There is an old castle that looks over the ancient village of Varenna.

There are two ways you can get there, a challenging hike up the right side, leaving from the town centre:

or a more sedate ascent through Varenna’s small streets and up a gentle track.

I took the tough way up and passed by this old house on the way.

Once up at the castle’s level the view down on Varenna is quite a sight on a nice sunny day.

Sitting beside the castle are some ghostly figures who keep a watch over the tourists.

On the challenging track up, on the way you get a very nice view of the water and the village of Fiumelatte nestled on the side of Lake Como.