Val Cannobina - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

The countryside around Cannobio is also very appealing; just 2 kilometres from the town centre the Cannobino rushes through a wild and romantic gorge (Orrido di Sant' Anna).

A drive through the Val Cannobina offers one splendid view after another: of the lake, of the wild mountain landscape, of the river cut deep into the rock, and of the many small, secluded villages with their old churches that seem to cling to the cliffs.

Because the road is narrow and winding, the drive through the Cannobina valley is particularly demanding for bikers and motorcyclists. Even smaller and twistier little roads lead to the tiny villages in the northern or southern Cannobina valley.

Falmenta is one of the exemplary mountain villages in the Val Cannobina. It has an attractive old village layout and many restored houses, mainly owned by visitors and residents from countries north of the Alps.

High up in the Val Cannobina lies Gurro (810 m), for example, whose inhabitants claim to be of Scottish origin. In the 16th century, after the lost Battle of Pavia (1525), scattered Scottish mercenaries are said to have settled here because the landscape reminded them so much of the Scottish Highlands.

In Orasso stands one of the oldest surviving Romanesque churches in the region (Chiesa della Madonna del Sasso).

At Finero the Val Cannobina ends and merges into the Valle Vigezzo, a high valley that opens up ever wider.

At Malesco you meet the road from Locarno through the Centovalli valley and the line of the famous Centovalli Railway, which links Locarno and Domodossola by narrow gauge. If you have not yet stopped at one of the restaurants in the Cannobina valley, you will find several good places in Malesco with a rich choice of dishes.

A few minutes further on you reach Santa Maria Maggiore, the main village of the high valley Valle Vigezzo. At the Centovalli Railway station stands an old railway carriage that looks like an old tram.

The Museo della Spazzacamino shows the living and working conditions of the boys who, in the 19th century, were sold from the Valle Vigezzo to Milan as chimney sweeps.

A short detour to Re is worthwhile, the well-known place of pilgrimage with its magnificent pilgrimage church, which dominates the whole village.

It is only a few more kilometres down into the Toce valley to Domodossola (270 m), the old trading town at the foot of the Simplon Pass. From Domodossola you can reach Stresa on Lake Maggiore in a few minutes by motorway.

By car, we recommend a round trip from Locarno via the Centovalli valley and the Valle Vigezzo to Domodossola, and back via the Val Cannobina to Cannobio.

An interesting option is the round trip from Locarno by Centovalli Railway to Domodossola, by Italian State Railways to Stresa, and by boat across Lake Maggiore back to Locarno. You can start this round trip at any point along the way and break it as often as you like.

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