The villas of Lake Como seen from the boat

Sixteen villas and villages along the route of our tours, from Como to Varenna: what they are, what you see from the water and which ones can be visited.

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Como and the first basin

Como

From the boat you see the dome of the Duomo above the roofs, the lakefront promenade and the funicular line climbing to Brunate. Como was the Roman Novum Comum, refounded on Julius Caesar's orders in the 1st century BC, and is the birthplace of Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger and Alessandro Volta. The cathedral, Gothic and Renaissance, was begun in 1396 and finished in 1770 with Filippo Juvarra's dome. Near the Aero Club hangar you may see seaplanes on the water. You see it on every tour. A town to explore on foot: the Duomo, the lakefront and the funicular to Brunate, whose lower station is beside the lake.

Villa Olmo

At the north end of Como's lakefront you see a long symmetrical facade with a columned central body, set behind a formal garden that comes down to the shore. This neoclassical villa was commissioned by Marquis Innocenzo Odescalchi and designed by the Swiss architect Simone Cantoni, with works running from 1797 to 1812. It takes its name from an elm that once stood in the garden. The City of Como has owned it since 1924 and opens the rooms for exhibitions and events. You see it on every tour. The lakeside park is a free public park; the villa opens for exhibitions and events: check the City of Como's site before you go.

Cernobbio

Villa Erba

Next door to Villa d'Este, the villa stands in a large flat park with old trees right on the shore. It was built between 1894 and 1898 for Luigi Erba, brother and heir of the pharmaceutical industrialist Carlo Erba. His daughter Carla was the mother of the film director Luchino Visconti, who spent his summers here and later edited "Ludwig" in the house. Some scenes of "Ocean's Twelve" (2004) were shot here. Today it is an exhibition and congress centre. A stop on the 1-hour Como Highlights, and seen on every tour that leaves Como. An events and congress venue, not a museum with regular opening hours: from the boat you see it from the water.

Villa d'Este

From the water you see the main building, the floating swimming pool on the lake and the garden rising behind. The villa was built between 1565 and 1570 as the summer residence of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, to a design by Pellegrino Tibaldi. From 1815 it was the home of Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the future George IV, who renamed it Nuova Villa d'Este. A hotel since 1873, it hosts the Concorso d'Eleganza, first held in 1929, in the second half of May. You see it on every tour. A hotel: the grounds are for its guests and the park can be visited by reservation only. From the boat you see it from the water.

Moltrasio and Carate Urio

Villa Fontanelle

In Moltrasio you see a yellow neoclassical house directly on the lake, with a small garden and statues on its terrace. Lord Charles Currie, an English visitor, built it in the first half of the 19th century. Gianni Versace bought it in 1977 and the restoration was finished in December 1980; his guests included Elton John, Princess Diana, Sting and Madonna. It is the former Versace villa: he died in 1997 and in 2008 it was sold to the Russian restaurateur Arkady Novikov. It lies along the route on tours of 2 hours or more. A private residence, not open to the public: you see it from the water only.

Castello di Urio

At Carate Urio you see a lakeside villa with turrets, pinnacles and battlements: Count Melzi added them in the 19th century, which is why the house is called a castle. From the late 1950s it was a retreat house of Opus Dei. In November 2023 the owners signed a preliminary sale contract with Belmond, the hotel group owned by LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), and the sale was completed in 2024 with the plan of turning it into a hotel. It lies along the route on tours of 2 hours or more. Private property, not open to the public: you see it from the water only.

Laglio and Torno

Villa Oleandra

From the boat you see Villa Oleandra, a historic villa on the shore at Laglio, along the Via Regina: we pass in front of it, George Clooney's home in Laglio since 2002. It is a private house: we do not stop, and nobody knows in advance whether he is in residence. This is the stretch where the lake narrows to about 650 metres, between Careno and Torriggia. For film fans: the documented Lake Como location of "Ocean's Twelve" is Villa Erba in Cernobbio, not this villa. You see it on tours of 2 hours or more. A private home, no visits: we pass in front of it and do not stop.

Villa Pliniana

From the lake you see an austere grey Renaissance block with a three-arched loggia, alone in a wooded cove at Torno, beside a waterfall. Count Giovanni Anguissola, governor of Como, commissioned it in 1573; it was completed in 1577. It is named after Pliny the Younger, who described in a letter the intermittent spring that still rises and falls in the courtyard. Mario Soldati shot "Malombra" here in 1942. It is hard to see from the road: the lake is the natural viewpoint. It lies along the route on tours of 2 hours or more. Not a public museum: since 2016 Sereno Hotels has run it as a private venue for stays, weddings and events.

Nesso and Blevio

Nesso and the Ponte della Civera

From the boat you see it straight on: the Ponte della Civera, a small stone humpback bridge, stands on the water at the foot of the Orrido di Nesso, a deep gorge where the streams Tuf and Nosè meet and fall into the lake. Leonardo da Vinci mentions the village in the Codex Atlanticus, and scenes of Alfred Hitchcock's first film, "The Pleasure Garden" (1925), show the bridge. The flow of the waterfall depends on rain: after a dry spell it is thin. You see it on tours of 2 hours or more. The village is free to walk: on foot you reach the bridge from the road down a stepped lane of more than 270 steps.

Villa Troubetzkoy

Low on the shore at Blevio you see a chalet-like house with wooden balconies. It was built in the mid-19th century by the Russian prince Alexander Troubetzkoy, an exile after the failed uprising against Tsar Nicholas I. Locals nicknamed it "Ca' de paia", and by the 1990s it had been split into flats. The French businessman Pascal Cagni, a former Apple vice-president for Europe, bought and restored it, which is why it is now called Villa Cagni Troubetzkoy. You see it on tours of 2 hours or more. A private villa, offered for private stays and not open to visitors: you see it from the water.

Ossuccio and the island

Isola Comacina

From the boat you see the only island of the lake, about 600 metres long and 200 wide, off Ossuccio and Sala Comacina. In the early Middle Ages it was a stronghold full of churches, until Como, allied with Barbarossa, razed it in 1169: the survivors fled to Varenna and nobody has lived here since. The ruins of the 11th-century basilica of Sant'Eufemia remain, and the baroque church of San Giovanni is the only intact building. It now belongs to the Accademia di Brera. You see it on tours of 3 hours or more. In 2026 open May to late October, 10:00 to 18:00, with a compulsory ticket. The island's restaurant is closed: no lunch on the island.

Villa Balbiano

At Ossuccio you see the villa behind a formal Italian garden with a long central axis, with a private dock and a pool right on the shore. The property passed to the Gallio family in 1596; the present villa was built in the 17th century and completed around 1680. Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini bought it in 1787, enlarged the estate and commissioned frescoes. In Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci" (2021) it is the home of Aldo Gucci, played by Al Pacino. You see it on tours of 3 hours or more. A private villa used for private stays, weddings and events; not open to the public. You see it from the water.

Lenno and Bellagio

Villa del Balbianello

On the tip of the wooded Lavedo peninsula at Lenno you see the three-arched Loggia, the terraced garden with its pruned holm oak and the old boat landing with stone steps. Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini turned a Franciscan convent into a villa in 1787; the explorer Guido Monzino bought it in 1974 and left it to FAI, which runs it. It is the lake retreat on Naboo in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" (2002) and the clinic where Bond recovers in "Casino Royale" (2006). You see it on tours of 3 hours or more. FAI property: closed Mondays and Wednesdays, booking mandatory. In 2026 park 15 EUR, villa and park 25 EUR: check the official site.

Villa Melzi d'Eril

At Loppia, on the Como-branch side of the Bellagio peninsula, you see an English-style garden running along the shore in front of the villa, with a plane-tree avenue and a blue-domed Moorish kiosk at the water's edge. The villa was built between 1808 and 1810 for Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Duke of Lodi and vice-president of Napoleon's Italian Republic. The house is private and closed: the ticket covers the gardens, the chapel and a small museum in the former orangery. You see it on the 5-hour and 7-hour tours. Gardens only: in 2026 daily 10:00 to 19:00 until 1 November, ticket 10 EUR at the gate, no booking. Check the official site.

The centre of the lake

Bellagio

Bellagio is on the tip of the promontory that splits the lake into its two southern branches: from the boat you see the three branches meet in front of it at Punta Spartivento, "the point that divides the wind". On the waterfront is the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, a hotel since 1873; behind it the borgo climbs in stepped lanes to the Romanesque basilica of San Giacomo, of about 1075 to 1125. About 3,800 people live in the town nicknamed "the Pearl of Lake Como". You see it on tours of 3 hours or more. A town to explore on foot: the lakefront arcades and the stepped lanes of the borgo, steep and cobbled, not easy with pushchairs.

Varenna and Villa Monastero

On the eastern shore, in the province of Lecco, you see the coloured houses of the old centre and the Passeggiata degli Innamorati, a footpath over the water from the boat pier. By tradition fishermen founded Varenna in 769, and after 1169 it took in the refugees of Isola Comacina. Villa Monastero began as a Cistercian convent and is now a house museum with a botanical garden stretching about 2 km along the lake. Castello di Vezio stands above the village. On request on the 7-hour Iconic Tour, or when you board in Varenna. Villa Monastero is a house museum and botanical garden owned by the Province of Lecco: see its official site for hours and tickets.

Choose how far to go

All tours

One hour for the first basin, two for Laglio and Nesso, three for Bellagio and Villa del Balbianello, five or seven to go ashore without hurry.