Lake Como Boat Tour: Villas & Prosecco with Small Groups

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/15

Duration1h

GroupUp to 11

LanguagesEN · IT

Mobile ticketAccepted

The Villas You Can Only See From the Water

You board a small boat in Como town and sail past five lakeside villages, stopping to view historic villas including Villa Versace and a Russian Tsar's estate. A captain provides live commentary while you hold prosecco (or soft drink), and the boat's stability means you can actually look around instead of holding on. The whole circuit takes the first basin of Lake Como and shows you what the shore looks like when you're not standing on it.

Step-by-step itinerary

Lake Como boat tour with villa views

Board boat in Como
Pass Cernobbio village and shore
See famous historic hotel
View villa former home of Versace
Pass hotel Il Sereno and Torno village
Stop at villa built by Russian Tsar
Return to Como

The Experience

The boat pulls away from the jetty in Como and you realize the shoreline looks completely different from down here. What seemed distant from the town becomes immediate—the gardens, the stone facades, the scale of these places. The captain points out Cernobbio first, then the hotel where famous people have stayed for decades, and then something that stops you: Villa Versace, its park visible from the water in a way no road would let you see it. You're not reading about Lake Como anymore; you're moving through it, and the villas aren't postcards.

The boat tour includes stops in front of Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Carate Urio, Torno, and Blevio—each one a small town that reveals itself differently from the water. The captain stays on board the whole time, pointing out details you'd miss otherwise: the history of the hotels, which villas belonged to whom, why certain gardens are arranged the way they are. A glass of prosecco arrives (soft drinks for anyone under 18), and you're holding it while looking at one of the most expensive stretches of real estate in Italy. It's not pretentious; it's just the way the tour is built. The boat itself is new, spacious, and stable enough that you're not gripping the rail the whole time.

Groups stay small—maximum eleven passengers—which means you're not packed in with fifty other people trying to get the same photo. The whole circuit takes you past the famous hotel Il Sereno, across to the other side of the lake toward Torno, and then to one of the final stops: a villa built by the Tsar of Russia, which the captain says is one of the most beautiful on the lake. By the time you head back to Como, you've covered the first basin completely, and you understand why people come back to Lake Como year after year. It's not the towns themselves; it's the perspective the water gives you.

What’s included

Your day includes pickup at the Como jetty, a boat ride with a captain on board providing live commentary, a glass of prosecco (or soft drink if under 18), and views of five lakeside villages and their historic villas. The boat is modern, spacious, and holds a maximum of 11 passengers, so the experience stays intimate and stable throughout the circuit.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Around the lake srl

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Lake Como's most famous villas and hotels from the water—a perspective you can't get from the shore—without arranging your own boat or navigating the towns yourself. The small group size and fixed route mean you spend the time looking, not organizing.