Villa d'Este, Cernobbio: What Non-Guests Can Do

The hotel's restaurants, bars, spa and experiences pages draw the line between what outside visitors can book and what is kept for resident guests.

Book through the hotel's own site, where each venue has a page with its rules. La Veranda sits in the Cardinal's Building and its page says it is open to all, hotel guests and outside visitors alike. The Grill is near the Queen's Pavilion with garden dining in summer.

Il Platano serves Mediterranean flavours with Japanese techniques on a lakeside terrace. Bar Canova is the evening option, with a pianist from 19:30 to 20:45 and again from 22:00 to midnight, and until 00:30 on Saturdays. Afternoon tea is offered there, a traditional tea with champagne in the winter season.

Practical Notes

Groups over 20 at La Veranda need a private room, so large parties should contact the hotel directly. The wine list there runs to over 10,000 labels, and the kitchen is led by Executive Chef Andrea Guerini. The hotel's opening and closing dates for the season are not printed on the pages read, so check availability in the booking flow for your dates before planning the rest of the day.

• Reservations at La Veranda and Il Platano open up to 90 days ahead.
• At Bar Canova, entry is at management's discretion even with a reservation.
• The Grill's page also carries the line 'Saturdays and Sundays only, from 12:30 to 14:30', so confirm lunch times when you book.

The main building was designed in 1568 by Pellegrino Pellegrini, known as Il Tibaldi, and the hotel describes the estate as built as a noble residence in the 16th century. It was once the summer residence of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio. Today it holds 124 of the hotel's 151 rooms.

The second building is the Queen's Pavilion, built in 1856 by Baron Ippolito Ciani. It has 27 rooms and a red trompe-l'oeil façade. It was conceived as a spa retreat and first called Hotel de la Reine d'Angleterre. The name comes from Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, who owned the villa from 1815 to 1820.

In 1873 the Pavilion welcomed Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, hosted by Giovanni Ricordi, who was its very first guest. The hotel says it has hosted events since 1873.

The estate runs to a ten-hectare park with chestnut and magnolia trees, wisteria, citrus, camellias, cypresses and peonies, hedges, fountains and the Mosaic. Four private villas are available for rent. The hotel's pages also cover the Villa d'Este Golf Club, 14 km away, a course designed in 1926 with a par of 69, and the Sporting Club, a membership club inaugurated in 1965 with the first floating swimming pool on Lake Como.

One ownership link ties the estate to its neighbour. In 1815 Countess Vittoria Calderara sold Villa d'Este and, with her husband General Domenico Pino, bought the neighbouring Villa Erba, per Villa Erba's own history page.

The Public Boat

Navigazione Lago di Como puts Cernobbio in band 1 from Como, $3.46 (€3) one way on the ordinary boat. The hotel says the Cernobbio pier is five minutes on foot from its entrance. From the boat you see the estate from the lake, and from the pier you walk to the gate, but the park itself is not open to day visitors.

Fares and stops are on the Como ferry page.

Boat Tours

If you want the shoreline explained, the Como premium shared cruise sails past Villa d'Este, Villa Erba and George Clooney's Villa Oleandra with an app audio guide. The small-group boat tour with Prosecco covers the same villas in an hour with a toast on board. Both leave from Como and both are outside-only.

Steering Yourself

For your own route on the water, the self-drive boat without a licence gives you an hour at the helm after a briefing, priced per boat. The boat rental page compares the options. The hotel's photography rules below apply to its property, not to the lake.

The rules in the hotel's PDF are simple to follow once you know them. Discreet personal photos are fine. Photos of other guests or staff are not. Drones fly only with written authorisation. Bridal attire is not allowed for shoots unless the wedding is at Villa d'Este itself. Professional photography in the restaurants or on the terraces during service is not permitted, and commercial photography is not permitted at all.

Professional sessions can be pre-authorised through Guest Relations, confirmed only within 15 days of the date, and are permitted between 10:30 and 18:00 in the Gardens, the Mosaic area, the Terrazza Mantero, a guest room, or on a private boat. Where a hotel guest brings their own professional photographer, a supervision fee of €1,000 applies from June to September and €600 for the rest of the year.

• Shoot with discretion, never of other guests or staff.
• Drones only with written authorisation from the hotel.
• No professional photography in restaurants or on terraces during service.
• Commercial photography is not permitted.

• The Queen's Pavilion was first called Hotel de la Reine d'Angleterre and was conceived as a spa retreat, named for Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, who owned the villa from 1815 to 1820 (villadeste.com, hotel page).
• The Cardinal's Building, designed in 1568 by Pellegrino Pellegrini, known as Il Tibaldi, holds 124 of the hotel's 151 rooms (villadeste.com, hotel page).
• In 1873 the Pavilion's very first guest was Giovanni Ricordi and he hosted Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini there (villadeste.com, hotel page).
• The floating pool, inaugurated with the Sporting Club in 1965, was the first on Lake Como, and the Sundeck beside it is for hotel guests only (villadeste.com, Sporting Club and Sundeck pages).
• In 1815 Countess Vittoria Calderara sold Villa d'Este and, with her husband General Domenico Pino, bought neighbouring Villa Erba (villaerba.it, history page).

By Boat

The ordinary Navigazione boat from Como to Cernobbio costs $3.46 (€3) one way in band 1, and the hotel says the pier is five minutes on foot from the hotel. Boats leave from the Piazza Cavour pier in Como, covered on the Como ferry page. It is our pick, because the lake is where the estate is seen best.

On Foot

The Como to Cernobbio walk page covers going on foot. No official walking time is published, so we give none here.

By Car

The hotel's directions say to leave the A9 at the exit Como Lago, drive through Cernobbio and take the entrance on the right after the narrow road. The private car park is free for hotel guests. If you arrive by car for lunch or a drink, confirm parking arrangements with the hotel when you reserve.

The getting around Como page covers the buses and roads.

Book lunch at La Veranda first, up to 90 days ahead. Take a morning boat from the Piazza Cavour pier out to Cernobbio, so you see the estate from the water on the way in. After lunch, look around the town on the Cernobbio page, then return by boat, or walk back towards Como past Villa Olmo using the Como to Cernobbio walk.

If you cannot get a table, the day still works. Ride the boat out and back for the view, or take a boat tour from Como for the commentary. For the rest of the trip, see things to do in Como, Como restaurants, where to stay in Como and day trips.