Porto Valtravaglia - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

This small town (2,500 inhabitants) with its harbour industrialised early (glassmaking), but today, with its beautifully laid-out lakeside promenade and boat connections in all directions, it has become one of the loveliest little towns on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore. Hotels and restaurants line the lakeside road, and all the shops you need are in the village.

In the hilly hinterland, with its many hiking possibilities, there are numerous holiday homes, as well as a few small, intact villages with old churches and houses that their new owners have in some cases renovated in style.

Between Porto Valtravaglia or Castelveccana and Laveno to the south, the more alpine part of the eastern shore gives way to the more "Tuscan" rolling hills around Varese, the Varesotto proper.


The transition is marked by the Rocca di Caldè (373 m; castle ruins), a steep stretch of coast that the road bypasses inland. The tiny, winding village of Caldè is worth a walk down from the road.

From Porto Valtravaglia to Luino the lakeside road runs close to the shore and parallel to the railway line.

The route is somewhat longer but considerably more attractive, with many fine views of the lake, if you drive from Porto Valtravaglia a little inland through the hills via Brezzo di Bedero to Germignaga and Luino.


In Bedero you should visit the 12th-century Romanesque church of San Vittore, with frescoes from the early 16th century. In summer concerts are held here regularly (Stagione Musicale della Canonica).


East of the fairly gentle hills, extensive unspoilt forests around San Michele and Sant'Antonio, with many signposted hiking trails and mountain-bike routes, climb to over 1,200 m at Monte delle Colonne or Monte Nudo (1,235 m).

Porto Valtravaglia is a wonderful place for a holiday on Lake Maggiore.

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