Strada Régia

View on the lake

Here is another path we hiked some times ago.
On one side i liked it a lot, because it is in the forest and it offest here and there some suggestive lookouts on the Lake of Come (of the best part of it!).
On the other side i don't like the fact that it can be very busy. We didn't actually found a big lot of people, but it is clear that the path, also for the easyness, it is very popular.
We had tried it already some months before, but for some back-ache of mine, we gave up.

Como funicolar railway station can be easily reached by train. We went by car. A suggestion is to leave the car at the parking next to the "Fontanone" (it's a big pitoresque fountain). The fee for that parking is much less than the other parkings of the area (with few euros one can leave the car for the whole day).
It is forbidden, in Brunate municipality, to drive on SUV cars, but i would suggest not to go even with small cars. The roads are very narrow, but the main problem is the parking.
The funicular consists of two wagons that leave contemporarily one from Brunate and the other from Como, at every hours and halves. Their path is, for both of the wagons, on the same rail, which double in the middle to allow them to cross each other.

Pietra Pendula

When arrived to Brunate you walk on the road that, from the steps of the station, goes towards right. After few hundreds yards, after a left turn well signed, you arrive to the ground and finally, after coasting it, there is the start point of the hiking path named "Strada Regia" (="Royal Path").
The path is well kept by the local volunteer service and it doesn't have any big difficulties. It is almost completely downhill, and anyway the slope is never too steep, but it is very long. On the left of the path, from Brunate all the way to Montepiatto, you can enjoy a lot of views on the lake.
About at the half to the path there is a little church, where some benches offer a good occasion for a break.
Once reached Montepiatto follow the indications for the Church, which little square looks like a balcony, hundreds of feet on the lake. All around the square there is a little path to Pietra Pendula, a weird rock that looks like a contest to the gravity forces.
At Montepiatto it begins the descent, kind of steep (and so a little hard), even if on a path well settled with steps. This path takes you to the town of Torno, where you can go back to Como by bus or by boat. We preferred this last option, really more suggestive. The boat stops about every half an hour (the exact time schedule can also be found at the funicular station) and, from Torno, after a couple of stops, you reach Como pier, not far from the funicolar station.

More infos on this path at R's blog

• Time taken: 4:11 (except the boat ride).
• Difference of level (from Brunate to the lake): 581m [1906feet] (the lake is at 143m [469feet] altitude above sea level)
• Covered distance: 28.3km [17.6mi] (excluded the boat ride).

GPS track:
in green the part on the funicolar, in read the hike, in yellow the navigation.
A: Como funicolar station; B: Brunate funicolar station; C: "Strada Regia" path start point; D: Chapel for the break; E: Montepiatto church; F: Pietra Pendula; G: Start of the last steep descent; H: Torno pier; I: Como pier