Perhaps the most beautiful town on the lake, unspoilt Cannobio has it all: a stunningly well preserved lakeside promenade lined by elegant pastel-coloured buildings, plenty of excellent restaurants, a vast lido beach area offering the best wind conditions for sailing, kite-surfing and windsurfing in the entire lake, a magnificent old port, glorious hiking in mountains blessed with an abundance of tiny villages where the women still wear traditional costume, a dramatic river gorge and a riverside cycle track.

 

 

Cannobio has managed, better than anywhere on Lago Maggiore, to keep modern development well away from the old town;  in fact the contrast with Swiss towns and villages, with their ranks of austere concrete houses, just a few kilometres away over the border, is striking.

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With its photogenic ensemble of sun-dappled pastel coloured buildings arising from the waterfront as you approach, as always, the best way to arrive is by boat (April to October only). Cannobio is a wonder of scenic perfection offering the full-on, time warped, Italian experience. And scarcely a car in sight on the waterfront. Climb up the steps to the older part of the town, a maze of quaint pedestrian cobbled streets and alleyways. This is where you’ll stumble on some of the most picturesque, endearingly timeless buildings with a wonderfully idiosyncratic collection of shops, several stocking items which have long since disappeared elsewhere.

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Once you reach Via Giovanola, you’re in the area that used to be the town’s beating heart. Next to one of the five churches, you’ll notice the massive stone campanile, the town’s tallest building. In one of the side streets branching off Via Giovanola, look out for the church dedicated to Santa Maria, a jewel of a building. Head back towards the lake along Via Giovanola, crossing back over the main road again. At the end of Via Umberto I you’ll come to one of Cannobio’s oldest buildings, Casa Pironi, now a top-notch hotel. It sits like the prow of a beached boat, separating two alleyways leading down to the lake. Next to it is a beautiful old fountain bearing the head of a lion, the symbol of Cannobio.

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The lakeside promenade is divided into two sections, bisected by the famous SS Pieta church built by Carlo Borromeo; to the south a line of porticoed buildings housing elegant cafes and restaurants and to the north what used to be fishermen’s houses. Market day, Sundays, sees an influx of visitors, many arriving by boat from Switzerland, so parking can be a problem. The market is held along the waterfront and needless to say, provides an extremely picturesque spectacle.

 

Cannobio beach

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Notwithstanding its countless other assets, Cannobio’s real business is its beach, arguably the best, often also the busiest, on Lago Maggiore. With a constant breeze blowing throughout the day, it’s a sailor’s delight. Throughout the summer season, a sailing school does a roaring trade in windsurfing and kite-surfing lessons. A cycle track starts at the Lido and runs alongside the river Cannobino.

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Cannobio’s main municipal beach is the undisputed water sports capital of Lago Maggiore - the perfect spot if you’re looking for an active holiday and a great place for some good old fashioned family fun. With its consistently blustery winds, well-organised school and rental outfit and host of facilities, Cannobio attracts droves of sailors, kite-surfers and windsurfers as well as families.

 

Just across the border from Switzerland, Cannobio appeals particularly to northern Europeans on account of its town’s outstanding blend of Mediterranean atmosphere with a practical sense of efficiency.

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Cannobio also makes much of its sensitivity to environmental matters and these credentials are borne out by its blue flag (bandiera blu) which it shares with its neighbour, Cannero: the only two towns in Piemonte and Lago Maggiore to receive this award.

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The blue flag is awarded not only for a resort’s clean water, as analysed by a government body, but to places which prioritise eco-friendly waste disposal, transport etc.

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Parking

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There is parking by the beach

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Public transport

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There is a regular high season boat service to Switzerland and the southern part of the lake.

 

Cycle track and gorge

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Only 4 kilometres long, the cycle track provides the best way to reach Cannobio’s famous gorge, Sant’Anna, where the Cannobino torrent flows through a deep, ravine. Just before reaching the Cannobio alluvial plain, the waters are forced into a gorge, crashing down through a vertical split in the rocks. Two bridges cross the gorge, one ancient and one modern whilst a church, Sant’Anna, was built in 1683. Just behind the church, you’ll find a restaurant offering traditional local food. The area is stunningly beautiful and very popular and so can get crowded in summer. Many swim in the still waters below the gorge but you are advised not to due to pollution concerns.

 

Val Cannobino valley

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Just a short drive takes you to the rugged Val Cannobino valley where hiking opportunities are endless and where countless deeply traditional villages huddle on steep wooded hillsides. Although many of the valley’s more attractive rustic dwellings, especially those commanding views, have been bought up for second homes, much of the area is still characterised by rural decrepitude; in fact, the tiny municipality of Gurro is officially Italy’s second poorest. Interestingly, the villagers of Gurro claim that their settlement was once home to a community of Scottish soldiers who instead of returning home after a battle, opted to settle in the village. Look out for the collection of kilts in the local museum. Frequently, the only people to be seen are crumple-faced old ladies traipsing to and from their vegetable plots, often sporting the local costume. Gurro is probably the best place to see the costume still being worn on an everyday basis.

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With a population of over 5,000, Cannobio is a fully functioning town 5 kilometres from the Swiss border, offering a wide range of amenities and appealing particularly to German and Swiss visitors, given its location. The last town in Italy, it is of course most vibrant in summer but not completely moribund in winter due to the fact that a sizeable proportion of its population resides in the town all year round, working in Switzerland and commuting to Locarno or Ascona every day. As it has these two strings to its bow (tourism and cross-border employment), unlike many other areas of Italy, Cannobio has been unscathed by the economic crisis besetting Italy and exudes prosperity. Cannobio is also ideally placed for an excursion to Locarno to experience its fabulous new spa, I Salini.