Lake Como Design Festival 2025: Key Information
This quick yet comprehensive guide walks you through the Lake Como Design Festival 2025. We cover when it takes place and where it unfolds—from historic villas to Rationalist landmarks and curated archives in the heart of Como. You’ll find tips on what to see, from exhibitions and talks to guided visits; how to get access with the Open Ticket; and how to move around stress-free by train, bus, and with recommended parking. Join us to discover the Lake Como Design Festival 2025, often referred to as the Lake Como Design Week: the names change, the experience remains.
Date: dal 14 al 21 settembre 2025 — Tema 2025: Fragments
What Is the Lake Como Design Festival 2025? Origins & Key Features
Born in 2018 as the Lake Como Design Fair, since 2019 it has evolved into the Lake Como Design Festival: a week-long, multi-venue program that sets design, architecture, and art in dialogue with Como’s historic heritage, with the lake as its backdrop. Promoted by Wonderlake Como and directed by Lorenzo Butti, it retains a human-scale, distributed format, guided each year by a curatorial theme (previously: History Repeating, Naturalis Historia dedicated to Pliny the Elder, Lightness). The 2025 edition, Fragments, explores memory, identity, and regeneration.
The map of venues is part of the storytelling: the green axis linking Villa Olmo–Villa del Grumello, with the Serra along the Kilometre of Knowledge; civic spaces in the centre such as San Pietro in Atrio and the Chamber of Commerce; masterpieces of Como Rationalism (the Sant’Elia Nursery School by Giuseppe Terragni); the author archives at the Ico Parisi Archive; and archaeological and historic sites like the Roman Baths, the Antica Nevera and Borgovico 33 (the former Church of Santa Caterina). Each venue is a fragment of history hosting site-specific installations and talks, turning the festival into a truly citywide museum.
The Festival’s Essence
The Lake Como Design Festival is a city-wide, multi-venue journey through art, design, and architecture, activating historic villas, exhibition spaces, archives, and Rationalist landmarks across Como. The 2025 edition centers on “Fragments”—an invitation to read the city and contemporary projects through pieces of memory, identity, and regeneration.
Programme: Must-See Highlights
Important: venues and opening hours may change. Before you set off, check the updated schedule at https://www.lakecomodesignfestival.com/it/programma ; for access conditions and pricing, see the Open Ticket on Ticket.it.
Villa del Grumello & Kilometro della Conoscenza
The heart of the festival is here. Inside Villa del Grumello you’ll find the group show “Fragments of Memory” (open 14–21 September 2025, 10:00–19:00) — entry with Open Ticket. Step outside and a leafy 10–15 minute walk along the Kilometre of Knowledge brings you to the second stop: “Contemporary Design Selection” curated by Giovanna Massoni (same dates and hours) — entry with Open Ticket.
The Serra del Grumello is the meeting point: by day it operates as a bar/bistro and is accessible with the Open Ticket (entrance at Via per Cernobbio 11); in the evening it’s open with free admission from 19:00–23:00 via Via Celesia 4 (also convenient if you’re arriving by car). This is also where the Talk in Serra series takes place at 17:30 — Monday 15, Tuesday 16, Thursday 18 and Friday 19 September 2025 — with free entry until capacity is reached.
In the City
- San Pietro in Atrio — Aldo Rossi. Architecture of Fragments · 14–21 September 2025, 10:00–19:00 · Via Odescalchi 3 · entry with Open Ticket Details: a monographic exhibition with original drawings, photographs, and documents exploring the theme of the “fragment” in Aldo Rossi’s work from the 1960s onward (more info).
- Como–Lecco Chamber of Commerce — documentary screening Aldo Rossi Design · Sunday 14 September 2025, 19:30 · Via Parini 16 · free admission with reservation (limited capacity; reservation required: more info)
- Asilo Sant’Elia — Piccoli Razionalisti (special opening) · 14–21 September 2025, 10:00–18:00 · Via Andrea Alciato 15 · limited capacity. Children’s workshops: Sunday 14 September 2025 and Sunday 21 September 2025 (availability & info). English-language tour: Sunday 21 September 2025, 14:30 · free admission (reservation required).
- Ico Parisi Archive — solo exhibition Ico Parisi. Crolli edificanti (Edifying Collapses) · 14–21 September 2025, 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–19:00 · free admission (more info) · new location: Via Diaz 11
- Como Roman Baths — The Disappeared Como · 14–21 September 2025, 11:00–17:00 · Viale Lecco 9 · free admission (no Open Ticket required)
- Antica Nevera — Fragments of History (at Tennis Como) · Open: 14, 20–21 September 2025, 10:00–19:00; 16–19 September 2025, 14:30–19:30 · Via Simone Cantoni 1 · free admission (more info)
- Borgovico 33 (former Church of Santa Caterina) — Lobby Nomade · Open: 14–16 and 18–21 September 2025, 10:00–19:00 (closed Wednesday 17) · Via Borgovico 33 · free admission (more info)
Agenda & talk
- Availability: limited capacity; the calendar in the booking form updates in real time. If a time slot doesn’t appear, it’s already fully booked.
- Where to check: LCDF official page https://www.lakecomodesignfestival.com/it/programma <
- Email: info@lakecomodesignfestival.com
- Duration & languages: about 60 minutes; tours in Italian/English.
Tickets — At a Glance
Dove acquistare: Ticket.it Acquista biglietti
What’s included: Open Ticket valid 14–21 September 2025; single entry to each exhibition/venue; 10:00–19:00. Concessions: students, over-65s, and CoMmUnity Card holders. Free: under-14s and visitors with disabilities (plus accompanying persons).
Closing Party: biglietto separato → Ticket.it Acquista biglietti.
How to Get There & Get Around
From Milan / Switzerland (by train)
From Milano Cadorna, arrive at Como Lago (Trenord timetable & tickets). From Milano Centrale (or Porta Garibaldi) and from Switzerland, arrive at Como S. Giovanni (Trenitalia timetable & tickets). From either station, you can take a bus (ASF Autolinee) to Villa Olmo, or enjoy the lakefront and walk towards Villa Olmo / Villa del Grumello.
By car
A9 motorway: exit at Como Centro or Como Monte Olimpino; watch for the ZTL (limited-traffic zone) in the city centre.
Where to Park, Venue by Venue
- Villa del Grumello & Serra / Kilometro della Conoscenza
On-site parking is not guaranteed and is often reserved for events. Recommended: park in the Villa Olmo–Via Simone Cantoni area (paid spaces) and take the short walk along the Kilometre of Knowledge. Alternatively, use Autosilo Centro Lago and continue by bus or enjoy a scenic lakefront stroll. - San Pietro in Atrio (Via Odescalchi 3)
On the edge of the Città Murata (historic walled centre) / ZTL: leave your car at the Auguadri or Centro Lago garages and walk 5–10 minutes. - Chamber of Commerce (Via Parini 16)
Watch for ZTL gates here as well. Suggested parking: Centro Lago or Auguadri; 5–8 minutes on foot. - Roman Baths (Viale Lecco 9)
The most convenient option is the nearby Autosilo Valduce or Centro Lago garages; then it’s a short walk to Viale Lecco. - Asilo Sant’Elia (Via Andrea Alciato 15)
A few paid blue-line street spaces on nearby roads (often full). Alternatives: Autosilo Val Mulini + a 10-minute walk, or the shuttle bus. - Antica Nevera (Tennis Como, Via Simone Cantoni 1) and Borgovico 33 (former Church of Santa Caterina)
Use the public car parks in the Villa Olmo/Lido area on Via Simone Cantoni (paid). On weekends it can be crowded: alternatively, park at Autosilo Val Mulini and walk 15 minutes, or take the shuttle bus.
Parking — At a Glance
- Autosilo Via Auguadri (Courthouse) — central, covered
- Centro Lago Car Park — near the lakefront and funicular
- Autosilo Val Mulini — larger and less central, convenient for the A9
- Autosilo Valduce (Valduce Hospital) — central, near the Roman Baths
ZTL Note: avoid driving into the Città Murata (historic walled centre / ZTL) without a permit. Set your navigation to the chosen car park, not the venue address, to avoid active ZTL gates.
Where to Stay for the Lake Como Design Festival 2025
If you want to enjoy the Festival without the stress of the city centre or the hassle of parking, La Maison de Geraldine in Cadorago is the most convenient base: just 2 minutes on foot from the station on the S11 line to Como S. Giovanni – Como Lago and Milan, with free on-site parking and an easy trip back in the evening. It’s a quiet, well-located base for following exhibitions and talks throughout the week.
Travel times: Cadorago → Como S. Giovanni ~20 min by train; from the station forecourt, reach Villa Olmo/Villa del Grumello by bus or with a pleasant walk.
- Bookings: check availability and the best rate on www.lamaisondegeraldine.it or email info@lamaisondegeraldine.it .
Fragments of Como: An Invitation to Explore
The Lake Como Design Festival is, above all, a different way to read Como: a constellation of places—villas, archives, civic spaces, and archaeological traces—that, in relation to one another, give shape to the curatorial theme Fragments. It’s an invitation to look anew: the lake breathing through the gardens of Villa del Grumello; the pared-back geometries of the Sant’Elia Nursery School; Roman traces resurfacing in the centre; evening light sliding over the Serra at sunset. You come for the design; you stay for the city. Take your time: let your steps stitch the route together—pause in the cloisters, sip a coffee along the lanes, lift your gaze over the lake’s southern basin. There’s no need to rush: here, beauty reveals itself in fragments.
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