Saturday evenings in June, July and August it stays open, lit, until 22:30. No booking needed; dogs on a lead.

Tickets

Paid admission, on the spot (cash or card) or in advance online, with no booking.

Read on

Reduced over 65, from 6 to 17 and for groups of more than 12; free up to 5, for residents of Varenna and Perledo and for people with a disability above 67% holding the disability card

Paid admission, on the spot (cash or card) or in advance online, with no booking; reduced over 65, from 6 to 17 and for groups of more than 12; free up to 5, for residents of Varenna and Perledo and for people with a disability above 67% holding the disability card

The next boats from Varenna

Directions On the map Official source

DestinationsVarennaOchre houses on the water, two botanical gardens on the shore and Vezio castle above the village.

Practical information

Telephone: +39 333 4485975
Dogs: Dogs of any size, on a lead only, kept off the lawns and green areas and away from the owl's aviary

Facilities

Car park 146 m away · paid
Public toilets 173 m away

Distances from the point on the map.

The light

The castle closes before the real sunset for most of the year: the good hour is the last of opening, with the sun low from the south-west. Check the day's hours.

Faces: south-west
Best light: sunset
Full moon: Tue 24 Nov · 18:19 · east

JuneDecember

The skyline measured every two degrees out to twenty-two kilometres, and to two hundred where the near mountains let the Alps show. The solid line is the sun's arc at the summer solstice, which leaves the top of the frame; the dashed one is the winter solstice, with the hour it comes out from behind the mountain and the hour it goes back.

See from here where the sun goes, in 3D

All the photo spots

Webcams

Vezio, above VarennaUpdated image · TLM Service · 1.1 km

Updated 26 October 2026

The mountains from here

The highest summit in view from here is Pizzo Paglia, 2593 m, 25 kilometres away.

Open the panorama with the summits by name

The ochre line follows today's sun path and marks the estimated times of its first and last appearance above the mountains. Drag the panorama to see all of it.

How it is drawn

Paler ridges are farther away; heights are stretched two and a half times. Houses are not drawn, nor are trees within half a kilometre. Terrain © Regione Lombardia (CC BY 4.0); summits © OpenStreetMap contributors.