I Have Fallen In Love With Lecco and Now Call It Home

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Presented with MilanoStyle Magazine

Ask me what my favorite city in the USA is, and of course, I’ll say New York. Ask me what my favorite town or city in Italy is, and without hesitation I can answer in a heartbeat.

I have flirted with Venice, had a passionate weekend with Bologna, and carried on a long, intense affair with Milan. But I can’t deny it anymore.

I have fallen in love with Lecco.

Lecco is the city where I live. It embraced me quietly, without performance or pretense, and it is the place I feel most at home. Its narrow alleyways, lakefront promenades, mountain trails, and long panoramic bike paths have worked their way into my daily life and, little by little, into my heart.

On my first visit to Lecco, I was walking the side streets near the Adda River when I felt a distinct déjà vu. I had never been there before, yet something about the place felt familiar. It was quiet but unmistakable: a sense of ease, as if I had arrived somewhere I already knew. Not long after, I would find an apartment just down the street from the exact spot where that feeling had come over me.

Lecco is famous not only for its extraordinary position on the eastern branch of Lake Como, but also for its connection to one of the most important works of Italian literature: Alessandro Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi, known in English as The Betrothed. The novel tells the story of Renzo and Lucia, two young lovers whose wish to marry is forbidden by the powerful and cruel Don Rodrigo. The story is fictional, but its landscape is very real.

Manzoni was born in Lecco and later lived and studied in Milan, but the places of his childhood remained vivid in his imagination. Around Lecco, visitors can still follow the traces of the novel: Pescarenico, the old fishing village sites, the houses and churches described in the story and the nearby Rocca dell’Innominato. Whether one reads the book as literature, history, or simply as a love story set against a restless landscape, Lecco gives it form.

Here in Lecco, the mountains and lake unfold like an infinite backdrop. The Resegone rises with its unmistakable serrated profile, while the Grigna and San Tomaso anchor the horizon. Trails climb quickly from town into the green, and even an ordinary walk can feel cinematic. The light on the lake changes the mood. Lecco reminds you that beauty is never static.

Although I grew up near the ocean, I have never been much of a water baby. I never became a sailor or a windsurfer, and I am happiest observing the lake rather than conquering it. Still, I love a boat ride in any season. The lake offers windsurfers and sailors an open playground, but for me its greatest pleasure is simpler: watching it change with the weather, the light, and the season.

The town center is compact, elegant, and wonderfully walkable. The main square, Piazza XX Settembre, is an open court of cafés, restaurants and boutiques and feels like an open-air sitting room for the city. At Christmastime, Lecco becomes especially enchanting, with lights, decorated streets, and colorful projections across the façades. It sparks that rare kind of childhood joy: the simple pleasure of looking up and feeling surprised.

And then there is the Campanile di Lecco, the bell tower of San Nicolò. It watches over the city, tall and familiar, with one of the most spectacular views of the lake and mountains. I wanted so much to feel part of Lecco that I became a volunteer guide there. Climbing those steps with visitors, seeing their reaction when they reach the top, reminds me again and again why this place is so special.

People often ask me, “You’re from New York. How can you live in Lecco?”

My answer is always the same: “In New York, I couldn’t find an apartment with a view of the eastern branch of Lake Como.”

Of course, it is more than the view. It is the rhythm of the place. The morning light over the lake. The sound of church bells. The mountains turning pink at sunset. The ability to walk from a café to a trail, from a bookshop to the waterfront, from daily errands to a scene that looks painted.

Lecco may not have the grandeur of Milan, the spectacle of Venice, or the international fame of Como or Bellagio, but that is part of its charm. Lecco did not try to win me over. It simply welcomed me, day by day, until it felt like home.

Things to see and do in Lecco

• Climb to the top of the San Nicolò Bell Tower
• Visit Villa Manzoni
• Explore the city center and try local specialties on a food tour
• See the latest exhibit at Palazzo della Paura
• Visit the Alpinistic Museum at Palazzo della Paura
• Go shopping in the city center
• Visit the hamlets of Pescarenico and Acquate
• Take the Funivia to the Piani D’Erna trails
• Take a hike up Monte Barro
• Expert hikers can climb Monte Resegone
• Ride the slow ferry from Lecco to Bellagio
• Book a private water taxi or party boat
• Rent a SUP or EFoil and glide across the lake
• Have an aperitivo in Piazza XX Settembre
• Take a stroll along the lakeside promenade
• Visit the other lakeside communities and landmarks; Varenna, L’orrido di Bellano, Piona Abbey, Colico, Forte Montecchio Nord

This article was published in MilanoStyle Magazine Vol. 3 Summer 2026. Read the magazine here – it’s free!

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