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Como’s statue-clad cathedral was begun in 1396, but not capped with its Juvara-designed dome until 1740. On the façade, the pilasters are lined with saints and the main door is flanked by the seated figures of two local ancient scholars, Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger. The interior preserves an intricately carved and painted wooden altarpiece of 1492 and nine fabulous 16th-century tapestries, produced in Flemish, Florentine and Ferrarese workshops.

Duomo, Como

Standing forlorn in Como’s industrial suburbs, this stony Romanesque church retains a pair of bell towers and an extended choir that links it, architecturally, to the Westwerk style of medieval Germany. The apse is gorgeously frescoed with a series of Biblical scenes.

The classic journey to this hillside village is to take a short boat ride from Como’s harbour to the funicular station, then ride the cog-train up to Bru-nate. You’re rewarded with vistas over Como and the lake, and the starting point of many trails into the surrounding hills (the tourist office has maps).

The statue-lined balustrades fringed with flowers that outline the terraced gardens of this 1784 villa have caught the eye of many a film director. The best approach is by boat from Lenno, though on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday it’s also accessible by foot. To tour the villa itself (pricey) you must book in advance. For more (see Villa Balbianello, Lake Como).

Bellagio’s promontory has been prime real estate for millennia. Pliny the Younger had a villa named “Tragedy” here (it matched a “Comedy” home on the far shore), replaced by a castle in the Middle Ages, then a Stagna family villa in the 15th century. The last Stagna left it to his best friend Serbelloni in 1788. Serbelloni proceded to rebuild the villa as a summer residence to the main house down in the village (now the Villa Serbelloni hotel (see Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio). In 1959, the summer home passed to the Rockefeller Foundation, and now visiting scholars can live and study here for short periods. It is not open to the public, but you can tour the gardens (see Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como).

The meticulous gardens surrounding the Neo-Classical home of Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Napoleon’s man in Italy, are now open to the public (see Villa Melzi, Lake Como).

Caffe Rossi, Bellagio

Villa Melzi

One of the most sumptuous villas on the lake, with exquisitely landscaped gardens. Unusually, you can tour the art-strewn villa here, as well as its wonderful surrounds (see Villa Carlotta, Lake Como).

Villa Carlotta

This blissful villa – a former convent – has gardens that stretch right down to the banks of the lake, wonderfully shaded throughout by the canopies of cypresses and palms (see Villa Monastero, Lake Como).

The Cipressi villa has been altered throughout its 600-year life, though what you see today is largely 19th century. Its gardens are modest compared to others (including neighbour Villa Monastero), but unlike most other villas on the lake, you can make this one your home – temporarily – since it’s now a hotel. For more, (see Villa Cipressi, Lake Como).

At the tip of the Ogliasca peninsula sits this Benedictine abbey, cloaked in silence. The abbey was founded in the 9th century, and the little church has Romanesque carvings decorating the water stoups and the capitals and bases of the columns in the quiet cloister. The monks distil – and sell – some potent liqueurs too.