Lake Como — Villas, Boats & Alpine Glamour 🚤
George Clooney's backyard. Belle Époque palaces, floating pools and boat rides past cypress-lined villas. Every link takes you straight to Trip.com to check live prices and book.
🏨 Where to Stay
- Villa d'Este ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — the legend of Lake Como since 1873. A 16th-century villa in Cernobbio with 25 acres of UNESCO-listed gardens and the famous floating pool on the lake itself. Once named the best hotel in the world by Forbes.
- Grand Hotel Tremezzo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Belle Époque grande dame directly opposite Bellagio, with three pools including the water-on-water floating pool, T Spa, and its own fleet of vintage boats. Next door to the gardens of Villa Carlotta.
- Hotel Belvedere ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — attainable pick — a family-run hotel above Bellagio, in the hands of the same family for four generations since 1880, with a spa, heated pool and panoramic lake and mountain views — genuine Lake Como romance at a fraction of the icon-hotel price tag.
- Passalacqua ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — an 18th-century noble villa in Moltrasio, named the World's Best Hotel in 2023, with just 24 suites, a secret underground spa built into old tunnels, and gardens once walked by Napoleon and Churchill.
- Hotel du Lac ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — attainable pick — Varenna's #1-rated hotel, right on the water in the charming lakeside village, family-run with lake-view breakfasts and a private pier for swimming — genuinely affordable and consistently called the best value stay on the lake.
✈️ Flights
- Flights to Milan — around 2 hours direct from Manchester. Como is roughly an hour's drive from Malpensa.
🎟️ Experiences
- Villa Carlotta Tickets — the lake's grandest botanical gardens and a villa filled with Canova sculptures, directly opposite Bellagio and next door to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Unmissable in spring when the azaleas bloom.
- Villa del Balbianello Tickets — the most romantic spot on the lake, perched on its own wooded peninsula at Lenno. A filming location for Star Wars and Casino Royale; arrive by taxi-boat for the full effect, and book ahead — entry is limited.
- Como–Brunate Funicular — the 1894 funicular railway climbing from Como's lakefront to the hilltop village of Brunate in 7 minutes, for the definitive panorama over the lake with the Alps behind.
🚗 Car Hire & Transfers