Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to
Ocean's
star George Clooney (he owns Villa Oleandra). In both places you can stop
and wander down the cobbled lanes to the lake. Or live the celebrity lifestyle and book in-
to gorgeous
Relais Regina Teodolinda
( 031 40 00 31;
www.relaisreginateodolinda.it
; Via Vecchia
Regina 58, Laglio; r €180-520; )
.
Finally, in Lenno,
Villa Balbianello
( 0344 5 61 10;
www.fondoambiente.it
;
Via Comoedia 5,
Località Balbianello; villa & gardens adult/child €13/7, with prior reservation €10/5, gardens only €7/3;
10am-6pm Tue & Thu-Sun mid-Mar-mid-Nov)
takes the prize for the lake's most dramatically
situated gardens, dripping down the sides of the high promontory like melting ice cream.
Scenes from
Star Wars: Episode II
and 2006's James Bond remake,
Casino Royale,
were
shot here. The villa itself was built by Cardinal Angelo Durini in 1787. Now it houses a
curious collector's museum of all sorts. If you want to see inside, you must join a guided
tour (generally in Italian) by 4.15pm. Visitors are only allowed to walk the 1km from the
Lenno landing stage to the estate on Tuesdays and weekends; other days, you have to take
a
taxi boat
(
0349 229 09 53;
www.taxiboatlecco.com
;
return €7)
from Lenno.
TREMEZZO
POP 1260
Tremezzo is high on everyone's list for a visit to the 17th-century
Villa Carlotta
( 0344 4
04 05;
www.villacarlotta.it
; Via Regina 2; adult/reduced €9/5; 9am-5pm Easter-Sep, 10am-4pm mid-
Mar-Easter & Oct-mid-Nov; Cadenabbia)
, where the botanic gardens overflow with orange
trees knitted into pergolas, and some of Europe's finest rhododendrons, azaleas and
camellias. The villa, which is decorated with paintings and fine alabaster-white sculptures
(especially those by Antonio Canova), takes its name from the Prussian princess who was
given the palace in 1847 as a wedding present from her mother.
Tremezzo's
tourist office
(
0344 4 04 93; Via Statale Regina;
9am-noon & 3.30-6.30pm Wed-
Mon Apr-Oct)
adjoins the boat jetty.
Hotel La Perla
( 034 44 17 07;
www.laperlatremezzo.com
;
Via Romolo Quaglino 7, Tremezzo; d €125-145, with lake
view €140-160, family ste €185-235; )
It's rare that hotels are so universally acclaimed
as this one. Rooms are immaculate, service is warm and friendly, and the vantage point
from Tremezzo is one of Lago di Como's loveliest. It's all housed in an artful reconstruc-
tion of a 1960s villa; definitely pay extra for a room with a view.
HOTEL
€€
LARIAN, INN
€€€
Al Veluu
