As well as being known throughout the world for its scenic beauty, Lake Como is also famous for the numerous historic villas and gardens, which have hosted illustrious characters of the literary world and beyond.

• VILLA MANZONI (Lecco) – not far from the centre of Lecco, the villa was the home where Alessandro Manzoni spent his childhood and youth. Today the villa is open to the public, where the new museum itinerary allows visitors to immerse themselves in the rooms where the writer lived, among original furniture, personal objects, statues and paintings.

• VILLA CIPRESSI (Varenna) – it is the congress and convention centre of Varenna. It enjoys a privileged panoramic position, as it is located at the tip of the village. It also has a wonderful park with gardens of particular beauty, open to the public. The Villa is a hotel instead.

• VILLA MONASTERO (Varenna) – today it is a very important congress centre at an international level. Inside, you can visit the House Museum where the art works collected by the various owners over the centuries are kept. It also has a magnificent botanical garden, where colours and shapes blend with the architectural elements that decorate the park.

• VILLA SERBELLONI (Bellagio) – magnificent villa which, with a large and scenic park, occupies most of the promontory. Although the villa is used as a hotel, it is still possible to visit its gardens, which are open to the public only accompanied by a guide.

• VILLA MELZI (Bellagio) – despite being currently inhabited by private individuals, Villa Melzi offers the visitor the opportunity to relax immersed in the nature of its amazing and spectacular large park, where you can enjoy the mild climate while walking in its English gardens.

• VILLA CARLOTTA (Tremezzo) – it is one of the gems of Lake Como thanks to its rooms containing excellent masterpieces of art (Canova and Hayez to name a few) and its rich botanical garden. Despite being famous for its spectacular spring blooms, any period of the year is suitable for visiting its magnificent garden.

• VILLA BALBIANELLO (Lenno) – the villa is easily recognizable from the lake for its elegant beauty: located on top of a terraced garden. Today it is the heritage of the FAI, the Italian Environment Fund, by the will of Count Guido Monzino, the last owner of the villa, who enriched it with an important historical and artistic heritage.

• VILLA BERNASCONI (Cernobbio) – one of the rare examples of Art Nouveau architecture on Lake Como and the only Cernobbian villa open to the public, Villa Bernasconi is one of the most significant Italian Art Nouveau creations, both for its architectural project and for the new conception of its ornamental apparatus.

• VILLA DEL GRUMELLO (Cernobbio) – seventeenth-century villa overlooking the first basin of Lake Como, a few steps from the city centre and set in a centuries-old park of great naturalistic value. The villa and its park are the setting for events, art initiatives and cultural and recreational activities open to the public.

• VILLA ERBA (Cernobbio) – architectural jewel built in the late nineteenth century, today it hosts unique events and is still a set for international films. The villa cannot be visited but, during the spring and summer season, the gardens of the villa, which are like an open-air botanical museum, are open to the public.

• VILLA OLMO (Como) – imposing neoclassical villa and one of the most famous and sumptuous historical residences of Como, as well as a symbol of the city itself. The villa is surrounded by a large garden and is inserted in the coastal path that connects the villas overlooking the lake.