Lombardia · Como
Bellagio
On the promontory where Lake Como splits into three arms, with Villa Serbelloni on the high ground and Villa Melzi on the western shore.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 16 min from Milan
- Population
- 3,566
Known for
VILLA SERBELLONI
Fifteenth-century Rockefeller-owned villa on the high promontory, gardens reachable only by guided tour twice a day.
THE FORK
Promontory where the Como, Lecco, and upper lake branches meet, with ferries fanning out to Varenna and Menaggio across the water.
VILLA MELZI
Napoleonic-era villa with public botanical gardens along the western shore, planted with cypresses, camellias, and rhododendrons.
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bellagio sits on the promontory that divides Lake Como into its three arms, the Como branch to the west and the Lecco branch to the east, with the upper lake running north. Paleolithic settlement traces date back 30,000 years, and an Iron Age castellum stood on the high point around 600 BC. From the late 13th century the Visconti incorporated Bellagio into the Duchy of Milan.
Villa Serbelloni was built in the 15th century on the site of an old razed castle and rebuilt several times; in 1788 Alessandro Serbelloni filled it with 17th- and 18th-century art, and in 1959 the Rockefeller Foundation took ownership, turning the villa into an international conference center. Villa Melzi, built on the western shore by Francesco Melzi d'Eril (Vice President of Napoleon's Cisalpine Republic), made the village a fashionable summer station for Milanese nobility in the early 1800s.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 1 h 24 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 2 h 31 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 1 h 51 min or Parma 2 h 26 min.
Coming by train into Monza? Bellagio is about 57 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Milan Bergamo airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Villa Serbelloni
Fifteenth-century villa on the high promontory, owned by the Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, with gardens open by guided tour only.
Villa Melzi
Early 19th-century neoclassical villa built by Francesco Melzi d'Eril on the western shore at Loppia, with public botanical gardens along the lake.
Punta Spartivento
Northern tip of the promontory where the lake splits in three, with a park, marina, and panoramic view up the Bellagio branch.
Salita Serbelloni
Steep stone staircase climbing from the ferry pier into the old village, lined with shops, small piazzas, and the original lakefront houses.
Basilica di San Giacomo
Eleventh-to-twelfth-century Romanesque basilica in the historic center, with sober stone façade and a 13th-century stone pulpit.
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From the guides
Where to eat and stay
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
MistralRistorante
Two Gambero Rosso forks (88/100) for Mistral, along with a place in L'Espresso's Top 300 and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Alle Darsene di LoppiaRistorante
A Gambero Rosso listing, at Alle Darsene di Loppia.
La PuntaRistorante
La Punta has one Gambero Rosso fork (75/100) to its name.
Grand Hotel Villa SerbelloniHotel
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni has a La Liste score of 92, a place on Italy's historic-locali register and a place in the Michelin hotel guide.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
- Population 3,566, down 6.3% since 2015
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Menaggio, 7 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Full fibre reaches 93% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Milan Bergamo airport, 1 h 24 min drive, the closest of the 15 airports we time
- Regional capital Milano, 1 h 16 min drive
Could you live here?
Bellagio is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,566. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Canzo, is 23 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Lecco, a city of 46,871, is 36 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
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Common questions
- What is Bellagio known for?
- On the promontory where Lake Como splits into three arms, with Villa Serbelloni on the high ground and Villa Melzi on the western shore.
- Where is Bellagio?
- Bellagio is a comune in the province of Como, in Lombardia, at 229 meters above sea level.
- Which of the airports we measure is closest to Bellagio?
- Of the 15 airports we time the drive to, the closest is Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 1 h 24 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Bellagio?
- About 1 h 51 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bellagio?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 19 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bellagio?
- Menaggio, Tremezzina and Angera.
- How many people live in Bellagio?
- 3,566 at the 2023 count.
- Is Bellagio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bellagio is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Canzo, is 23 min away. The nearest city, Lecco, is 36 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Menaggio, 7 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 93% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 229 m
- Population: 3,566
- Surface area: 29.06 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Similar
Towns like Bellagio
What all six share with Bellagio: lake towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
The ranked lists
Lists Bellagio appears in
- The best small lake towns that eat well in LombardiaLombardialakeeats wellsmall6 towns · smallest 693 residents
- The 8 best lake towns within 90 minutes of MonzaNear Monzalakewithin 90 min8 towns · smallest 693 residents · closest 55 min away
- The 8 best lake towns worth staying overnight in LombardiaLombardialakeworth staying overnight8 towns · smallest 1,086 residents
- The 8 best small towns worth staying overnight in LombardiaLombardiaworth staying overnightsmall8 towns · smallest 1,086 residents
- The best small towns with a serious restaurant in LombardiaLombardiaserious restaurantsmall10 towns · smallest 507 residents
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