Villa Carlotta

Yes — it is a must see when on Lake Como. I loved it. You get to roam the inside of the villa too. A beautiful way to enjoy the Italian lifestyle.

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I was determined to visit a Villa when my husband and I were at Lake Como. However, given that it was already autumn/​winter season (low season), many of the villas either weren’t open or didn’t have many days/​hours in which they were open. I really wanted to visit the villa that was the scene of one of the 007 James Bond movies, but that one wasn’t open.
Sooo…we came to Villa Carlotta instead, which we heard was the other famous villa to visit in the Lake Como area (according to Rick Steve’s Italy 2013 guidebook). We took the lake-​ferry from Bellagio to Tremezzo (had to buy a separate ticket for that since we were there in off-​season).
Got off the boat and walked about 10 minutes to our right towards Villa Carlotta. It was RAINING that day too, but good thing we had our umbrellas. It was 9 euros per person to go inside the villa and we went immediately to the gardens outside for a quick tour (in the rain). The grounds were very well maintained and pristine, lush green, there were bamboo growing in some parts, and lots of pepple stairs/​walkways. You can spend a good hour strolling through the gardens if you wanted to, but we were on a limited time crunch, so briskly walked through. :)
Afterwards, we went inside and toured the downstairs, 2^nd and 3^rd floor. There’s an elevator available too (small though) and staircase to walk up.
NO PHOTOS allowed of the inside, there are female guards looking, haha. We got some nice views of the front of the Villa and Lake Como from the 3^rd floor balcony, but the balcony is not sturdy (so be careful). :)
Overall, we had fun — just wish the weather had been nicer and sunnier as the colors would have been better in our photos! After our quick tour of the mansion, we walked back to the Tremezzo port to wait for our hydrofoil back to Bellagio.

Am besten kommt man im Frühjahr,
wenn Kamelien und Rhododendron blühen.
Traumhaft !

Sehr schöné Villa mit Gartenanlage und toller Botanik, einen Besuch wert.

Villa Carlotta is set on the side of Lake Como across from Bellagio. It has the most amazing gardens which continue to be developed in an artistic manner enhancing the natural beauty of the landscape and providing a canvas for individual sculptures, inviting stairs and fountains. On two long weekend trips to Bellagio we visited Villa Carlotta three times as there is so much to see and in a year the garden had altered in such interesting ways. A wonderful section of Chinese bamboos and waterways gives a tropical feel at one point as well as the arid but brightly flowered rock garden with lizards sunbathing even in October.
The Villa itself is a grand old residence which can be clearly viewed across the lake lit up at night as a wonderful landmark.
There is a very reasonable café in the gardens making the perfect spot for relaxing after exploring the gardens.