{"id":18369,"date":"2026-07-06T13:52:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.donotdisturb.com\/moment\/villa-del-balbianello-before-the-crowds\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:26:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:26:26","slug":"villa-del-balbianello-before-the-crowds","status":"publish","type":"moment","link":"https:\/\/www.donotdisturb.com\/en-gb\/moment\/villa-del-balbianello-before-the-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"Villa del Balbianello Before the Crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A private visit to Villa del Balbianello on the first guided tour of the day, arriving by private boat before the ferry groups, with a specialist guide covering the gardens, the loggia, and the personal collection of explorer Guido Monzino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":18376,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"quiz-persona":[98,102,103],"class_list":["post-18369","moment","type-moment","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","quiz-persona-the-culture-seeker","quiz-persona-the-romantic","quiz-persona-solo-traveller"],"acf":{"featured_item":false,"hero_image":18376,"page_sections":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text_image_block","title":"","copy":"Villa del Balbianello sits on the tip of the Dosso d'Avedo peninsula on the western shore of Lake Como, accessible only by private boat or a 20-minute walk through the woods from Lenno. The villa appears at the end of the forested promontory as the boat rounds the headland, its loggia visible above the lake and the two towers of the former Franciscan monastery rising behind the gardens.\r\n\r\nThe villa was built in 1787 by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini on the site of a 13th-century monastery. It changed hands several times before being purchased in 1974 by businessman and explorer Count Guido Monzino, who led the first Italian expedition to climb Everest.\r\n\r\nMonzino left the exterior unchanged but had the interior completely redecorated, installing artifacts from his expeditions alongside English Georgian and French antique furniture, Beauvais tapestries, and Oriental carpets. He died in 1988 and left the villa and an endowment for its maintenance to the Fondo Ambiente Italiano, Italy's National Trust.","image":18370},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_image_block","title":"Cultural and Historical Context","copy":"The two towers that frame the loggia are the surviving remnants of the 13th-century Franciscan monastery on which the villa was built. Cardinal Durini established the terraced gardens and the Loggia Durini in the late 18th century, and the view it frames across the lake toward Bellagio and the Alps has remained unchanged since then.\r\n\r\nGuido Monzino was the heir to the Standa department store fortune, which funded a lifetime of exploration. He led the first Italian expedition to the North Pole in 1971 and to Everest in 1973. The geographical maps and expedition volumes he consulted to prepare his journeys remain in the villa, alongside his collection of primitive art and one of the sleds from the North Pole expedition. The FAI has maintained the interior in the spirit in which Monzino left it.\r\n\r\nDirector George Lucas chose the villa for the most romantic scenes in Star Wars Episode II, and the Casino Royale scene in which James Bond recovers with Vesper Lynd was filmed at the Loggia Durini. Both have made the villa one of the most recognized locations on Lake Como, which accounts for the visitor volumes and the value of the early morning hour before they arrive.","image":18374},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_image_block","title":"Why Private or Small-Group Access Matters","copy":"The interior is accessible only through guided tours, which must be booked well in advance, particularly during peak season. The tour lasts 45 minutes and covers the main rooms of the villa, Monzino's collection, the loggia, and the gardens.\r\n\r\nThe difference between the first tour of the day and those that follow is the difference in volume of people on the property at any given moment, and the extent to which the gardens, the loggia, and the view can be experienced at the pace they reward rather than the pace a large visitor group demands.\r\n\r\nA private boat departure, timed for before the first ferries, gives the property a window of relative quiet that the standard visiting schedule does not provide. The loggia and the south-facing terrace in the early morning, before the day's light has reached full intensity, produce a version of the lake view that the midday visit does not.","image":18373},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_image_block","title":"What You See","copy":"The gardens cover the full extent of the promontory in terraced levels descending toward the lake on three sides. The large holm oaks were pruned on Monzino's instruction into umbrella shapes that frame the view of the lake and mountains beyond, with camellias, azaleas, and wisteria running through the paths between levels.\r\n\r\nThe Loggia Durini sits at the highest point of the garden, an open portico with three arches facing south toward Bellagio and the Alps. Looking through the arches, the lake fills the full width of the view, with Bellagio's promontory to the east and the mountains rising behind it. The book-lined rooms visible through the loggia's interior windows offer a first sense of the villa's character before the guided tour begins.\r\n\r\nThe interior covers the main rooms on the upper floor, including the study where Monzino's geographical maps and expedition volumes remain as he left them and the display of North Pole and Everest artifacts. The rooms hold 17th and 18th-century English and French furnishings, glass paintings, and a collection of ethnic sculptures. A specialist guide connects the objects to the biography of the man who collected them.","image":18395},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_block","title":"How Do Not Disturb Makes This Possible","copy":"Do Not Disturb arranges the interior guided tour in advance through the FAI booking system and coordinates the private boat departure from the guest's accommodation to the villa's landing stage, timed to arrive before the first ferry groups.\r\n\r\nThe tour itself is the standard FAI guided visit, but the context in which it takes place, arriving by private boat, walking the gardens before the property fills, and covering the interior with a specialist guide rather than in the standard mixed group format, produces a quality of encounter with the villa that the standard visit does not.\r\n\r\n<em>Ready to plan your private early morning visit to Villa del Balbianello and experience Lake Como's most significant historic villa before the day begins? Speak with Do Not Disturb to begin your journey.<\/em>"}],"related_destinations":[1096],"related_regions":"","related_destination":[1096],"related_inspiration":[6191,6194,1103],"inspiration_category":[70],"strapline":"Arts & Culture","slide_excerpt":"A private early morning visit to Villa del Balbianello, arriving by boat before the crowds, with a specialist guide covering the gardens, the loggia, and Guido Monzino's collection. 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