Lake Como is dotted with grand villas and for a few of them, the gardens probably exceed the beauty of the villas themselves. Two of the best known gardens are Bellagio’s Villa Melzi and across the lake, near Tremezzo, is that of Villa Carlotta. Since we were staying in Bellagio, we spent a lazy late afternoon strolling the garden of the Villa Melzi.

The villa has been in the same family since it was built in 1810 for Francesco Melzi d’Eril. While the villa itself is closed to the public, the famous gardens are open to all for a fee (EUR 6.50 per adult) from end-March to end-October. You can enter the garden at its two ends, one which is at the end of Bellagio’s lake front boardwalk, and the other near the restaurant alle Darsene di Loppia on Via Melzi d’Eril. Since we parked in Bellagio, we entered from the side nearest the town.

There are a few paths in the garden and while you can stick to one, I thought it was nice to be able to meander along and just move from one path to another. You can pretty much cover the whole garden in about one hour. There are lots of scenic points and our walk back to Bellagio coincided with the setting sun giving us some nice pictures of the town. Villa Melzi has an informative website with lots of nice pictures.