Villa Monastero, Varenna

Amazing place in an amazing and characteristic little city. If you visiting Varenna you can skip this place. You will completely fall in love with Como lake. The view, the garden are amazing. The house museum is not that exciting but it is part of the building so it is worth visiting. Inside the villa you can also find a little bar to have a coffee with the amazing wonderful view. The price is not that expensive and the staff was really nice!

Entry to the garden, for an inexpensive price, offers you a tranquil place to rest with the beautiful view of Lake Como in front of you. It is also a great place to take photos and to admire the plants and flowers. The garden looks like they are very well taken care of, and the greenery is vibrant and alive even when we visited in December. One of the highlights of my trip to Varenna.

Only visited the botanical gardens and they are most definitely worth a visit. It has many scenic locations for photos, a wide variety of plants (which is likely even better in spring) and a perfect location by the lake. Shouldn't be missed!

Late afternoon is a good time to explore this garden. The crowds disappear and the light is better for photography. On a blisteringly hot July day there was little shade so wear a hat and carry water. It must have been hard work carving this garden out of the steep hill side but the terracing and wide paths make walking easy. The main road is actually built over a part of the garden and they thoughtfully cast the concrete around the large trees to avoid having to uproot them. The gardens seem popular with people taking photographs of themselves wearing wildly fashionable clothes presumably for their Instagram page. There was even a bride and groom posing against the glamorous backdrops. The planting is well-designed and impeccably maintained and the views are sensational. The extra cost for viewing the rooms in the house is well worth it to get the overall picture of the house in its setting. If you are visiting Varenna and like gardens and views this place is a must see.

We arrived knowing nothing about this place and when we saw you had to pay we almost backed out and were skeptical, because we wanted to use our time to swim somewhere instead. But for students it’s only £3,50 so we went for it and i have no regrets. We skipped the interior part but the walk through the botanical gardens was probably the most beautiful, memorable, and enjoyable parts of our day at lake como. You can’t beat the views and it was just amazing overall. The water below looked absolutely lovely and although we didn’t have time to swim, we realized the entry to that magical, sort of hidden beach is just to the right of the villa entrance when you are facing it. Varenna and the villa should definitely be a part of your itinerary, the town is small and charming, with accessible swimming and really fabulous viewpoints all throughout it. Sort of a side note but worth noting that the only downside is the people at the ferry don’t communicate very clearly so be sure to explain what tickets you have and ask very specific questions so you aren’t stranded.