Lake Como Villas to Visit in 2026: Hours, Prices and How to Get In

This guide gathers nine Lake Como villas, gardens and parks that can be visited in 2026, and each has its own rules: at Villa Carlotta and the gardens of Villa Melzi you enter with a ticket at the desk, at the Balbianello only with a booking, at the park of Villa Serbelloni only on a guided tour, at Villa Vigoni one afternoon a week. Many other villas on the lake are private or hotels and cannot be visited.

For each one you will find hours, prices and how to get in, read on the official websites on 5 October 2026. Where two sources contradict each other or a piece of data is missing, we say so instead of choosing or filling the gap.

The villas to visit in 2026, in one table

The table sums up the situation in October 2026. The details of each villa, with sources, are in the sections that follow.

Villa and what you visit	Hours in October 2026	Full-price ticket
Villa Carlotta, Tremezzina: museum and botanical garden	Until 18 October 10-19, from 19 October to 8 November 10-18	17.50 euro
Villa del Balbianello, Tremezzina: garden and interiors on a guided tour	From 14 March regularly 10-18; November 10-17; booking required	15 euro (park), 25 euro (villa and park)
Villa Melzi gardens, Bellagio: gardens, chapel and museum	12-24 October 10-18.30, from 25 October 10-17	10 euro
Villa Serbelloni park, Bellagio: only on a guided tour of about 2 hours	Tuesday to Sunday at 11 and 15.30; closed Monday	13 euro
Villa Monastero, Varenna: house museum and botanical garden	October 10-18, the house museum closes on Tuesdays	15 euro (house museum and garden), 13 euro (garden only)
Villa Cipressi, Varenna: botanical garden	October 10-17	13 euro
Villa Vigoni, Menaggio: villa and park, only on a 60-minute guided tour	Thursday at 15, March to October except August; booking required	14 euro
Villa Olmo, Como: park (the villa is closed for restoration)	Park 7-19 or 7-20, depending on the source	Park free
Villa del Grumello, Como: historic park	Monday to Friday 9-17, Sunday 9-17 from October, Saturday closed	Price not stated

How we checked hours and prices

For each villa we read the official page of the body that runs it: the villa’s website, the FAI’s for the Balbianello, the Bellagio tourist office’s for the park of Villa Serbelloni, the Comune di Como’s for Villa Olmo. The information is that of 5 October 2026, with the page’s update date when there is one. We do not use ticket-seller or review sites, because they repeat hours from past seasons.

An example of why checking at the source matters: an automatic summary found online gave Villa Monastero as 13 euro for house museum and garden and 10 for the garden alone, while the official page says 15 and 13 euro. The villa pages on this site point to the same sources. The pages are prepared with the help of artificial-intelligence tools for research and writing, and every figure is checked against the source before publication.

Tremezzina: Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello

Villa Carlotta

Villa Carlotta, in Tremezzo, was built at the end of the seventeenth century by the Clerici marquises of Milan. It now houses a museum with works by Canova, Hayez and Thorvaldsen and the private apartments of Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen, and it has a botanical garden.

In 2026 the villa is open from 20 March to 18 October from 10 am to 7 pm (last ticket at 6, the museum closes at 6.30) and from 19 October to 8 November from 10 to 6 (last ticket at 5). In November and December it opens only on the days the site lists: 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29 November and 5-8 December, from 10 to 4. On closed days it can only be visited by booking, writing to segreteria@villacarlotta.it.

The full-price ticket costs 17.50 euro; over-65s with an ID card pay 15 euro, students aged 6 to 18 pay 7 euro and those aged 19 to 25 pay 12 euro; under-6s get in free, as do residents of Tremezzina and Griante. A family of two adults and two young people pays 35 euro. At the desk you can ask for discounts with the cards the site lists (among them Abbonamento Musei Lombardia, FAI and Touring).

To get there, the site recommends the boat: the «Tremezzo - Villa Carlotta» stop is 400 metres from the entrance. Alternatively there is the Como-Menaggio-Colico bus line, with a stop near the villa; the site gives the line as C110. Those coming by car find blue and white parking along the road and the Villa Mainona multi-storey car park in via Peduzzi.

Villa del Balbianello

Villa del Balbianello stands on the tip of the Lavedo promontory, in Lenno, and has been a FAI property since 1988, through the bequest of Guido Monzino. The interiors hold eighteenth-century French furniture, non-European collections and the Museo delle Spedizioni; the garden has panoramic terraces and the Loggia Durini over the lake.

The FAI sells two tickets. The park-only ticket costs 15 euro (11 euro for ages 6 to 18 and students up to 25; 42 euro for a family), is visited independently and requires a booking. The villa-and-park ticket costs 25 euro (17 euro reduced, 66 euro family), and includes the 50-minute guided tour of the interiors and a free visit of garden, terraces and loggia. FAI members and residents of Tremezzina enter the park free and pay 5 euro for the villa. Tours are in groups of at most 16, in Italian or English.

The hours are incomplete on the official page. From 14 March the villa is «regularly open» from 10 to 6, with last entry to the park at 5 and last guided tour at 4; in November it opens from 10 to 5; in December and the first days of January 2027 only on listed dates. For the regular months the page does not list the weekly closing days: the Bellagio tourist office’s page, for the 2023-2024 season, said it closes on Mondays and on Wednesdays that are not holidays, but we cannot say that still applies, and it is best to check the FAI booking calendar.

The villa cannot be reached by car or public transport. From Lenno it is 1 kilometre on foot, partly on gravel and with an uphill stretch, in about 25 minutes; alternatively a taxi boat from the Lido di Lenno, paid and not run by the FAI. The parking the FAI indicates is the Parcheggio Mercato, in via Comoedia. For the bus line that serves Lenno the sources disagree: the FAI writes C10, Villa Carlotta C110.

Bellagio: Villa Melzi and the park of Villa Serbelloni

Villa Melzi gardens

The gardens of Villa Melzi d’Eril, on the Bellagio lakefront, include the chapel and the museum; the villa is private and cannot be visited. The ticket, bought at the ticket office at the entrance with no booking, is valid for all three spaces on the same day.

The site gives openings every day from 10 to 7 (last entry 6.30), then from 10 to 6.30 from 12 to 24 October (last entry 6) and from 10 to 5 from 25 October (last entry 4.30), with closing on 1 November. The single ticket costs 10 euro, the one for two days or more 14 euro, the season pass 50 euro; children up to 11 enter free. Guided visits take place on opening days, by written booking at visite@giardinidivillamelzi.it. Dogs are allowed on a lead and may also enter the museum and the chapel.

Villa Serbelloni park

The park of Villa Serbelloni covers about 21 hectares of the promontory that divides the two branches of the lake, and belongs to the Rockefeller Foundation. The foundation allows the Comune di Bellagio to organise the guided visits; the proceeds go to social and cultural activities. The visit is of the park: the villa is the seat of the Foundation’s conferences and study stays.

The visit lasts about two hours, the first more than an hour uphill, with a guide in Italian or English and at most 30 people. It leaves from the Bellagio Lake Como office in the medieval tower in piazza della Chiesa, from Tuesday to Sunday at 11 and 3.30; there is none on Monday. It costs 13 euro (7 euro from 7 to 13 years; free under 7 and for Bellagio residents). Booking is mandatory and tickets are bought online on the Bellagio Lake Como portal.

One piece of data the page does not clarify: under «opening periods» it says «data da destinarsi» (date to be decided), followed by «marzo 2026», with no closing date. We do not know how long the 2026 season lasts, and for the last weeks it is best to write to the office (+39 031 951555).

Varenna: Villa Monastero and Villa Cipressi

Villa Monastero

Villa Monastero, in Varenna, belongs to the Province of Lecco. It includes the villa, turned into a house museum, a conference centre and a botanical garden that follows the lakeshore for almost 2 kilometres.

The 2026 hours change every month. In October house museum and garden are open every day from 10 to 6, with the house museum closed on Tuesdays; in November from 10 to 5, with both closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (on 1 November from 10 to 6); in December the same rules, closed on 25 and open from 26 to 31. From April to September it opens at 9.30 and closes at 7.30 (at 8 from June to August). From June to August it is open every day; for the other months, including January and February, the official page applies.

The ticket for house museum and garden costs 15 euro (11 euro for over-65s, groups of more than 20 and TCI, FAI and ICOM members; 9 euro from 15 to 25 years). The garden alone costs 13 euro (10 and 7 euro for the same categories). Young people up to 14 and residents of Varenna enter free. The ticket is non-refundable and cannot be changed, is valid for a single entry and the chosen day is binding, but the time is not. There is a cumulative ticket with the Villa Cipressi garden: 27 euro according to Villa Monastero’s website.

The Villa Monastero landing takes boats only to drop off and pick up visitors, after contacting the ticket office (+39 0341 830129).

Villa Cipressi

Hours and tickets for the botanical garden of Villa Cipressi are on the website of the hotel that runs the villa. In 2026 the site gives 9.30 to 7.30 from April to September and 10 to 5 in October; for the other months it gives no hours.

The full-price ticket costs 13 euro (10 euro for over-65s, groups of at least 20 and TCI, FAI and ICOM members; 7 euro from 15 to 25 years; free under 14 and for residents of Varenna). A cumulative ticket with the Villa Monastero garden costs 25 euro according to Villa Cipressi’s website and 27 euro according to Villa Monastero’s, and neither explains the difference. According to Villa Cipressi’s website it is bought only on the days the Villa Monastero garden is open.

Menaggio: Villa Vigoni

Villa Vigoni, at Loveno di Menaggio, has been the Italian-German Centre for European Dialogue since 1986. The estate extends over about 40 hectares in the municipalities of Menaggio and Plesio and has more than 20 buildings; you enter with the guided visit.

From March to October, except August, every Thursday afternoon at 3 there is a guided visit of about 60 minutes to the villa and the park, in Italian, German or English, depending on the majority of participants. Booking is mandatory, even on the same day, by writing to reception@villavigoni.eu or calling +39 0344 361245 or 361246. The meeting point is the reception. In 2026 the full ticket costs 14 euro (10 euro for students and residents of Menaggio and Plesio, 12 euro for groups of at least 20; free up to 14).

Como: Villa Olmo and Villa del Grumello

Villa Olmo

The Comune di Como writes, on a page updated on 18 March 2026, that Villa Olmo is currently closed for restoration works and that the park is regularly open. The enhancement project’s website gave an opening schedule for the villa (Tuesday to Sunday, 10 to 6, free entry), but that information is undated: to know whether and when it reopens it is best to call the Comune (+39 031 252472).

The park is public. For the winter hours (1 October to 4 April) the sources do not agree: the 2023 decision reported by QuiComo gives 7-20, the project website 7-19; for summer (5 April to 30 September) both say 7-23. It may close for bad weather, works and events.

Villa del Grumello

The historic park of Villa del Grumello has been open since 6 April 2026 from Monday to Friday from 9 to 5 and on Sunday from 9 to 6; from October it closes at 5 on Sunday too. It is closed on Saturday, and in bad weather the park stays closed. The villa opens for events.

The park covers over four hectares, mostly on a hillside, with an avenue of magnolias and collections of hydrangeas, azaleas and wisterias. Paths link the villa to Villa Olmo and Villa Sucota. Neither the villa’s website nor the Comune and QuiComo pages we read give an entrance price.

Villas that are not visited as monuments

Some famous villas are not in the table because they have no visiting hours. Villa d’Este in Cernobbio and Villa Passalacqua in Moltrasio are luxury hotels. Villa Erba, in Cernobbio, is an exhibition and conference centre: you go in for events or by appointment. Villa Saporiti, in Como, is the seat of the Province and opens only on special days such as those of Ville Aperte in Brianza.

How to combine the villas in a day

Visits combine by town, because each villa has its own entrance and its own hours.

In Bellagio the two visits share the day: the Serbelloni park is booked for 11 or for 3.30 and lasts about two hours, while the Melzi gardens stay open all day and fit in the other half. At 2026 prices that is 23 euro per person (10 plus 13).

In Varenna the two gardens are close and there is a cumulative ticket; with separate prices it is 28 euro (15 for Monastero with the house museum, 13 for Cipressi), with the cumulative ticket 25 euro per Cipressi’s website and 27 per Monastero’s.

In Tremezzina the two villas are separate: Villa Carlotta is in Tremezzo, with the boat stop 400 metres away; for the Balbianello you set out from Lenno on foot or by taxi boat. With the full-price Balbianello ticket including the villa, 25 euro, and the Villa Carlotta one, 17.50 euro, the total is 42.50 euro.

In Como the park of Villa Olmo, which is free, and that of the Grumello are linked by paths; the villa is closed for restoration and the Grumello is closed on Saturday.

For how to move between the towns, with boat times and stops, see the guide Getting to Lake Como.

Frequently asked questions

Which Lake Como villas are free?

Only Villa Olmo: the park is public and the villa, when open, has free entry, but in 2026 it is closed for restoration. For the Villa del Grumello park the official pages give no ticket. Villa Carlotta and the Balbianello (park only) are free for residents of their municipalities, and the Balbianello also for FAI members.

Do I need to book?

For the Balbianello yes, even for the park alone. For the park of Villa Serbelloni yes, and for Villa Vigoni yes. At Villa Melzi no, and at Villa Carlotta tickets can be bought online or at the desk; for Villa Monastero online tickets are available and are valid for the chosen day.

Which villas are open on Monday?

Villa Carlotta and Villa Melzi are open every day in their opening period, Villa Monastero closes on Tuesday (and on Wednesday from November), and the Grumello park is open from Monday to Friday. The Serbelloni park is closed on Monday. For the Balbianello the FAI page does not give closing days.

How long do the guided visits last?

The interiors of the Balbianello are visited on a 50-minute tour, the park of Villa Serbelloni on a walk of about two hours and Villa Vigoni on a visit of about an hour.

Can I arrive by boat?

Villa Carlotta has the boat stop 400 metres away. For the Balbianello you use the taxi boat from the Lido di Lenno, paid. At Villa Monastero the landing is reserved for dropping off and picking up visitors, after contacting the ticket office. For the other villas you walk from the town.

Is the information up to date?

It is that of the official websites read on 5 October 2026. Hours and prices change every season: the date appears at the top of the page. If you find a different figure, write to info@visitlario.com: we check it at the source and correct it.

Before you go

The simplest choice is one villa per day, with the booking made in advance for the Balbianello, Serbelloni and Vigoni. For the full pages of each villa, with history and sources, go to What to see and filter by the Ville category; for rainy days there is the guide to Lake Como museums, and for sunny days the itineraries, such as The villas and gardens of the Centro Lago.