MACCAGNO is ideally located for great excursions to the many attractions on Lake Maggiore: Cannobio, Cannero Riviera, Stresa, the Borromean Islands, the Veddasca Valley, Luino, Laveno, Locarno, Ascona are just some of the attractions within easy reach of our Lagocamp campsite. Castles, museums, mountains, churches, gardens and parks: the list of excursion destinations and places worth seeing in the surroundings of Maccagno is huge and day trips and tours can be wonderfully combined with relaxation at the campsite.

Long walks and hikes in the beautiful area are the icing on the cake of a stay in the picturesque Maccagno.

A beautiful excursion leads from picturesque Maccagno along the SP5 towards the Swiss border to the Valle Veddasca, a densely forested high valley through which the Giona River flows. Here you will find numerous old mountain villages such as Graglio or Armio at an altitude of 900 metres, surrounded by beautiful chestnut forests. From here you continue across the border to Alpe di Neggia, from where wonderful hiking trails lead to Monte Gambarogno (1,730 m) or Monte Tamaro (1,962 m) in one and a half or two and a half hours – including a magnificent view of Lake Maggiore. Only a few kilometres above Maccagno, a small road branches off in Veddasca to Passo La Forcora and on to Lago Delio, which leads unpaved behind the lake to Bassano. The Romanesque bell tower of the cemetery church is worth seeing here. From Bassano you return to Maccagno via Pino.

Another highly recommended excursion is to Piero, about two kilometres east of Veddasca in the valley of the same name. The village is known for its beautiful old mills and the typical stone-roofed houses.

The Via Verde Varesina is an excellent hike to Monteviasco, a now abandoned farming village that used to be home to many smugglers due to its proximity to the Swiss border. A convenient alternative to the old mule track with over 2000 stone steps is the cable car from Ponte di Piero.

Did you know that Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous Mona Lisa remained hidden for two years in the Veddasca Valley, specifically in the village of Cadero con Graglio. In the summer of 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia from Dumenza committed the most sensational art theft in history. He stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and hid the painting in a small cave underneath a carpet in the inn of the Lancelotti brothers, friends and accomplices of Peruggia. The Mona Lisa remained missing until the day an art dealer in Florence received a letter from Peruggia in the winter of 1913. In the letter, he wanted to return the Mona Lisa and demanded 500,000 lire in return. Alfredo Geri, however, informed the police and Peruggia was arrested.

In the meantime, you can admire the Mona Lisa’s smile in our cosy bar at the Lagocamp campsite. The painting is an original and contemporary interpretation of the original, as the Italian artist LADY BE creates her paintings exclusively with recycled materials.

Ascona and Locarno are atmospheric and vibrant towns at any time of the year, within easy reach of Maccagno.

Both towns are rich in history, art and culture. The old town of Locarno features imposing patrician houses and Ascona has omnipresent traces of artists throughout their narrow streets.

Ascona hosts one of the biggest international jazz festivals every year, while the Piazza Grande in Locarno is transformed into a beautiful open-air cinema every August for the Locarno Film Festival, one of the most renowned in Europe.

Art lovers can visit the Fondazione Ghisla Art Collection in Locarno and the Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna in Ascona, which has temporary exhibitions.

Locarno is also an oasis for sports and wellness. The Lido Locarno enjoys a unique location directly on the lake and is considered the most modern bathing facility in Ticino with indoor and outdoor pools, thermal baths and water slides.

The surroundings of Ascona and Locarno are also well worth a visit. Above Ascona towers Monte Verità, where an alternative colony settled at the beginning of the 20th century. From Locarno you can easily reach the Sacro Monte Madonna del Sasso by cable car. The Ferrovia Vigezzina Centovalli offers exciting train rides.

One of the places of interest in picturesque Maccagno is the Parisi Valle Art Museum, whose exhibition includes over 2,000 graphic and three-dimensional works and is considered a contribution to modern, contemporary Italian art from 1930 to 1980.

A jewel of the city of Varese is Villa Panza. An impressive contemporary art collection can be admired in the interiors of this imposing Baroque villa.

From 1856 onwards, Laveno was home to thousands of potters and many ceramics businesses set up shop. Today, in Cerro di Laveno, a district of the municipality, there is still a ceramics museum in the 16th century Palazzo Parabò with valuable porcelain works.

The Rocca d’Angera is a completely preserved imposing castle from the Middle Ages, which towers over Lake Maggiore on a rocky promontory. The 12 halls of the castle complex house one of the most important doll museums in Europe with over 1000 exhibits. Music boxes, toys and slot machines take the young and old back in time and bring to life the social and historical development of the last two centuries.

The museum in the tower of the Casa Camuzzi in Montagnola (Ticino) holds valuable testimonies from the many years of Hermann Hesse’s life that he spent in Montagnola until his death. Important works such as “Siddharta”, “Narziss und Goldmund”, “der Steppenwolf” and numerous poems, stories and watercolours were written at Casa Camuzzi.

In this museum you can follow the different stages of chocolate making and then taste delicious products in the shop.