Excursions on Lake Maggiore: our tips from Cannobio

City strolls—the quiet excursions

Let’s start with something relaxing—strolling through beautiful towns. Here, of course, we highly recommend Cannobio, with its gorgeous Italian old town, the fantastic views in Sant’Agata, and the charming little shops and restaurants in the historic village center. A short drive—or easily accessible by public transportation—takes you to Ascona in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Ascona is a beautiful old fishing village, known for its outstanding cuisine and small but exquisite (and expensive) shops. The old town is perfect for strolling, while the local mountain, Monte Verità, is ideal for a short hike. Those who prefer something a bit larger can continue on to Locarno, known for its world-famous Festival del Film, which takes place in the city and on the Piazza Grande during the summer. Both the historic city center with its famous piazza and the local mountain, Cardada (accessible by cable car), are beautiful. On our website, you’ll also find a comprehensive overview of the towns worth visiting on Lake Maggiore.

Those who want to experience the big city can plan a day trip to Milan: by car and train, you’ll be in the heart of the fashion capital with its Duomo, Galleria, and La Scala in just under two hours. And a true slice of Italian life can be found at the weekly markets on Lake Maggiore—especially the Sunday market in Cannobio and the large Saturday market in Intra.

Islands, gardens, and castles

A classic on Lake Maggiore is the boat trip to the Borromean Islands: Isola Bella with its palace and baroque garden, Isola Madre with its botanical garden, and the fishing island Isola dei Pescatori. Very close to us are the Brissago Islands with a botanical garden full of subtropical plants, and in Verbania a visit to the gardens of Villa Taranto is worthwhile. Just a few kilometers south of Cannobio are the Castelli di Cannero: the castle ruins on two small islands have been accessible as a museum since 2025, with boats departing directly from Cannobio. Those who want to see even more castles can head to Bellinzona: the castles of Bellinzona are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Parachute, zipline, bungee—pure adrenaline!

If a city stroll is too boring for you and you’re craving massive amounts of adrenaline, we have a few tips for that too. Let’s start with the most harmless, the zipline: 350 m high, nearly 2 km long, 120 km/h fast. Feeling the tingle yet? Lago Maggiore Zipline offers flights like a falcon, reservation recommended. But it gets even more thrilling! Who remembers the James Bond film GoldenEye? At the beginning, the British secret agent jumps from a dam wall into a Russian military base. Well, this world-famous jump took place far from Russia—namely on Lake Maggiore, in the beautiful Verzasca Valley. Today you can recreate the scene with the famous GoldenEye bungee jump from the Verzasca dam, at 220 m one of the highest in Europe.

You can also go completely without a safety rope: Paracentro Locarno offers a skydive on Lake Maggiore (tandem). The ascent alone, during which you can admire the northern Italian lakes from the plane, is gigantic. When you sit at the open door and see the lakes and mountains from above, you get a funny feeling in your stomach—but that passes quickly. The free fall from around 4,000 meters is probably the most impressive memory you can take home from Lake Maggiore! By the way, you can also experience the feeling of free fall without a plane: in the wind tunnel at Aero Gravity Milano near Milan, suitable even for children from 4 years old. Significantly less adrenaline is released at Wonderwood—a very nice high ropes course near Trarego on Lake Maggiore.

Lake Maggiore in the rain: shopping, museums, and indoor tips

Even though it doesn’t rain often in summer—there is the occasional rainy day in Cannobio on Lake Maggiore. The museums on Lake Maggiore worth visiting offer a solution here. On rainy days, shopping is of course also a great option!

A real money-saving tip is the Vicolungo Style Outlet in Vicolungo, a good hour from Cannobio. A huge outlet village offers bargains for clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and everyday items. Vicolungo is right on the highway, you can’t miss the Style Outlet and can easily spend a whole (rainy) day there. On the way to Vicolungo you’ll pass Gravellona Toce—THE shopping town right on Lake Maggiore. In Gravellona you can shop to your heart’s content in several shopping centers on Lake Maggiore. On the Swiss side in Mendrisio (near Lugano) there is also a very large outlet center near Lake Lugano with Foxtown Outlet. Even though Switzerland sounds very expensive—at Foxtown Outlet you often find really good bargains. Here too you’ll find everything your heart desires: well-known brands like Armani, Hugo Boss, Versace, Diesel, Pepe Jeans, Hilfiger, and of course sports items from Adidas, Nike, Puma, and Salomon. Household goods are not neglected either, and several restaurants and cafés make it possible to spend the whole (rainy) day here as well. And the big advantage: on the way to Mendrisio there’s a large and very nice wellness and fun pool.

More ideas for bad weather: children let off steam at the indoor trampoline park Space in Verbania, adults relax at the thermal baths in Locarno, and Lido Locarno also has indoor pools. More on this in the next sections.

Fun pools and wellness on Lake Maggiore

Those who’ve had enough of the lake will find many alternatives on Lake Maggiore within easy reach of Cannobio. Right at the Lido in Cannobio, Acqualand Cannobio opens in summer—with water slides, an adventure climbing park on the lake, and trampolines on the shore. In the neighboring town of Brissago (Swiss side) is the very nice beach Lido Brissago with a water slide, children’s pool, small swimming pool, and diving tower into the lake. Larger and more impressive is Lido Locarno—and above all usable in summer and winter: with indoor pools, children’s pools indoors and outdoors, a diving tower (outdoors only), and several large water slides, the beach in Locarno is a really nice place to spend a pleasant day. Right next door is also the thermal bath Termali Salini with natural brine pool, steam bath, and sauna area, more on this on our page Wellness on Lake Maggiore.

You’ll also find a very nice spa with a large water slide park at Monte Tamaro (Swiss side toward Lugano)—Splash e Spa. But the absolute highlight in summer is Ondaland: one of the largest outdoor water parks in northern Italy with a wave pool, around 20 water slides, and a huge toddler area. An absolute must for water slide lovers on vacation at Lake Maggiore!

Hiking, mountain railways, and valleys

A vacation in Cannobio on Lake Maggiore is also ideal for outdoor activities and fresh air. The Valle Cannobina (Cannobina Valley), which borders directly on Cannobio, deserves special mention. Countless hiking trails through chestnut forests and along the Cannobino river, which flows into Lake Maggiore at Cannobio, will delight every hiker. The two Swiss valleys Valle Verzasca (Verzasca Valley) and Valle Maggia (Maggia Valley) are world-famous. While the Verzasca Valley is wild and rugged, the lower part of the Maggia Valley is rather wide and accompanied by a large, broad riverbed. In both valleys you can go on beautiful hikes and enjoy Ticino specialties such as salami, ham and cheese or the famous polenta in rustic grottos. A real insider tip is the area around Robiei, which can be reached by cable car. Here you can see a large dam wall from the inside and hike to the Basodino glacier.

An experience in itself is the Centovalli Railway, which runs from Locarno through the “hundred valleys” to Domodossola. And on the eastern shore of the lake, the nostalgic bucket cable car from Laveno takes you up to Sasso del Ferro, with a magnificent view over the entire lake.

Skiing near Cannobio

Two nearby ski areas are particularly suitable for alpine skiers: in the Italian Piana di Vigezzo, a modern gondola with 8-person cabins at Prestinone (Craveggia) takes skiers up to the ski area. From there you can reach the children’s lift and several downhill runs and chairlifts. A small but nice and not too crowded ski area. The Swiss alternative Bosco Gurin is slightly more expensive: here you can also reach the ski area with a modern chairlift and from there several drag lifts and chairlifts. Both ski resorts cannot be compared with the large Alpine centers, but offer pleasant and well-groomed slopes for a few days of skiing in between.

Excursions especially for families on Lake Maggiore

Many of the excursions mentioned above are suitable for families with children. There are also a number of attractions aimed specifically at families and children.

The Safari Park Pombia in Pombia south of Lake Maggiore offers families a lot: animal safaris in your own car through enclosures with wild animals are possible, as well as some smaller amusement park attractions. In summer there’s even a small water area. The interesting mix of attractions and themes makes the park very attractive for young and old alike. Furthermore, Monte Tamaro offers not only beautiful hiking routes but also some attractions for children. The cable car takes you up the mountain, where in addition to a summer toboggan run and zipline, the large “Monte Tamaro high ropes course” with different difficulty levels awaits. Another high ropes course is offered by Wonderwood near Trarego, about 30 minutes from Cannobio.

Something very special is the BoBosco marble run hike in the Valle Verzasca: here the family can expect a hiking trail that can be walked in several stages and is therefore also well suited for small children. 23 large marble runs in the middle of the wonderful nature of the Verzasca Valley offer fun and games for young and old. And the indoor tip for absolutely bad weather: Space in Verbania-Fondotoce, a very nice indoor trampoline park for young and old!

Your starting point for all excursions

From Cannobio, you can easily reach Ticino, the islands, and the valleys. With us, you stay right on the lake, in a mobile home on Lake Maggiore, in a vacation apartment in Cannobio, or on a pitch for a motorhome, caravan, or tent.