Where Lake Como widens and splits into its two branches, Tremezzina, Bellagio and Menaggio hold the highest concentration of historic villas on the lake. These are not isolated buildings: they are botanical gardens, art collections and residences that span four centuries of history, from the cardinals of the sixteenth century to the international guests of the nineteenth, all the way to today’s research centres. This itinerary connects them in a route designed to be followed by boat, along the same connection that links Tremezzo/Cadenabbia, Bellagio and Menaggio.
Tremezzina: Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello
In Tremezzo, Villa Carlotta combines a museum with works by Canova, Hayez and Thorvaldsen with an eight-hectare botanical garden. Further along the same shore, on the Lavedo peninsula at Lenno, stands Villa del Balbianello: owned by FAI (the Italian National Trust) since 1988, with the celebrated Loggia Durini opening onto the lake on both sides and a museum dedicated to the expeditions of explorer Guido Monzino. The two villas are a few kilometres apart on the same shore, also connected on foot along the Greenway del Lago di Como.
Bellagio: Villa Melzi d’Eril and Villa Serbelloni
Across the lake, in Bellagio, two villas tell opposite stories. Villa Melzi d’Eril, on the lakefront, has an English-style park open daily during the season, with a museum in the former orangery dedicated to the Gallarati Scotti family. Villa Serbelloni, on the promontory that splits the lake in two, was home to noble families before becoming, in 1959, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center: today the park can only be visited on a guided tour by reservation, starting from Bellagio’s tourist office.
Villa Vigoni, above Menaggio
Climbing from Menaggio towards Loveno leads to Villa Vigoni, commissioned in the nineteenth century by banker Heinrich Mylius and today home to the Italian-German Centre for the European Dialogue. It is the most distinctive stop on this route: the romantic park designed by Giuseppe Balzaretto, the same landscape architect behind Milan’s Parco Sempione, can only be visited with a guide and by reservation, on a limited number of afternoons during the season — for this reason it is best planned as a separate stop, not on the same day as the other four villas.
Nearby: Ossuccio and Isola Comacina
Visitors stopping in Lenno can extend the visit a little further: on the Ossuccio lakefront stands Villa Balbiano, one of the largest private residences on the lake, not open to visitors but linked by history and name to the nearby Villa del Balbianello. A little further on lie the Sacro Monte di Ossuccio and Isola Comacina, the lake’s only island, both reachable with a short detour along the same stretch of coast.
Practical information
- The connection between stops is provided by Navigazione Laghi’s scheduled boats on the Como–Colico route, stopping at Tremezzo/Cadenabbia, Bellagio and Menaggio; Villa del Balbianello is reached by boat from Lido di Lenno or on foot from Lenno. For up-to-date timetables: navigazionelaghi.it.
- Villa Carlotta and the Gardens of Villa Melzi can be visited with a direct entry ticket, no reservation needed; both follow a seasonal calendar (roughly spring to autumn) — check villacarlotta.it and giardinidivillamelzi.it.
- Villa del Balbianello is open from mid-March to mid-November (fondoambiente.it); the park of Villa Serbelloni can only be visited on a guided tour from early April to early November, every day except Monday (bellagiolakecomo.com).
- Villa Vigoni is the stop with the most restricted access: the park can only be visited on a guided tour by reservation, on a limited number of afternoons during the season (official sources disagree on the exact day) — check availability and the current calendar on villavigoni.eu before including it in your plan.