Villa del Balbianello is the absolute icon of Lake Como: an eighteenth-century neoclassical architecture perched on a wooded promontory in Lenno, with loggias open to the lake and terraced gardens that seem suspended over the water. Built by Cardinal Durini as a literary refuge, in the twentieth century it became the home of the explorer Guido Monzino — climber of Everest and first Italian to the North Pole — who in 1988 donated it to FAI, Fondo Ambiente Italian, which today manages and opens it to the public. The Villa is also a film star: the loggia overlooking the lake is the setting for Anakin and Padmè's kiss in Star Wars: Episode II, and the backdrop to one of Casino Royale's most famous scenes starring Daniel Craig as James Bond. From our tour, the Balbianello promontory stands out over the lake in all its visual power — the most photographed and recognisable glimpse of the lake centre.

Villa La Cassinella is considered one of the most exclusive residences on Lake Como — and Forbes has listed it among the eleven most beautiful holiday villas in the world. Overlooking the lake in Lenno, in the most scenic stretch of the lake centre, the Villa is a masterpiece of Lake Garda architecture immersed in a private park of extraordinary beauty. Its privileged position, with its facade directly reflected on the water, makes it one of the most desired and photographed views of the Lake. Over the years, it has been the focus of international rumours that the buyer, after the 2004 sale, was Richard Branson — a rumour Virgin's founder was quick to deny. In 2026 the Villa was sold for over 90 million euros, confirming its status as one of the most valuable properties in Europe. From our tour, Villa La Cassinella is admired in its most suggestive perspective: from the boat, with the lake as a frame.

Villa Balbiano is the largest private residence on Lake Como: a seventeenth-century palace overlooking the western shore of the lake, a few minutes from Lenno, with a history spanning centuries of power, art and worldliness. Built by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio at the end of the sixteenth century, it was then expanded by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini — the same patron who transformed nearby Balbianello into a literary refuge — which made it the scene of parties, banquets and court life. The seventeenth-century frescoes by the Recchi brothers and Agostino Silva still decorate the interior walls, intact over time. The Villa owes its most recent international fame to the film House of Gucci (2021) by Ridley Scott, starring Lady Gaga and Al Pacino: the Villa was the setting for the residence of Patriarch Aldo Gucci, bringing the lake centre to screens around the world. From the lake, its monumental façade is one of the most majestic views of the Lake — visible in all its grandeur only from the boat.

Isola Comacina is the only island on Lake Como: a strip of wooded and mysterious land off Ossuccio, steeped in history and shrouded in a legend that has lasted for centuries. Inhabited since Roman times, it was in the Middle Ages one of the most disputed strongholds of the lake: fortified citadel, religious and economic centre, and finally the scene of one of the most dramatic pages of the Lake. In 1169 Federico Barbarossa, an ally of the Como, razed it to the ground as punishment for his loyalty to Milan. Before the destruction, the bishop of Como cast a curse on the island — and for over seven centuries it remained completely deserted. From the lake, silent and wooded, Isola Comacina appears suspended between history and legend.

Villa Melzi is the first neoclassical residence built on the shores of Lake Como in the nineteenth century: a masterpiece of architecture and landscape commissioned in 1808 by Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Vice-President of the Napoleonic Italian Republic and Duke of Lodi. The park, designed by botanists who had already worked on the Monza gardens, extends along the shore of Bellagio with an English vision that blends nature and art: Japanese pond with water lilies, maples and cedars, and in spring blooms of azaleas and rhododendrons among the most spectacular in the centre of the lake. Inside the property are the Villa, the chapel and an orangery now set up as a museum with Collections of great historical value. From the lake, the gardens of Villa Melzi open in all their breadth right at the entrance to Bellagio — the green antechamber to the pearl of the Lake, and one of the last glimpses of the tour before returning.

Varenna is one of the most romantic and photographed villages of Lake Como: an ancient fishing village on the eastern shore of Lake Como, with colourful houses mirrored on the water, narrow alleys and the famous Passeggiata degli Innamorati, a walkway overlooking the lake among the most suggestive in Italy. Its origins are very ancient — founded by the Gauls, then Roman castrum — but it is the timeless atmosphere of its carughs and its shores that makes it one of the most popular destinations of the lake. Dominating the lakefront is Villa Monastero, an ancient conventual residence transformed into a noble Villa, now a museum and conference centre, with botanical gardens stretching for almost two kilometres along the shore and beautifully preserved neoclassical interiors.

Villa Monastero is one of the most fascinating places in Varenna and the entire Lake Como: a nine-century long history that begins as a Cistercian convent dedicated to the Virgin Mary, founded at the end of the 12th century. The monastery remained active until 1567, when Cardinal Carlo Borromeo ordered its closure. In 1645 Lelio Mornico transformed the ancient convent into a noble Villa of great value, starting the metamorphosis that in the following centuries would make it one of the most admired residences on the eastern shore of Lake Como. Today it is home museum and conference centre, with beautifully preserved neoclassical interiors. But it is its botanical garden that makes it unique: almost two kilometres of coastline from Varenna to Fiumelatte, over 900 rare and exotic plant species from all over the world, arranged in terraces that slope directly down to the water. About 100,000 visitors each year.