Lake Como Activities/Sights

Old Jan 28th, 2004, 04:17 PM
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Lake Como Activities/Sights

Hi there,

You have all been very helpful in the past so I know I can trust you on this. Below is a list of activities I have compiled for my upcoming visit to Lake Como in May. We are staying in Bellagio for 4 nights. Is there anything I haven?t included that should not be missed? Also, does anyone know the name of the island on the lake where it is supposedly good to go to lunch?

Villa Carlotta
Isola Comacina
Punta Spartivento park in Bellagio
Bellagio beach
Villa Serbelloni Gardens
Grand Hotel Villa d'Este
Como
Varenna promenade
Gardens at Villa Cipressi & adjacent monastery in Varenna

Thank you!

Daria
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 04:32 PM
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Oh my, you left out the very best thing! Villa Balbianello!

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34404917

Best wishes,

Rex
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 11:44 PM
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The restaurant is called the Locanda dell'Isola, it is on Isola Comacina, which you have already put on your itinerary above.

I also heartily second the Villa Balbianello recommendation, perhaps that is what you are referring to when you wrote "Gardens of Villa Serbelloni" above. The Villa Serbelloni is a hotel which has a good size garden, but it is nothing in comparison to the Villa Balbianello. You need reservations to tour the latter, and can only get there by hired boat. No public ferry stops there.

The Villa D'este is also a good place for a lunch. There are two outdoor restaurants, one under a canopy with a more formal menu, and one by the pool area serving sandwiches, etc. In the evening there are several options for dinner, two of which are outdoors. Men are required to wear jacket and tie in the formal indoor restaurant in the evening.

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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 11:51 AM
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Great! Thank you both so much. I had a feeling I was missing something.

I will check out that thread that you recommended Rex.

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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 12:45 PM
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Hi again,

I just wanted to post what I found out about the wonderful suggestion Rex made to visit Villa Balbianello. I googled it and it certainly looks beautiful. It turns out to be that villa on Lake Como that was in Star Wars Attack of the Clones. See: www.bellagio.co.nz/starwars/

Also, this site: http://www.ilporticcioloviaggi.com/L...s_gardens.html indicates that it is in Lenno and that it can be reached by foot from the boat landing in Lenno. It appears that Lenno has a stop that can be reached via the public boat service. See: http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/itali...ndicecomo.html

Has anyone been to Villa Balbianello this way? I am tried to avoid hiring a private boat.

Thank you.

Daria
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 06:57 PM
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top please
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 07:41 PM
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We took the regular boat to Lenno and walked to Villa Balbianello through the woods, maybe 20 minutes or so.
Rex is right. We went through a number of villas on the lake, but this is the one I could move into tomorrow and live the rest of my life there!
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Old Jan 30th, 2004, 08:04 AM
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Thank you Patrick!! That was just what I wanted to know. I just couldn't see spending over $300 on a private boat (as Rex mentioned in his other post).
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Old Jan 30th, 2004, 12:05 PM
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ttt
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Old Jan 30th, 2004, 04:42 PM
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Does anyone else think I'm missing something?

Also, can you suggest any good Lake Como websites? I've been to www.bellagio.co.nz

Thanks.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2004, 09:21 AM
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to the top
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Old Feb 3rd, 2004, 11:19 AM
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topping
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Old Feb 3rd, 2004, 12:44 PM
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Hi Daria,

Here are a couple of other websites:

website for the busline that services Lake Como towns from Malpensa and/or city of Como.
http://www.sptcomo.it/

Tourist info for Varenna
http://www.varennaitaly.com

more tourist info:
http://www.comolake.com/england.htm

Some travelogues with info/pics:
http://www.thetravelzine.com/italy9.htm

http://www.mrfs.net/trips/1999/North.../Bellagio.html

http://www.lunadesigns.com/travels/bellagio/index.htm

For Villa Balbianello, you also have a 3rd option which falls in the middle in cost but avoids the 20 minute walk. Right on the Bellagio lakefront diagonally across from Hotel Suisse, there's an Australian woman and her boyfriend/husband who set up a booth offering trips via speedboat to Villa Balbaniello. I don't have my notes handy but I believe it was 80 Euro for 2 which includes a tour. They leave a couple of times a day in season but there may have been 1 day they didn't run so if you're interested check when you first arrive.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2004, 01:44 PM
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Thank you very much for all of that information Maddy. I love when people post urls because doing a google search always turns up too much junk. Thank you also for the information about an alternative way to tour Villa Balbianello.

People say that reservations are required for a tour of Villa Balbianello. I want to be able to tour the inside as well as the outside and I am hoping I can just call the villa in advance and make reservations that way. (I found 0344/56110.) Does that sound right? Or do I need to contact a tour company like the one Maddy mentioned?
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Old Feb 4th, 2004, 05:07 AM
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I've set up a page with links about some things worth doing on and near Lake Como, including little-known goodies like Bormio (I live in Lecco, BTW).

Drop on by at http://www.straughan.com/italy/lake_como.htm
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Old Feb 6th, 2004, 12:33 PM
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Thank you Dierdre! I'll do that.

Does anyone else have anything to add?
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Old Feb 6th, 2004, 02:05 PM
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I think the Villa Serbelloni Gardens that you have read about do not refer to the Hotel Villa Serbelloni but to the gardens that are part of the Villa Serbelloni that is owned by (I believe) the Rockefeller Foundation. This is a research institute of some kind. You can buy a ticket for a tour of the gardens at an office (it might actually be called the Bellagio Tourist Office) near the church at the top of the hill at the Hotel Villa Serbelloni side of Bellagio.

I was not aware that one could walk to Villa Balbianello. I drove to (I think it was called) Sala Comacina and took a boat from there. I don't remember whether they have a regular schedule or if they just go when they have enough customers, but you shouldn't have to wait too long. It seems to me it was only 5 euro or so. Definitely do Villa Balbianello. There is a ticket office in the Villa, which allows you to wander through the grounds and several rooms of the villa. Reservations were not necessary, but make sure you know which days they're open. Maybe there are guided tours for which you have to reserve...I don't know. There is a website which has quite a bit of this type of information, but I can't remember what it is. There's a chance it's just www.villabalbianello.it, but I can't guarantee it.

In Varenna, there's also the ruins of Castello Vezio, way at the top; it's a fairly steep climb, but there are some beautiful views.

Have a nice trip.
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Old Feb 18th, 2004, 06:37 PM
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We went to Villa Balbianello in March last year. I was travelling with a Star Wars fan. It was closed that time of the year but we found out that the foundation managing the villa was have a foundation day celebration so the villa would be open for one day. Changed our trip route to be there on that day. When we got there, boat service around the lake was limited since it was off season. A hotel attendant in the hotel we stayed in arranged for a private boat for us. The guy charged us Euro60 for 3 hours for the boat. Best way to arrive in Villa Balbianello. Looked great approaching it from the water. It was worth the effort getting there. Don't have the number of the private boat but i'm sure people around the Bellagio area could locate one for you when you get there. It's a small town and the boat driver looked local bec we met him at the docks 30 mins after the girl called him. He was with his wife and kid playing in the shore area.
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