Villa Balbianello
 

What is the best way to visit this beautiful Villa? I have seen mention of quite a hike from the Lenno landing and others mention boats to take one "around." It all seems a bit confusing, but I really want to visit this beautiful place.
Thank you for your help.

It's about 1 km. (.62 mile) from the public ferry landing at Lenno to the entrance. If you want to arrive at the villa's private landing, you'll have to hire a private boat. I've never done this, so I'm not sure whether you may also need to make an arrangement with the villa office to do this.

The villa interior can only be seen as part of a guided tour, and the groups are limited to 15 people max, so you should have a reservation before you go. Your hotel should be willing to do this for you. The garden can be seen on your own, and there is a separate entrance fee.

Here's a link to more info:

http://www.fondoambiente.it/en/beni/...propreties.asp

The way that I understand it, walk-up access is only available two, maybe three days a week. Tuesday is one of the walk-up days. The path is an unpaved driveway and some part of it are steep.

There are multiple boat options. The primary boat option originates from the Lido di Lenno (the beach club at Lenno). This is an easy 2,000 ft walk along the lake from the boat dock at Lenno.

Your hotel may know of some other boat options.

Last summer we parked in the Villa parking lot and walked to a boat landing. There was a man in a small boat which took us over. Once there we got tickets to tour the inside. It is awesome arriving by boat. The grounds are beautiful and the tour of the interior was great too. Get there when it first opens so parking and admission won't be over filled. Boat ride was separate fee from the tour and we paid for a round trip. A 3 minute walk from the boat landing is the Lenno market but it was not overly impressive-clothes, purses, junk. But it's worth checking out for a brief time anyway.

I was there last week. The walk from the ferry dock is very easy, my 4 year old managed just fine and we also had a stroller for our 1 year old. We did not book a tour in advance, but had no trouble purchasing tickets for the next available tour. Of course, this may be different in the crush of summer tourists.

I did notice a sign stating that Thursdays & Fridays were perhaps closed....or something. I didn't pay attention since we were there on a Sunday. But that could of been just that week, since there was a wedding being held there on Saturday evening.

It was gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking!