Taste the Christmas atmosphere in Villa Erba with Città dei Balocchi… From December 7 to January 8, Cernobbio welcomes the Città dei Balocchi light festival. After two difficult Corona years of Corona worries, the light spectacle moves from Como to Cernobbio for a new start. The setting of all the beauty is Villa Erba, the magnificent villa from the 19th century with its beautiful garden.
With great expectations we go to Villa Erba. A few years ago we were able to taste the Christmas magic of Città dei Balocchi in Como.
Who claims December is a dead season on Lake Como is wrong. We are amazed by the many people who stroll through the streets. They are mostly locals or day trippers. Many people cause parking stress. If you’able, taking the boat to Como is a good idea, taking into account the limited navigations in December. We line up at walking pace in the streets of Cernobbio looking for a parking spot.
Città dei Balocchi’s Villa Erba is truly beautiful! When entering the garden, the cozy Christmas atmosphere immediately hits us. Nativity scenes with mulled wine and many local products: pane, formaggio, porchetta and all kinds of sweets. Mulled wine and Prosecco. Artworks and many local crafts. Delicious smells with the moody music in the background. We push the buggies with our boys from one nativity scene to the other.
The garden is decorated with colorful lights and illuminated fairytale characters. Città dei Balocchi, those are of course also the enchanting video projections. Trees are transformed into talking trees that perform a cantate. On one of the towers of Villa Erba, a magician addresses the visitors. A train runs through the garden. And those who want to burn some Christmas calories can put on their skates on the skating rink. Skating next to Lake Como, in a magically lit garden of Villa Erba. How, how let it snow!
Città dei Balocchi is an attraction and puts Lake Como on the map during winter season. And not unimportantly, completely free and clear. Moreover, it is also a fun activity for children. Wolf and Bas thoroughly enjoyed it: the singing trees are number one on the favorites list, the scary evil wizard on the tower dangles in last place…
