Villa Carlotta
Villa Carlotta
4.5
About
Villa Carlotta welcomes you with its magnificent botanic garden and art masterpieces in over 70.000 square metres of gardens and museum. The beautiful villa was built at the end of XVII century by the Milanese marquis Giorgio Clerici in a natural basin between lake and mountains, facing the dolomite Grignas and the peninsula of Bellagio.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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  • C M Dobbie
    New Plymouth, New Zealand168 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A must see Villa
    This villa is worth going to see. On the side of Lake Como it has a beautiful garden. Walk to the top and see the view from the olive grove. But you must go inside the museum. It truly is beautiful.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written September 17, 2023
  • Curious_Traveller636
    London, United Kingdom501 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent villa and grounds - the walk is gentle
    Having been very disappointed we couldn’t get in to Villa del Balbianello because of block bookings by tour groups, we were nervous. We should not have been. At 3pm on a Sat we walked in, the villa was not too busy, the house is well curated with pieces and the views over the lake stunning, and the gardens are beautiful: how they must have thrilled when they were first laid out, even more so than today. Enjoyed it and not too busy.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written September 23, 2023
  • Roger R
    Sevenoaks, United Kingdom285 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful house and gardens not to be missed
    Do not miss this place if you're in the area. The gardens are stunning and well worth taking the longest of the clearly waymarked trail and taking your time. I saw that there is a shorter trail for people with walking problems and that there is a lift to the upper level of the garden. The rooms in the house that are open to the public are well worth a look, especially for the stunning Canova statues.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written October 3, 2023
  • Helen S
    League City, Texas28 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A pearl on Lake Como
    We loved the villa, make sure you have 2-3 hours to visit. Amazing interior, authentic furniture, and many historical documents. Beautiful gardens, the walkways are color coded for distance. We were there at 10 a.m. when the doors opened (off season hours) and almost had the villa to ourselves. Helpful staff, English speaking.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written October 5, 2023
  • Andy5573
    Palmyra, Pennsylvania250 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Impressive Villa and Grounds.
    My wife and I enjoyed walking the grounds of this villa and viewing the interior of the villa and its contents. We found the museum/villa extremely interesting and the walk on the grounds to be equally impressive. We took a ferry from Varena where we were staying. Recommend this villa as a place to visit if you are into history and/or architecture.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written October 30, 2023
  • SCBlossom
    Charleston, South Carolina4,483 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    The Best Villa on Lake Como
    Gorgeous gardens with very nice and helpful staff. The villa was nice with lovely artwork, beautiful views and exquisite sculptures. The gardens were magnificent! The contrast and beautifully maintained landscapes are unsurpassed. Plan on spending a long time strolling through the various types of trees, plants and gardens. Peek through the palm trees to view snow capped mountains. Amazing. Our favorite villa on Lake Como.
    Visited May 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written May 12, 2024
  • Beth
    12 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lovely experience, worth a visit
    Lovely gardens, with wonderful views of lake Como. We found it took us less than 90 mins to do the complete walk around, but if you wanted to take the full time or go back around this would be fine. Inside was less impressive than the gardens or the outside, but still nice to see. The cellar was interactive and enjoyable. Would recommend this to anyone, definitely worth the money.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written June 7, 2024
  • kzogger
    Chicago, Illinois924 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Gorgeous Plants, Serene Walkways
    Love this place! We arrived right when it opened and it was so nice to stroll through the grounds and the museum practically all by ourselves. The tree rhododendrons and azaleas were so colorful, the rock garden was beautifully landscaped with stunning flowers, the roses and camellias were amazing...I could go on and on. Oh, and the museum is a must-see both for the beauty of the rooms and for the works of art. Absolutely worth a visit.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written June 14, 2024
  • Nuha K 56
    Valparaiso, Indiana987 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Nice walk in garden with lake views
    Lovely stroll in the huge garden and arbetrerum. The villa itself is ok. semi empty except for statues and some painting on the walls. Not what I expect to see in a rich huge villa ( not much furniture). The garden takes most of the touring time. It is big we spend about 2 hours exploring it.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written June 21, 2024
  • Brown_Samantha
    Kennewick, Washington1,729 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Our favorite villa of the trip while visiting Lake Como area and beyond
    It is an easy ferry ride over from Bellagio, where we based while in Lake Como. The ferry stops right in front. We arrived just before 10 am, where a small crowd had formed. There is no need to book tickets ahead, it did not take long to get them from the ticket office. This property is very large, and less popular than Villa Balbianello. Once we got inside, the small crowd dispersed quickly. We really enjoyed the enormous gardens. You could wander for hours. Very shaded and a site map was helpful navigating the gardens. There is some elevation gain, walking up and down to see the varieties of plants and flowers. Bamboo forest with a torii gate. Giant sequoia tree grove. Palm trees. Even though it was over for rhododendron, there were plenty of colorful blooms. Especially the enormous hydrangeas. A small waterfalls with cascading creek flowing down hill. The villa itself is impressive. Right from the fountains and terraces with steps leading up to the building. It has a glorious view to Lake Como. Water features and ponds with turtles swimming in them. Even two citrus covered walk tunnels. The interior was open and had furnishing as well as many stunning sculptures on display. We used two of their bathroom facilities, both were very clean. This was such an enjoyable morning, quite a contrast to Villa Balbianello's mob scene. Bravo!
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written July 11, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles3,418 reviews
Excellent
2,247
Very good
987
Average
151
Poor
23
Terrible
11

Curious_Traveller636
London, UK501 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Couples
Having been very disappointed we couldn’t get in to Villa del Balbianello because of block bookings by tour groups, we were nervous. We should not have been. At 3pm on a Sat we walked in, the villa was not too busy, the house is well curated with pieces and the views over the lake stunning, and the gardens are beautiful: how they must have thrilled when they were first laid out, even more so than today. Enjoyed it and not too busy.
Written September 23, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JAW
39 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023 • Family
Beautiful villa set in even more beautiful gardens. The gardens were extensive and you can stroll round for a while admiring the plants and trees here. The villa is interesting also. Tip don't arrive just before it opens as we did as we arrived when several coach trips did and it took a while to queue to enter and buy tickets. (There wasn't a proper queue area so it was a mass of people trying to move forward and as you know, not everyone is very good at waiting their turn.) Well worth a visit though if you persevere and you can easily reach by ferry as there is a stop for Villa Carlotta.
Written June 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jolie
Rotterdam, The Netherlands1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Couples
Very beautiful however a group of very rude influencers made it impossible to enjoy the museum inside. They claimed alot places in the garden and inside themuseun, i couldnt enjoy the beautiful art work inside because they wanted to take videos and photo's for a very long time. They swearing to other visiters, its was not a nice experience... so keep in mind you can't see the beautiful scenes my these rude @ssholes
Written May 1, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Not disclosed
286 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
Fabulous and interesting garden, with lakeside and hillside paths giving beautiful views of the garden and lake. Some paths are steep. You can walk for a long way beside the lake, roses were out and Sylvia's. There is a small cafe where you can order snacks and enjoy these sitting in the garden
Written June 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andy5573
Palmyra, PA250 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Couples
My wife and I enjoyed walking the grounds of this villa and viewing the interior of the villa and its contents. We found the museum/villa extremely interesting and the walk on the grounds to be equally impressive. We took a ferry from Varena where we were staying. Recommend this villa as a place to visit if you are into history and/or architecture.
Written October 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

PixiebelRoma
Birmingham, UK69 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2019
We visited on a sunny afternoon and had a lovely time. The gardens are beautiful and well maintained. It's a lovely walk, which on a hot afternoon took a good two hours at a strolling pace. There are also nice views over the lake. We had a look inside the villa, although we couldn't access the marble room as it was being set up for a wedding reception, but we did get a look over the barrier.
If you've got a National Trust membership card, show it before you pay to get in as you get a discount (can't remember how much - 30% possibly). Even so it's not too expensive to get in.
Written February 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Roger R
Sevenoaks, UK285 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Solo
Do not miss this place if you're in the area. The gardens are stunning and well worth taking the longest of the clearly waymarked trail and taking your time. I saw that there is a shorter trail for people with walking problems and that there is a lift to the upper level of the garden. The rooms in the house that are open to the public are well worth a look, especially for the stunning Canova statues.
Written October 3, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Brown_Samantha
Kennewick, WA1,729 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Friends
It is an easy ferry ride over from Bellagio, where we based while in Lake Como. The ferry stops right in front. We arrived just before 10 am, where a small crowd had formed. There is no need to book tickets ahead, it did not take long to get them from the ticket office. This property is very large, and less popular than Villa Balbianello. Once we got inside, the small crowd dispersed quickly.

We really enjoyed the enormous gardens. You could wander for hours. Very shaded and a site map was helpful navigating the gardens. There is some elevation gain, walking up and down to see the varieties of plants and flowers. Bamboo forest with a torii gate. Giant sequoia tree grove. Palm trees. Even though it was over for rhododendron, there were plenty of colorful blooms. Especially the enormous hydrangeas. A small waterfalls with cascading creek flowing down hill.

The villa itself is impressive. Right from the fountains and terraces with steps leading up to the building. It has a glorious view to Lake Como. Water features and ponds with turtles swimming in them. Even two citrus covered walk tunnels. The interior was open and had furnishing as well as many stunning sculptures on display.

We used two of their bathroom facilities, both were very clean. This was such an enjoyable morning, quite a contrast to Villa Balbianello's mob scene. Bravo!
Written July 11, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SiteSee21
New York City, NY25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
Really recommend a visit to Villa Carlotta. The grounds are quite large so you will need to set aside a decent amount of time to view. The views and gardens are beautiful however, so you will be happy to spend a lot of time there.
Written August 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kzogger
Chicago, IL924 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Couples
Love this place! We arrived right when it opened and it was so nice to stroll through the grounds and the museum practically all by ourselves. The tree rhododendrons and azaleas were so colorful, the rock garden was beautifully landscaped with stunning flowers, the roses and camellias were amazing...I could go on and on. Oh, and the museum is a must-see both for the beauty of the rooms and for the works of art. Absolutely worth a visit.
Written June 14, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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