The Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso

Clinging to a sheer rock overhanging one of the deepest parts of Lake Maggiore, the hermitage is a monastery made up of three buildings dating back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It offers a wonderful blend of art and history set...

Village of Mustonate

The village of Mustonate is an ancient rural village, overlooking Lake Varese and located in the heart of the Lombard Pre-Alps. It is located a few kilometers from Varese and Lake Maggiore, nestled in 60 hectares of meadows, woods and orchards...

Borromeo Castle, the Museum of Children’s Clothing and the Doll and Toy Museum

Angera’s Borromeo Castle towers majestically over the southern shores of Lake Maggiore from a spur of chalky cliffs. The fortified mediaeval castle is steeped in examples of its long, illustrious history, such as the Hall of Justice with its...

Villa Toeplitz and the Castiglioni Museum and Park

Villa Toeplitz stands imposingly on a hill to the east of Sant'Ambrogio, an area of Varese at the foot of Sacro Monte. The villa is currently home to one of the decentralised branches of the University of Insubria. The park...

Villa Panza and the Panza Art Collection

Surrounded by splendid gardens covering 33,000 sqm, Villa Panza overlooks the city of Varese from the hill known as Biumo Superiore. More than one hundred works of art by contemporary artists are displayed in the villa’s halls and large stables...

Sacro Monte of Varese

The Sacro Monte of Varese is a place of great historical and artistic value in the Varese area, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in July 2003. Its Via Sacra, a devotional path about 2 km long, is studded with 14 chapels, each...

Villa della Porta Bozzolo

Built in the sixteenth century as a country residence, Villa della Porta Bozzolo later became a country seat for the aristocracy. An impressive Italian garden was later added, which is now considered to be one of the most majestic examples of...

MA*GA Museum

The Museum today preserves more than 5,000 works including paintings, sculptures, installations, artist's books, photographs, design objects and graphic works that offer visitors a rich and articulated panorama of the main artistic orientations...

Castiglione Olona and the Collegiate Church Compound

The village of Castiglione Olona has ancient origins. It was a fortress in Roman times and later the village became the subject of a fierce dispute between the Visconti and Torriani families as they fought for years to gain control over the...

Painted Villages

The Varese province is also home of the painted villages: little towns and municipalities hidden in the beautiful green area of Varese and the surroundings known for frescos, paitings and draws on the walls of the houses. These open-air pieces...

Waterfalls

Among the green of our province there are several marvelous waterfalls.

Ferrera waterfall - Situated in the municipality of Ferrera the waterfall is also known by local people as Fermona. It is located about 30 meters just below the...

Luino

Situated on the lakeshore at the end of the Valtravaglia valley, about 4 km far from the Swiss border, Luino is the main town of the lombardian side of lake Maggiore. You'll find yourself in a typical, elegant and characteristic lake town,...

Laveno Mombello

Laveno is the one of the main touristic towns of the lombardian side of lake Maggiore, it is well known for its marina, link to the piemontese side. It is situated between the blue of the lake and the green of the surrounding mountains,...

Panperduto

A gem of industrial hydroengineering, Panperduto represents an area of great interest to make visitors aware of cultural, historical, agricultural and environmental heritage. 

Located on the banks of the Ticino river, at Somma Lombardo...

Monastero di Cairate

The Benedictine Monastery of Santa Maria Assunta was founded in 737 by Manigunda, a Lombard nobleman linked by the royal court of Pavia.

In the area...

Villa Torelli Mylius

Villa Mylius is a tyical Italian Villa situated in the centre of Varese. Originally the site was a property of Padri Gesuiti of Varese and was founded in the XVIII century. The site was made of a simple farmer's house, which became the core of...

Angera

The village of Angera is one of the most beautiful on the lombard shore of Lake Maggiore: it is an open-air museum that includes sites of artistic and cultural interest, environmental goods and a lakefront with beautiful landscapes. The alleys...

Frera Museum

Frera was an italian motorcycle company, open and active in Tradate, Varese from 1905 to 1936.

The museum of the motorcycle, actually located and open in the old company factory, presents the history of Frera and it is divided into two...

Casa Museo Lodovico Pogliaghi

The home-atelier of the great eclectic artist which dates back to the early '900, built by himself, is the first point of interest you can meet after the 14th chapel on the sacred path of Sacro Monte di Varese. Pogliaghi designed it as a museum...

Museo Baroffio e del Santuario del Sacro Monte sopra Varese

Dedicated to the ones interested in the history of Santa Maria del Monte, it includes and shows romanesque sculptures, precious miniatures, a collection of important paintings of Giuseppe Baroffio Dall’Aglio and a section of sacred art from the...

Villa Mirabello Museo Archeologico

Villa Mirabello was built in the eighteenth century on the top of the Mirabello hills. Mirabello means beautiful view, and the villa is aptly named for its panoramic vistas over the lake and Alps. The villa currently houses the Civic Museums,...

Natural Parks

Uncontaminated spaces, green and nature: uncover the best natural parks on our territory.

Parco Regionale del Campo dei Fiori: 6,300 hectares, 17 municipalities and 2 Comunità Montane: the largest park in the province, with trails,...

Ancient mills and rural structures

The land of Varese hides many different rural structures: from ancient watermills to old stone houses in tiny mountain villages that you can only reach by foot or with the cableway. If you wanto to step back into the past, here's a list of...

SHOPPING DISTRICT

Saronno, Busto Arsizio and Gallarate are three of the largest and most industrialized cities in the area of Varese: they are home to several points of cultural interest, but also to markets, shopping centers, small craft shops and interesting...

Minor lakes

Beside the best known lakes, like Lake Maggiore and Lake Varese, not many people know that the land of Varese hides other smaller lakes, immersed into valleys and surrounded by the woods. For those who love  relaxing by the lake reading a good...

Fisogni Museum

Founded in 1966 by Guido Fisogni, the Fisogni Museum of Petrol Stations hosts the biggest collection in the world about gas pump and petroliana, more than 6000 objects which represent the history of service stations, industrial design and oil...

Osservatorio Astronomico Schiaparelli

The Campo dei Fiori Astronomical Observatory stands at a height of 1230 meters on the top of the Campo dei Fiori in Varese, where the Citadel of Natural Sciences has been present for over half a century, which includes the “G. V. Schiaparelli...

Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Miracles

Born over 500 years ago, the Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine dei Miracoli, in Saronno, is the destination of many faithful. Today it is a European heritage.

The Sanctuary is defined as a "casket" full of art treasures. The long list of...

CIVICO MUSEO PARISI VALLE

The Civico Museo Parisi Valle, located in Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca,on the Lombard shore of Lake Maggiore, was founded in 1977 and is one of the few museums to have sprung up in post-war Italy. The institution of the museum was promoted by...

Fondazione Marcello Morandini

Fondazione Marcello Morandini is the national reference point of concrete art, and one of the main ones in the European scene. A place open to the public where you can admire permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions and participate in...

Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Piazza

The Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Piazza is located in the historic centre of Busto Arsizio, where an earlier church dedicated to the Virgin Mary stood, and was built between 1515 and 1522. Two names appear in the documents dealing with the...

The path of silence

From the historic center of Viggiù begins the route that led Liliana Segre on 8th December 1943 to cross the frontier through the woods with her father and cousins.

The trail is 4 kilometres long with an altitude difference of 300...

Linea Cadorna

La linea Cadorna è stata costruita durante la Prima Guerra Mondiale per prevenire un eventuale attacco della Germania e dell’Impero austroungarico attraverso la Svizzera. La costruzione viene anche chiamata “Linea di difesa della frontiera nord...

Chiesa di Santa Veronica - Caldè

The Church of St. Veronica is located in Caldé and preserves a 15th-century fresco cycle that represents the only available terminus ante quem.

It has not been possible to establish a date range for the construction of the church with...

Porto Ceresio

Porto Ceresio is a town overlooking Lake Lugano, offering a relaxed atmosphere that allows you to enjoy the natural surroundings in peace and quite.

You can take a fascinating walk along the lakeside promenade, partly suspended over the...

Chiesetta di San Quirico - Angera

The church of San Quirico is located in Angera on top of the hill that gives it its name. It has ancient origins and appears for the first time in a document dating back to the 13th century.

The church has experienced several...

Ex Idroscalo Sant'Anna (Parco Europa) - Sesto Calende

The Europa Park in Sesto Calende is located in the area surrounding the former Sant'Anna Military Harbour, which was used in the 1920s as a launching pad for seaplanes. For a long time, it belonged to the Savoia-Marchetti aeronautical company...

Villa Tatti Tallachini - Comerio

Villa Tatti Tallachini is located in Comerio and was built at the behest of the lawyer Benedetto Tatti in the first half of the 18th century. It is related to the Milanese school of Ruggeri and Croce for the freshness and simplicity of its...