Between two lakes

The massif of Campo dei Fiori slightly slopes down to mirror into Lake Varese’s waters, in a foreground offered by the Alps and the sharply defined Monte Rosa.

LAKE VARESE

ALTITUDE

238 m a.s.l.

AREA

14,95 sq. km

MAXIMUM DEPTH

26 m

A voyage of discovery of parks and nature reserves, monuments steeped in history and pre-historic findings.

Our itinerary moves from Sesto Calende, which built its success on the trades on river Ticino: the city is in fact located at the heart of Verbano’s hills, at the very point where the river exits from Lake Maggiore and starts its path to reach the waters of River Po. It is certainly worth visiting Museum Cesare da Sesto, the Oratory of S. Vincenzo (XI-XII century), the Abbey of S. Donato (IX-X century), the glacial erratic Preja Buia (with petroglyphs and cup marks), the Archaeological Civic Museum – the ‘centre of the civility of Golasecca’. From Sesto we leave for Lake Comabbio, around which a cycle path flows for almost 14 km, connecting with the cycle path around Lake Varese (almost 29 km) and boasting picturesque lake views up to the Alps (Monte Rosa): these are two of the numerous cycle paths in the Province.

Coasting around the lake, we reach Varano Borghi. At a short distance from here extends the Nature Reserve of Palude Brabbia, one of the major wetlands in Italy, nesting site of numerous species of sedentary or migratory birds. Cazzago Brabbia presents two ancient glaciers, typical of lakeside areas, and a small harbor. We may then move towards Biandronno, where we find an embarkation point for the Isolino Virginia, a small triangular shaped island that hosts one of the most important archaeological sites of European Pre-Historic times, and houses the most ancient settlement of lake dwellings in the Alpine arc; since 2011 the island is under UNESCO protection.

We then leave for Gavirate, situated on the Northern tip of the lake, known for the local sweet specialty “brutti e buoni” and for having been a place where Gianni Rodari and Guido Morselli also stayed, to whom a public park is dedicated. With a small detour, we may reach the beautiful Romanesque Cloister of Voltorre. At this point we may decide, coasting Monate’s lakeside, to visit Ispra -with its pleasant lakeside on Lake Maggiore and a view of restructured furnaces-, Ranco and Angera, the latter one an enchanting village overlooked by Rocca Borromeo, which was built in a dominant position over the lake’s waters. Rocca Borromeo hosts the collections of Museo della Bambola and Museo dell’Abbigliamento Infantile, exhibiting clothes and garments dating back to a period between XIX and the first half of the XX centuries.