Piemonte · Novara
Arona
A town at the southern tip of a lake, watched over by a colossus finished in 1698.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Arona is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 4 min from Milan
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 13,655
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A17°
- M21°
- J26°
- J28°
- A28°
- S23°
- O18°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Arona sits ninety kilometers north of Milano, the first stop most travelers reach when they leave the city for the lakes. The town came under the Borromeo family in 1439 and stayed there for centuries: the castle on the hill above town was their stronghold, and the next hill over holds the statue raised in the family's honor, so the two high points of Arona both belong to the same lineage looking down on the water and on each other. The lakefront below connects the two hills to the church on the shore and to the promenade that runs north with Angera visible across the water on the Lombard side.
The natural park on the southern edge of the commune sits apart from this Borromeo core, its pile-dwelling remains far older than anything else in town and unconnected to the family's centuries of rule. What the place adds up to is a town organized around one family's presence in stone and copper, with a much older, unrelated settlement preserved at its edge.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 1 h 31 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 1 h 33 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 1 h 53 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Milan, Turin or Genoa?
Coming by train into Milano Centrale? Arona is about 1 h 4 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Milan Bergamo airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Sancarlone
Copper colossus of San Carlo Borromeo, designed by Il Cerano and built between 1624 and 1698, standing above the Sacro Monte.
Rocca di Arona
Ruined fortress on the hill above town, the walls broken into towers since the demolition, with views over the water below.
Collegiata di Santa Maria Nascente
Late medieval church on the lakefront, holding a polyptych by Gaudenzio Ferrari completed in 1511.
Parco Naturale dei Lagoni di Mercurago
Regional natural park with Bronze Age pile-dwelling sites included in the UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps since 2011.
Lungolago di Arona
Long promenade looking north up Lake Maggiore, with the rival town of Angera on the opposite Lombard shore.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
StrattoriaRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (77/100) for Strattoria, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
BluRistorante
Blu has a spot in the Michelin Guide to its name.
CastagnetoRistorante
Castagneto has a Michelin Bib Gourmand to its name.
1 more place the guides name in Arona
CondividereRistorante
A Michelin Bib Gourmand, at Condividere.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Arona meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 13,655 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Gallarate, a city of 52,902, is 32 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
We measured every town in the region on these rules, by its drive to Turin, the city we moved to: Moving to Turin and Piedmont.
- Population 13,655, down 3% since 2015
- Nearest city Gallarate, 32 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Angera, 3 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,650 to €2,450 per m² to buy, €4.60 to €8.20 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 63% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 38 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 33 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Albania and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 135 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United States, France and the United Kingdom. There are 317 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 28% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Novara province ranks 45th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Angera, 3 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Varese, 21 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Varese, 21 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Como, 38 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is European School Varese, 21 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.14% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €12,500. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Piemonte spends about €2,240 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €467 a year for water, on the Piemonte average. In Novara, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.30, a meal in a pizzeria €11.85 and a man's haircut €22.02.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 6% in a high or medium one. Under 1% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
SANCARLONE
35.1-meter copper colossus of San Carlo Borromeo, the tallest visitable statue in the world from 1698 until the Statue of Liberty in 1886.
ROCCA BORROMEO
Ruined Borromeo castle above town, birthplace of Carlo Borromeo in 1538 and razed by Napoleonic troops in 1800.
LAGONI DI MERCURAGO
UNESCO pile-dwelling site since 2011, Bronze Age stilt settlement in the natural park on the southern edge of the commune.
Common questions
- What is Arona known for?
- Arona is a town at the southern tip of a lake, watched over by a colossus finished in 1698.
- Where is Arona?
- Arona is a comune in the province of Novara, in Piemonte, at 212 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Arona?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 38 min by car.
- Can you get to Arona without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Arona?
- About 1 h 53 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Arona?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 19 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Arona?
- Omegna, Castiglione del Lago and Bracciano.
- How many people live in Arona?
- 13,655 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Arona a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Arona is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Gallarate, is 32 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Angera, 3 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 63% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 212 m
- Population: 13,655
- Surface area: 15.17 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Arona appears in
- The best lake towns that eat well within 90 minutes of NovaraNear Novaralakewithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 1,102 residents · closest 46 min away
- The best lake towns you can reach by train in PiemontePiemontelakeby train8 towns · smallest 450 residents
- 10 small towns in Italy where everyday life is a walkLiguriaeveryday life on foot5,000 to 20,000 people10 towns · smallest 5,050 residents
- The best lake towns within two hours of TurinNear Turinlakewithin 2 hours10 towns · smallest 1,102 residents · closest 88 min away
Similar
Towns like Arona
What all six share with Arona: lake towns · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
Omegna
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
both over 10,000 people
- Written about. No. 59.
Castiglione del Lago
Province: Perugia
both over 10,000 people
Bracciano
Province: Roma
both over 10,000 people
Baveno
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
25 min apart by road
Stresa
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
29 min apart by road
Mergozzo
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
37 min apart by road
The letter
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