Visiting Villa Melzi Gardens in Bellagio: Tickets, Opening Times and What to See
Lake Como Diary — A guide by Nadia Fraqair · Updated 30 October 2026
The Gardens of Villa Melzi are the lakeside gardens of Bellagio, a ten-minute walk from the ferry pier, and you do not need to book. In 2026 they opened every day from late March to 1 November, and a ticket costs €10 at the entrance. They close for the winter and reopen at the end of March 2027. The villa itself is a private home, but the gardens, the family chapel and the small museum are open to visitors.
The gardens follow the shore for almost a kilometre: an avenue of plane trees by the water, a Moorish pavilion, a pond of water lilies, a Japanese garden with red maples, azaleas in spring and the white neoclassical villa built for Napoleon's vice-president in Italy. It is one of the places in Bellagio where I photograph couples most. Every photograph in this guide is mine, taken in the gardens on one bright late-spring day.
Villa Melzi Gardens at a glance
- Where: on the lakefront just south of the centre of Bellagio, on the western side of the promontory
- Booking: not needed; tickets at the entrance
- Tickets (2026): €10, children up to 11 free; includes the chapel and the museum
- Open: every day from late March to 1 November; closed in winter
- Hours: usually 10:00–19:00 in spring and summer; 10:00–17:00 in autumn 2026, last entry 16:30
- Getting there: on foot from the Bellagio ferry pier in about ten minutes
- Allow: one to one and a half hours
In this guide:
- Tickets and prices
- Opening days and hours
- How to get to Villa Melzi Gardens
- What to see in the gardens
- A short history
- The best time to visit
- Photo tips from a photographer
- Good to know before you go
- A special moment in the gardens
- Frequently asked questions
Villa Melzi Gardens Tickets and Prices
One ticket covers everything that is open to visitors: the gardens, the family chapel and the Napoleonic museum in the old orangery. You buy it at the entrance on the day.
| 2026 ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Single ticket | €10 |
| Ticket for two days or more | €14 |
| Groups of 15 or more, per person | €8 |
| School groups, per person | €6.50 |
| Season pass | €50 |
| Children up to 11 | Free |
- No booking needed. Tickets are sold only at the entrance, on the day of your visit. Prices and news are on the official Villa Melzi Gardens website.
- Guided tours of the gardens, the chapel and the museum run on open days and last about an hour. Book them in advance by email with the gardens.
- The villa is private. The white house still belongs to the family and is not open to visitors, so no ticket includes the inside of the villa.
Villa Melzi Gardens Opening Days and Hours
The gardens open every day during the season, including weekends and holidays, and close completely in winter. These are the 2026 dates, checked on 30 October 2026.
- Season 2026: every day from late March to 1 November.
- Spring and summer: usually 10:00–19:00.
- Autumn 2026: 10:00–17:00, with last entry at 16:30.
- Winter: closed from 2 November 2026; the gardens reopen at the end of March 2027.
The gardens close before sunset for most of the season, so plan your visit for the morning or the afternoon. The 2027 opening date is published on the gardens' website in early spring. Planning a trip in the colder months? Read my guide to Lake Como in winter, with the villas that stay open.
How to Get to Villa Melzi Gardens
The gardens begin where the village of Bellagio ends, on the lakefront road heading south. Most visitors simply walk there.
On foot from Bellagio
From the ferry pier in Piazza Mazzini, walk south along the lakefront, with the water on your right. The entrance to the gardens is about ten minutes away, on a flat and easy walk.
By ferry
Bellagio is the main stop in the centre of the lake. Ferries cross from Varenna in about 15 minutes, and also from Menaggio and Cadenabbia, and boats and hydrofoils come up from Como. Check the timetable on Navigazione Laghi, as it changes with the season.
By train
Bellagio has no train station. Take the train from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino, about an hour, then the short ferry across the lake to Bellagio.
By private boat
A private boat is the most beautiful way to arrive. From the water you see the white villa, its lakeside avenue and the Moorish pavilion long before you reach Bellagio. Read my guide to a private boat tour on Lake Como for routes and prices.
By car
Bellagio is reached on the lake road from Como or from Lecco. Parking is limited and paid, along the lakefront or in the nearby hamlet of Loppia, and fills early on summer weekends.
What to See at Villa Melzi Gardens
The avenue of plane trees
Along the water runs a long avenue of plane trees, their great branches spreading over the lawn and the gravel path. Benches face the lake and the villas of the Tremezzina on the opposite shore, and an old black gondola rests on the grass under the trees. On a summer day this is the coolest walk in Bellagio.
The lakeside terrace and the lily pond
In front of the villa, a terrace with a stone balustrade opens onto the lake. Two columns topped with stone finials frame the water, and a pond of water lilies is fed by a fountain shaped like a great shell, with a cherub sitting on top. From here you look straight across to the mountains of the western shore.
The villa
The white neoclassical villa, with its grey-blue shutters and rows of chimneys on the roof, was designed by the architect Giocondo Albertolli and built between 1808 and 1810. A double staircase guarded by stone lions leads down to a round pond in front of the house. The villa is still a private home, so you admire it from the gardens and from the path on the hill above, where the roof, the lake and the mountain line up in one view.
The Moorish pavilion and Dante and Beatrice
By the water stands a small white pavilion in Moorish style, with carved arches, marble busts on grey columns and a floor of black and white marble. Through its door and its pointed windows you see nothing but the lake and the mountains. Nearby is the monument to Dante and Beatrice by the sculptor Giovanni Battista Comolli, from 1810, which is said to have inspired Franz Liszt's Dante Sonata.
The Japanese garden
Hidden among the trees is a small Japanese garden: a dark, still pond, a little iron bridge, ferns and Japanese maples in every shade from green to deep red. It is the quietest corner of the gardens, and in October the maples turn to fire.
Trees, azaleas and camellias
The park is full of old and exotic trees: cedars of Lebanon, ginkgo, copper beeches, camphor trees and tall palms. In spring the slopes are covered with azaleas and giant rhododendrons, and hedges of camellias line the paths. Along the way you also pass Egyptian statues from the time of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt.
The chapel and the museum
At the southern end of the gardens, facing the little harbour of Loppia, stands the neoclassical family chapel, where Francesco Melzi d'Eril is buried. The old orangery is now a small museum of Napoleonic memories and prints. Both are included in your ticket.
A Short History of Villa Melzi
The villa was built between 1808 and 1810 for Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Duke of Lodi, vice-president of the Italian Republic under Napoleon and later Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Italy. He chose the architect Giocondo Albertolli for the house, while Luigi Canonica and Luigi Villoresi laid out the gardens along almost a kilometre of shore.
In the nineteenth century the villa welcomed travellers such as Stendhal and Franz Liszt. It later passed to the Gallarati Scotti family, who still own it today. Count Lodovico Gallarati Scotti opened the gardens and the museum to visitors, and the villa itself remains a private home.
The Best Time to Visit Villa Melzi Gardens
The best season
- Late March and April: camellias, the first azaleas and fresh green, with few visitors.
- Late April and May: the azaleas and rhododendrons in full flower, the most colourful weeks of the year.
- June to August: water lilies in the pond, deep shade under the plane trees and the longest opening hours, but also the busiest weeks.
- September and October: softer light, quieter paths and, in October, the red maples of the Japanese garden.
The best time of day
Come at opening time for the quietest gardens, before the ferries bring the day visitors to Bellagio. The gardens face west, across the lake to the Tremezzina, so in the afternoon the sun moves over the water in front of you, the lake sparkles and the light comes through the plane trees. Since the gardens close before sunset, continue on the water if you want to see the sun go down.
How long to stay
Allow one to one and a half hours for the gardens, the chapel and the museum. With the walk from the pier and lunch in Bellagio, plan half a day. For the rest of the village, read my guide to the best time to visit Bellagio.
Villa Melzi Gardens Photo Tips from a Photographer
Personal photographs are welcome everywhere in the gardens. These are the places where I always stop:
- The avenue of plane trees. Stand in the middle of the path and shoot down the avenue, with the trunks on both sides and the lake on the right.
- The Moorish pavilion. Step inside and stand in the centre, so the doorway frames the lake and the two marble busts sit on either side.
- The lakeside columns. Frame the lake between the two columns on the terrace, with the mountains across the water.
- The lily pond. Crouch low at the edge, so the water lilies fill the front of the picture and the shell fountain sits behind you.
- The view over the villa. Climb the path on the hill behind the house; from the top, the roof, the lake and the mountain line up in one frame.
- The ring. In strong sun, step into the shade of the trees for close-ups of hands and rings; the light there is soft and even.
Stay on the paths and off the flower beds. Professional and private photo shoots, including proposal and engagement sessions, must be booked in advance with the gardens, decorations and setups are not allowed, and drones are forbidden. For my couples, I arrange it as part of the day.
Good to Know Before You Go
- Closed in winter: from early November to the end of March. If you visit Bellagio in winter, walk the lanes and the lakefront instead.
- Shoes: most paths are flat gravel, with a few slopes and cobbles. Flat shoes are best; bring heels in a bag for photographs.
- Dogs: welcome on a lead.
- Not allowed: bicycles, scooters and drones. Weddings and ceremonies cannot be held in the gardens.
- Accessibility: almost all of the gardens can be visited by people with limited mobility. The museum and the chapel have steps, and the staff can help. There are accessible toilets beneath the museum.
- More villas: across the lake, read my guides to visiting Villa Monastero in Varenna and visiting Villa del Balbianello.
A Special Moment in the Gardens of Villa Melzi
Villa Melzi is one of the most natural places on the lake for a proposal. A walk in the gardens is simply what people do in Bellagio, so nobody suspects a thing, and because no setups are allowed, the moment stays as real as the place: a walk, a pause, a knee, under the plane trees by the water.
My Villa Melzi Gardens proposal package is €5,000: personal planning, the route and the exact spot, help with the tickets and the photography permit, the proposal photographed and filmed, portraits in the gardens and in Bellagio, a private online gallery and an edited film. My husband and I plan every detail, then photograph and film the moment together. Compare it with every option in Lake Como proposal packages.
Real stories from the gardens: Episode 7 of Lake Como Diary is an October proposal at Villa Melzi.
Read the stories: an October proposal at Villa Melzi (Episode 7) and a golden-hour proposal in Bellagio (Episode 2).
Plan your moment at Villa Melzi
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Villa Melzi Gardens: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Villa Melzi worth visiting?
Yes. For €10 and a ten-minute walk from the Bellagio ferry pier, you get almost a kilometre of gardens on the water, with the Moorish pavilion, the Japanese garden, old trees and some of the best views in Bellagio. It is at its most beautiful from late April to May, when the azaleas flower.
Why is Villa Melzi famous?
It was built between 1808 and 1810 for Francesco Melzi d'Eril, vice-president of the Italian Republic under Napoleon, and it is one of the finest neoclassical villas on Lake Como. Its lakeside gardens, the monument to Dante and Beatrice and visitors such as Stendhal and Franz Liszt made it one of the most loved places in Bellagio.
Do you need to book Villa Melzi Gardens in advance?
No. Tickets are sold only at the entrance, on the day of your visit. Only guided tours and professional photo shoots must be booked in advance.
How much are tickets to Villa Melzi Gardens?
In 2026, €10 per person, or €14 for two days or more. Children up to 11 enter free, and groups of 15 or more pay €8 each. The ticket includes the chapel and the museum.
Can you buy Villa Melzi tickets online?
No. Tickets for individual visitors are sold only at the entrance, on the day of your visit, and you do not need to book. Only guided tours and professional photo shoots are arranged in advance with the gardens.
When are Villa Melzi Gardens open?
Every day from late March to 1 November. The gardens close for the winter on 2 November 2026 and reopen at the end of March 2027.
What are the opening hours?
Usually 10:00 to 19:00 in spring and summer. In autumn 2026 the gardens were open from 10:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:30.
How do you get to Villa Melzi from Bellagio?
On foot: from the ferry pier in Piazza Mazzini, walk south along the lakefront for about ten minutes to the entrance.
How long do you need at Villa Melzi Gardens?
About one to one and a half hours for the gardens, the chapel and the museum. With lunch in Bellagio, allow half a day.
Can you go inside Villa Melzi?
No. The villa is a private home and is not open to visitors. Your ticket includes the gardens, the family chapel and the small Napoleonic museum in the old orangery.
When do the azaleas flower at Villa Melzi?
Usually from late April to May, together with the rhododendrons. The camellias flower earlier, in March and April.
Can you get married at Villa Melzi?
No. Weddings, vow exchanges and ceremonies are not allowed in the gardens, and the villa is a private home. Many couples choose the gardens for a proposal or for photographs instead. For wedding venues on the lake, see my Lake Como wedding guide.
Can you take photographs at Villa Melzi Gardens?
Yes, personal photographs are welcome. Professional and private photo shoots, including proposals, must be booked in advance with the gardens. Decorations, setups and drones are not allowed.
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About the Author
Nadia Fraqair is a Lake Como proposal and wedding photographer and filmmaker, the creator of Lake Como Diary and the designer behind the FRAQAIR couture atelier. She has photographed more than 1,000 couples and works on the lake together with her husband. More about Nadia →