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Bellagio

Villa Melzi Gardens

Visit duration
45 min – 1 h 30
Booking
Not required
Area
Centro Lago
The park of Villa Melzi at Bellagio from the water, below the mountain.Ray in Manila · CC BY 2.0
  • Deror_avi · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Deror_avi · CC BY-SA 3.0

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The park of Villa Melzi at Bellagio from the water, below the mountain.

Ray in Manila · CC BY 2.0

Why go

The gardens surround the neoclassical villa that Francesco Melzi d'Eril, vice-president of Napoleon's Italian Republic, had built at Bellagio between 1808 and 1810.

The park broke with the Italian formal tradition: no symmetry, but open lawns, specimen trees and the lake as a backdrop. It stretches almost entirely on the level along the shore towards Loppia, with an avenue of plane trees on the water, a Japanese pond, a Moorish pavilion, the family chapel and a small museum of Egyptian and Etruscan finds. The azaleas flower in April and May.

  • It is walked almost entirely on the level, at the water's edge.
  • It contains a Japanese pond, a family chapel and a small museum with Egyptian and Etruscan material.
  • The azaleas flower in April and May.

Highlights

  • The plane-tree avenue on the water
  • The Moorish pavilion

Getting there

  • On foot from Bellagio along the shore towards Loppia, about 10 level minutes.
  • Anyone coming by boat gets off at the Bellagio pier.
The white neoclassical villa and its chimneys, a large shrub in pink and purple flower in front, the lake and the mountains behind.Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie · CC BY-SA 2.0

Accessibility

  • The gardens are accessible to disabled visitors.
  • The paths are compacted gravel and the route along the lake is free of obstacles, with a few benches; the paths that climb into the garden have varying slopes and changes of level.
  • The museum is entered by a ramp followed by four steps, the chapel by three steps; the adapted toilet is below the museum, reached by a short ramp.

Practical information

Dogs

Allowed on a lead, with waste bags; they may also enter the museum and the chapel

Facilities

  • Car park 277 m away · free
  • Public toilets 91 m away

Distances from the point on the map.

Webcams

Updated 23 October 2026

On the map

Explore the lake
BellagioVilla Melzi Gardens

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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Distances as the crow flies.

Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct – 8 Oct 2026Giardini di Villa Melziopens in a new tab

Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct – 8 Oct 2026Giardini di Villa Melziopens in a new tab