Renting a motorboat for a few hours of jetting around the lake is the absolute must for any stay on Como. You simply do not get to see many of the most striking sights when you stay on shore. And even for villas that are open for public visits, you get an entirely new majestic perspective on them from water.
This is Villa Carlotta, whose gardens we visited earlier.
And this is Villa Balbionella which also sort of featured in this series.
The next picture is of Villa Oleandra, aka “George Clooney villa”. We shouted from the boat for George to come out and greet us but were unfortunately ignored.
And this is Villa La Cassinella, aka “Richard Branson villa”. Richard treated us no better than George.
Three hours is a pretty short time to enjoy all of the various sites around the lake. We covered maybe a quarter of what we could see. Nonetheless, we took time to just relax, and have a prosecco, with cold cuts and berries, in the middle of our ride. Swam in the lake too.
Gorgeous!
Additional pictures have been added to my Lake Como Flickr set.