Cernobbio, Lake Como: arriving by boat, what to see and when to go
The first real village on the western shore after Como. An Art Nouveau pier, a curving waterfront and grand villas on the water, seen from the helm of a Venetian water taxi.
Cernobbio is my first stop on Lake Como when I leave the city and head north along the western shore. A few minutes on the water and Como gives way to a village gathered around its square, with Monte Bisbino rising behind it like a green wall.
Cernobbio from the water: what you see arriving by boat
From Como you run up the branch with the shore on your left. First come the lawns and trees of the Villa Erba park, flat and wide, which is unusual on a lake where the mountains usually drop straight into the water. Then the houses close in and the Riva appears: a curved waterfront lined with cafés, restaurants and hotels.
What I always spot from a distance is the Art Nouveau pier, designed in the late 1800s by an engineer of the ferry company, with slender cast-iron columns and pointed neo-Gothic vaults. The public ferries of Navigazione Laghi dock here, and the village is a two-minute walk away. On a private water taxi you agree with your captain where to land; it depends on traffic at the pier and where you are heading next.
A short history of Cernobbio
Cernobbio's story is written in its villas. In 1568 the architect Pellegrino Pellegrini, known as Il Tibaldi, designed a summer residence for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio of Como. It is the core of what we now call Villa d'Este. Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, owned it from 1815 to 1820, and it has been a hotel since 1873.
In the late 19th century Luigi Erba and Anna Brivio built Villa Erba right on the shore. The film director Luchino Visconti was their grandson. Work on Villa Bernasconi began in 1906: an Art Nouveau house for Davide Bernasconi, the silk manufacturer whose mills stood in Cernobbio.
What to see in Cernobbio, Lake Como
- 01The Riva and the Art Nouveau pier
The waterfront is the village's living room. Cast-iron pier, the war memorial by Angelo Galli and the Garibaldi monument: it is the first thing you take in as you step off the boat.
- 02The old town and Piazza Risorgimento
Narrow lanes opening onto the lake. Piazza Risorgimento has a white stone fountain by Piero Morseletto from 1937, Piazza Castello its half-timbered houses, and Piazza Belinzaghi a large mural of Lake Como painted around the turn of the 1930s.
- 03Villa Bernasconi
Now a museum that calls itself the house that speaks, telling its own story and that of silk through interactive rooms. Outside, look at the moulded concrete decoration and the Mazzucotelli gates. It isn't open every day, so check the official website before you go.
- 04Villa Erba and its park
Today an exhibition and conference centre, with an English-style park of about 100,000 square metres on the lake and a museum route devoted to Luchino Visconti. Visits are tied to events: check the villa's website.
- 05Villa d'Este from the lake
A five-star hotel set in a ten-hectare park. Unless you are staying there, the best way to see it is from the water, gliding past the façade a few metres off the shore.
When to visit Cernobbio
Cernobbio lives all year round; it doesn't shut down in winter like some villages further north. My favourite months to arrive by boat are April, May and June, then September and October: calm water in the morning, fewer people on the pier, soft light on the façades. July and August are lovely but busy, so start early.
Places near Cernobbio
A few minutes south is Como, with its cathedral and lakefront. Heading north you reach Moltrasio, its houses stacked on the steep shore, and just beyond, Villa Oleandra in Laglio. Almost opposite, on the other shore, lies Torno.
