A day out at Villa Carlotta Lake Como

I’ve been hoping to visit Villa Carlotta on Lake Como, in particular to see the flowering of the azaleas, since 2020, when Covid stopped us. Since then, every year something has turned up, work commitments, Easter and 25th April and 1st May long weekends piling up and creating the risk of (dreaded for me) crowds, rain etc. This year, too, has had some iffy spring weather but back in March I discovered that by simply writing an email a very kind lady at Villa Carlotta could let me know at what point of perfection the azaleas were. Finally, on 24th April a break in clouds and rain is promised just before the 25th April public holiday.

Villa Carlotta is a long drive for us, up a mountain pass, down the other side, all along the busy road of the Valtellina and down the west side of the Lake. We originally decided it would be better to spend a few days on Lake Como, but once again, stuff happens and we are down to one day, just for Villa Carlotta. We leave home at 7.20 a.m. and arrive just about 10 o’clock. The free parking mentioned on the Internet is full, but we find a space in the blue lines for 1.50 an hour which seems reasonable considering it’s just outside the entrance to Villa Carlotta. At just past ten, there’s a queue. Which can be avoided by buying the ticket online. Advisable, but we can’t because we have the Abbonamento Musei Lombardia card. The queue moves reasonably quickly. And we are soon walking along the path to the fountain below the villa.

The cold weather and days of wind and rain have disappeared, and crystal blue sky and clear air and the views of the azaleas in flower and the new spring green of the trees with the blue green lake beyond are heart-stoppingly beautiful. I’d read about Villa Carlotta Botanical Gardens and I’d looked at the photos but actually to be there was even more beautiful than I’d expected. I’ll let the photos (taken by Andrea, as always) do most of the talking but the azaleas are more than you can possibly imagine, enormous splashes of colour contrasting with the green vegetation and the lake, the gazebo area and the path just above it are the highlights.

Then there’s the garden of the cactuses, the monumental trees, the ‘agrumeto’ just below the villa, the bamboo area higher up and the peaceful panorama of the reclaimed olive grove at the top of the park. Oh, yes and the Valley of the ferns and the fountain down at the bottom and the splashes of colour in the stone tubs near the villa and the rhododendrons that are trees not bushes and the few last camelias.

The map tells us that the ‘complete route’ takes 80/90 minutes but we take a lot longer, exploring every corner, impossible not to take photos, to linger, to admire. We had planned to picnic but we are visiting with friends who kindly insist on offering us lunch. The newly opened Villa Carlotta Bistrot has outside tables with a view of the lake and we are lucky enough to arrive just as a table is being vacated. A lengthy consultation about what to order ensues, but luckily the waitress is patient, the food arrives quickly and is good and reasonable portions, much better than we were expecting, I would recommend the pinsa in particular.  

After coffee we finish the tour of the gardens and look inside the villa. Once again, the views are the main draw, at least for me, but there are fine sculptures by Canova or his school, a ceiling in the Grottesco style we like in one room, and some paintings by Hayez in particular on the ground floor (going in from the back) and on the second floor, the private apartments, furniture and objects of Princess Charlotte, who was given the villa in the mid-nineteenth century as a wedding present when she married George II, Grand Duke of Sachsen-Meiningen.

At 3.45 we sit a while at our favourite spot under the gazebo among the azaleas and reflect on the beauty of Villa Carlotta. If you love gardens and nature, you will be happy here. It’s stunning. Perhaps the message for me, in these times of violence and war and pollution and destruction (or maybe such times are always with us) is that Villa Carlotta is tangible proof that humankind can take care of nature and nurture it into producing absolute beauty. The views and landscapes of the gardens didn’t happen by chance, nature was not left to its own devices. There was a vision of ideal beauty which was realized and continues to be maintained through the centuries, an inspiration for us all.