A great deal has been said and written about Lake Maggiore. Stendhal himself, struck by that sort of lyrical rhapsody that occurs only in the sight of miracles of nature, said that here he had discovered the place that he would have preferred never to have left.

Lake Maggiore is about 65 km in length, and it has a characteristic curly-bracket shape. Its coasts are in Piedmont, Switzerland and Lombardy.

One part of its coast features cliffs dropping sheer into the water, and it is here that the important and very beautiful monastery of Santa Caterina del Sasso was built, at Leggiuno. There are a good number of public beaches, and the quality of the water for bathing is periodically monitored.

Mediterranean features merge harmoniously in its various landscapes; azaleas and camellias provide the frame to austere mountains; historical villas and gardens, intriguing paths leading to wonderful views, healthy holidays for relax and sport, cultural itineraries. These are the features which have always attracted its guests. The upper lake offers magnificent panoramic views of great effect: the viewpoint in the front of the little church of S. Rocco in Campagnano, sails and windsurfing on the lake, the numerous little inland towns; the “piode” of the roofs from Veddasca Valley up to the top of Forcora Pass. In Maccagno, the beaches, the park and the Modern Art Museum, with its bridge architecture on the Giona River. Luinese is a multi-faceted land. The town of Luino receives tourists from the transalpine countries: they love this land so much that many of them have got a holiday home here.

Laveno, connected to Intra by the N.L.M ferry service, is a strategic junction thanks to the railway network which connects it to Milan. It’s one of the best view points on the lake and on Borromeo Bay: you can reach Mount Sasso del Ferro by cable. Near Laveno, in the hamlet of Cerro, we recommend the visit to the International Museum of Ceramics Design, and the unique and surprising jewel of the lake: the Hermitage of Saint Catherine del Sasso, built on the rock overhanging the lake in Leggiuno... And: Ispra, Ranco (European Museum of Transport Ogliari), Angera with the Rocca Borromeo, above a big calcareous rock in front of Arona. In the rooms of the ancient manor, with its splendid architecture of the XII century, there is the Museum of the Doll, with toys and iconographical documents from the XVIII century to the present day.