Hotels near Villa Melzi Gardens

Villa Melzi sits on the Bellagio waterfront a 10-minute walk south of the ferry pier and is the most underrated of the major lakeside gardens. Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Duke of Lodi and Vice-President of Napoleon's Italian Republic, commissioned architect Giocondo Albertolli to design the neoclassical villa, chapel, and glasshouse between 1808 and 1815. The garden was the first English landscape garden on Lake Como and remains the template for the style on the lake.

The villa interior is not open to the public, but the gardens are the draw. Camellia hedges, azalea and rhododendron groves, mature cedars and plane trees, and a row of Egyptian statues line the lakefront path. A Venetian gondola once gifted to Napoleon sits in the dockside grotto. Stendhal walked these gardens; Franz Liszt composed here in 1837 after meeting Marie d'Agoult on the lake. Compared with Villa Carlotta across the water, Villa Melzi is quieter, smaller, and more atmospheric in late afternoon.

Pro Tip: Combine Villa Melzi with the walk to Punta Spartivento, the tip of the Bellagio promontory where the lake's three branches meet - it is a 25-minute walk north from the villa along the lake path and one of the most photographed spots on Lake Como. Check 2026 opening dates; the garden is closed in winter.