Coast and lakes
10 lake towns not on Como or Garda
Ten towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €850 in Capodimonte to €3,000 in Orta San Giulio.
Lake comuni outside the Como and Garda basins: Orta, Maggiore's quieter shore, Bolsena, Trasimeno and the alpine lakes. 10 towns shown, smallest first.
Table no. 32 · Ranked by residents · 10 towns
Italy has more lakes than the two whose names precede every villa listing. Orta, the western shore of Maggiore, Bolsena, the small alpine basins: each carries towns that Como's prices and Garda's coach parks never reach.
The list excludes the Como and Garda basins entirely. Smallest first, because on the quiet lakes small is what you came for.
- 1.Belgirate450 residentsVerbano-Cusio-Ossola · PiemonteBest for a trip without a car. The train stops in the commune.59 min from Novara · homes €1,350 to €1,950 a m² in the centerA small Lake Maggiore village at 199 meters whose Chiesa Vecchia di Santa Maria has held its 11th-century Romanesque bell tower for nine hundred years.The catch: It has lost 16% of its people since 2015.
- 2.Bondone647 residentsTrento · Trentino-Alto AdigeBest for a swim. The comune's beach holds a Blue Flag.1 h 17 min from Brescia · homes €1,200 to €1,500 a m² in the centerA two-village commune above Lake Idro at the Lombard border, with a Lodron castle on the cliff between them.
- 3.Cannero Riviera892 residentsVerbano-Cusio-Ossola · PiemonteBest for a slow weekend. The Touring Club gives it its orange flag for small inland towns.1 h 26 min from Novara · homes €1,700 to €2,350 a m² in the centerA commune of 900 on the western shore, fronted by three rocky islets whose Borromeo ruins are the town's signature view.
- 4.Orta San Giulio1,102 residentsNovara · PiemonteBest for a long lunch. Food guides list two tables here.46 min from Novara · homes €1,700 to €3,000 a m² in the centerA promontory facing an islet basilica, with a UNESCO complex of Francis-of-Assisi chapels on the hill above.
- 5.Molveno1,107 residentsTrento · Trentino-Alto AdigeBest for a ski week. There is a mapped ski area in the comune.41 min from Trento · homes €2,350 to €2,900 a m² in the centerThe village at the north end of a deep blue alpine lake, with a pale limestone range rising straight out of the water.The catch: January nights average 4 degrees below zero.
- 6.Capodimonte1,650 residentsViterbo · LazioBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.1 h 14 min from Terni · homes €850 to €1,300 a m² in the centerThe lakefront Farnese stronghold on a peninsula jutting into Europe's largest volcanic crater lake, with an extra-virgin olive oil tradition recognized by Città dell'Olio.
- 7.Nemi1,861 residentsRoma · LazioBest for a wine weekend. It belongs to the national association of wine towns.52 min from Rome · homes €1,150 to €1,650 a m² in the centerThe smallest comune in the Castelli Romani, perched at 521 meters above a volcanic crater lake the Romans called the mirror of Diana.
- 8.Mergozzo2,139 residentsVerbano-Cusio-Ossola · PiemonteBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.1 h 7 min from Novara · homes €1,300 to €1,900 a m² in the centerA village on the western shore of a small lake cut off from its larger neighbor by river sediment, with a centuries-old elm on its lakefront piazza.
- 9.Ghiffa2,227 residentsVerbano-Cusio-Ossola · PiemonteBest for a World Heritage site. UNESCO lists a site in the comune.1 h 15 min from Novara · homes €1,600 to €2,400 a m² in the centerA Lake Maggiore lakeside village facing the Lombard shore, with a UNESCO sanctuary on the slope above it and a century of hat-making behind it.
- 10.Bolsena3,690 residentsViterbo · LazioBest for a stage of a long walk. The Via Francigena passes through.1 h 21 min from Terni · homes €880 to €1,300 a m² in the centerA medieval town at 350 meters on the eastern shore of Europe's largest volcanic lake, where a Bohemian priest reported a Eucharistic miracle in 1263.
FIVE OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN PIEMONTE
We write letters from the Italian towns we visit: the town, what is worth eating there, and when to turn up. It is free, and you can leave whenever you like.