Gambarogno - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

Gambarogno is the name given to the Ticino north-eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, that is, the 10 km from the Italian border to Magadino at the north-eastern end of the lake. The region takes its name from Monte Gambarogno, which rises to 1,739 m in the hinterland.

200 km of hiking trails open up the mountain region, which is less lovely and luxurious than the opposite western shore around Locarno, Ascona and Brissago. The sparsely populated hinterland of Gambarogno is thus a refuge for hikers and families.

The villages of Gambarogno can be divided into lakeside villages and mountain villages.

Among the lakeside villages, mostly built on the alluvial fans of mountain streams, are Gerra, San Nazzaro, Vira and Magadino.

At San Nazzaro there is an interesting wreck tour for divers as a dive site.

Vira (approx. 600 inhabitants) is the historic centre of Gambarogno, where traces of Roman settlement have even been found. The church of San Pietro rises beautifully above the shore of Lake Maggiore, although it only received its present form at the beginning of the 19th century. A fine Renaissance baptismal font survives from the earlier churches.


From Vira, an excursion to Alto Gambarogno is well worthwhile; from here a road leads to the mountain villages of Gambarogno with many fantastic views over the upper part of Lake Maggiore.


Between Piazzogna and Vairano lies the Botanical Garden of Gambarogno (Parco Botanico del Gambarogno), which brings together the great variety of plants found around Lake Maggiore, above all camellias, magnolias and azaleas in every shape and colour. A camellia exhibition takes place in the Botanical Garden of Gambarogno every year in March and April.

A winding, narrow mountain road leads up to Indemini (930 m), into a completely different world. Passing through the Neggia Pass (Alpe di Neggia, 1,395 m) between Monte Gambarogno (1,739 m, 1.5 hours' climb) and Monte Tamaro (1,967 m, 2.5 hours' climb), the drive along the road, often closed for long periods in winter, shows the Alpine character of Gambarogno. It is a drive through extensive forests with no sign of human settlement.

Indemini, with only a few remaining inhabitants, lies right on the Italian border, and it makes sense to drive on through the Val Veddasca down to the lake at Maccagno.

Magadino, with approx. 1,200 inhabitants the largest town in Gambarogno, was already known in the Middle Ages as a port and trading place, and before the Gotthard railway was built enjoyed a brief heyday in the 19th century as a junction on the north-south route across the Alps, where passengers changed from steamer to stagecoach.

Several stately buildings from this period bear witness to this, such as the late Neoclassical central-plan church of San Carlo above the railway line, where two paintings are attributed to Bernardino Luini (c. 1512). Every July the church of San Carlo hosts an International Organ Festival with concerts by world-famous musicians.

A little to the north-east, around the mouth of the Ticino, extends the Magadino Plain (Piano di Magadino), a marshland before the river was straightened and now an intensively farmed agricultural area. Only in the immediate river-mouth area has the Bolle di Magadino nature reserve survived, forming a biotope rich in species, with its oxbow channels, reed beds, ponds and riparian forests, home to many rare bird species.

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