Luino - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

Originally a Roman military base called Luvinum, Luino today has about 15,000 inhabitants and is the largest town on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore.

Because the Tresa valley makes it the shortest and easiest route from Lake Maggiore to Lake Lugano, and because the more distant cities of Como and Milan are also well connected, the town has been a bone of contention between rival and changing rulers since the Middle Ages.

From 1439 Luino was ruled by the Rusca family of Como, in the 16th century by the Swiss cantons, then came under the Visconti and, with Milan, passed to Austria, which granted the town in fief to various families.


In 1541 Charles V granted the town the right to hold a market, alternating with Maccagno. Garibaldi's attempt to throw off Austrian rule in the Battle of Luino in 1848 failed at the time, but after Garibaldi's final victory over Austria, Luino erected a large monument to him in 1867.

In the 19th century Luino industrialised rapidly, with spinning mills, shoe production and the chemical industry in particular setting up here.

Industrialisation and the first tourism were boosted by the western branch of the Gotthard railway, which runs via Luino and Varese to Milan, and via Luino and Sesto Calende to Turin.




Luino's trading tradition lives on today in its large weekly market.

Every Wednesday the market attracts visitors from all over the region and far beyond, making Luino a destination for boat services from all the lakeside towns on Lake Maggiore.

From the Lungolago with its shady plane trees you reach the church of Madonna del Carmine, founded by the Carmelite monk Giacobino Luinese. The frescoes in the Chapel of the Cross are from the Luini school, around 1540.

A little further north, also on the Lungolago, stands the 18th-century church of San Giuseppe, which is striking for the columns projecting into the street and supporting the canopied porch, and for the large Baroque sculptures of the apostles Peter and Paul on either side of the portal. The former private chapel of the Serbelloni family has a valuable 18th-century organ.

In the old, slightly elevated town centre behind this church a few older houses have survived. The parish church of San Pietro e Paolo stands on a central little square, reached from the lakeside Piazza Garibaldi through winding alleys.

A little outside the town towards Lugano lies the cemetery church of San Pietro in Campagna. Unassuming on the outside, with an 11th-century campanile, it has on its right-hand side altar a fresco of the Adoration of the Magi attributed to Bernardino Luini (1475 to c. 1533), so that Luino at least possesses one work by its great son.

In the north-eastern hinterland of Luino, the area around Dumenza (411 m) and Agra (655 m) is worth a detour. From the little holiday village of Agra you can cross over to the Valle Veddasca.

From Dumenza and Curiglia (670 m) marked hiking trails lead up to Monte Lema (1,620 m) on the border with Ticino, from where the view takes in the Swiss High Alps (Bernina) to the north, Lake Maggiore to the west and Lake Lugano to the east.

In the southern hinterland the Val Travaglia is a rewarding destination.

Luino is a lovely place for a holiday on Lake Maggiore.

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