Bellagio is situated at the extreme tip of that section that divides Lake Como into two branches. Known as Borgo, the tourist resort occupies the external part of the promontory, whilst its numerous outlying hamlets are dotted all along the shores of the lake and on the slopes of the mountain up as far as Mount San Primo, 1,682 metres above sea level.
The splendid lakeside promenade has many points of interest from an historical point of view. Just beyond the small portico – the ancient access gate to the village – on the left is Salita Serbelloni. Climb a few steps and on the right, on the wall we can see a plaque commemorating the months the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt spent in Bellagio in 1837. Continuing along the beautiful lakeside promenade, a little further on, there is a modern-style plaque commemorating Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, a poet and founder of Futurism who died here in 1944.
Among the historic houses of Bellagio, do not miss Villa Melzi with its gardens and Villa Serbelloni with the magnificent park.
