Villa Olmo
The eight Doric columns of Villa Olmo's loggia face the lake with the self-assurance of a building that knows it has been looked at for two centuries. Approach along the Passeggiata Lino Gelpi on a clear morning and the stucco catches the light in a way that makes it look freshly painted, even though restoration crews are currently working through the interior.
The park is the reason to come right now — five hectares of Italian parterres giving way to an English garden behind the villa, where a small neoclassical temple sits among trees that predate the building itself: one horse chestnut was planted in 1664, more than a century before the first stone was laid.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who return tend to time it for early morning, when the Italian garden's twin sphinxes are still in shadow and the gravel is quiet. The walk along Via Cantoni from Como San Giovanni takes four minutes from the train — fast enough that you can arrive before the lakefront fills up. The Chilometro della Conoscenza path north of the villa is worth picking up if you have the legs for it.
The story behind Villa Olmo
Commissioned in 1782 by Marquis Innocenzo Odescalchi and designed by Swiss architect Simone Cantoni, Villa Olmo was built on layered ground — a medieval monastery, and before that, what is thought to have been a Roman villa. Construction ran from 1797 to 1812, the same year Napoleon and the writer Ugo Foscolo visited. The villa takes its name from an elm tree planted at the garden's centre; the tree is long gone.
After Odescalchi's death, Marquis Giorgio Raimondi acquired it in 1824. By the 1880s it had passed to Duke Guido Visconti di Modrone, whose family added a small theatre by architect Emilio Alemagna and a fountain with tondos by sculptor Francesco Carabelli — portraits of Plato, Solon, Thales, Socrates and Pythagoras worked into the colonnade. The municipality of Como took ownership in the 1920s.
Good to know
The interior is closed for restoration until around 2026; the park is free and open daily from 7am. Pebble paths make wheelchair navigation uneven. Come from Como San Giovanni station on foot, or take bus line 1 to the Villa Olmo Lido stop. Late April through June is the peak for flowering in the gardens.
Late April through June brings the gardens to their fullest colour with temperatures that stay comfortable through the day. July and August are hot and draw larger crowds; September settles into a quieter warmth that suits a longer walk through the English garden.
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What travellers say about Villa Olmo
Beautiful villa and garden. There is also a large portion to meander through at the rear (not Lake side). The villa was being repaired so we did not enter. The fountains were also cordoned off due to being cleaned (but still beautiful).
The park was nice and good for a wonder and to see lake como. The house is currently under renovations and so looks like my photos. Online it says access to the house is closed too and only the gardens are open.
Nice beautiful home/villa and the grounds are nice to walk around and take pics with the lake and mountains in the background
Villa Olmo is a stunning neoclassical villa on Lake Como with beautiful gardens and scenic lake views. It often hosts art exhibitions and cultural events, making it a perfect stop for history, architecture, and nature lovers alike.
Only reason I gave it 4 stars vs 5 was the fact that it currently is under construction. Otherwise it is a large villa by the lake with a large garden area to walk around.
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