Piemonte · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Belgirate
A small Lake Maggiore village whose Chiesa Vecchia di Santa Maria has held its 11th-century Romanesque bell tower for nine hundred years.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 12 min from Milan
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 450
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A18°
- M21°
- J26°
- J28°
- A29°
- S24°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Belgirate sits on the west shore of Lake Maggiore, eleven kilometers south of Verbania and ten north of Arona. The village climbs the lower slopes of the Motta Rossa hill, where the medieval core takes its name from the curve, the bel girare, that the shore makes here. The Chiesa Vecchia di Santa Maria sits above the town on a terrace looking over the lake.
The Romanesque bell tower dates to the eleventh century, the body of the church to the twelfth; the small churchyard gives the panorama that has kept the village on Grand Tour itineraries for two hundred years. The Società delle Regate, founded in Belgirate in 1858, is recognized as the first yacht club in Italy and still races each year. The nineteenth-century villas along the shore hosted Alessandro Manzoni, Antonio Rosmini and the poet Guido Gozzano; Villa Carlotta, now a hotel, was where several Risorgimento figures met.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 1 h 40 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 1 h 40 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 2 h 2 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? Belgirate is about 1 h 12 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Milan Bergamo airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa Vecchia di Santa Maria
Romanesque church on a terrace above the lake, with an 11th-century bell tower and a 12th-century body, holding the original parish until the 19th century.
Ville ottocentesche
Line of 19th-century villas along the shore, including Villa Carlotta and Villa Cairoli, hosts to Manzoni, Rosmini and Gozzano in the same period.
Lungolago di Belgirate
Long lakefront promenade between Arona and Stresa, with views across the lake to the Lombard shore at Angera and Ranco.
Società delle Regate del Verbano
Sailing club founded in Belgirate in 1858, recognized as the first yacht club in Italy, still running historic regattas on the lake each year.
Living here
Could you live here?
Belgirate is at the end of the road.
- A village of 450. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Arona, is 21 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Verbania, a city of 29,953, is 28 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- 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 450, down 16.4% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Verbania, 28 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Angera, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,350 to €1,950 per m² to buy, €4.60 to €6.20 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 90% of homes
- No primary school in the comune's register
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 53 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 40 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
12% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Sri Lanka and the Philippines, against 9% across Italy. There are 775 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 68% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province ranks 61st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Angera, 8 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Varese, 18 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Varese, 18 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, 18 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% 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 €20,000. 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.
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. 4% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 8% in a high or medium one. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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
CHIESA VECCHIA
Romanesque church above the village with an 11th-century bell tower, the parish of Belgirate until the new lakeside church was built in the 19th century.
REGATE 1858
Società delle Regate del Verbano, founded in Belgirate in 1858, recognized as the first yacht club in Italy and still racing each year.
MANZONI E ROSMINI
The 19th-century lakeside villas hosted Alessandro Manzoni, Antonio Rosmini, Guido Gozzano and several Risorgimento figures.
Common questions
- What is Belgirate known for?
- Belgirate is a 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.
- Where is Belgirate?
- Belgirate is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte.
- What is the nearest airport to Belgirate?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 53 min by car.
- Can you get to Belgirate 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 Belgirate?
- About 2 h 2 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Belgirate?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 19 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Belgirate?
- Iseo, Anguillara Sabazia and Varenna.
- How many people live in Belgirate?
- 450 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Belgirate a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Belgirate is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Arona, is 21 min away. The nearest city, Verbania, is 28 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Angera, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 90% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 199 m
- Population: 450
- Surface area: 7.13 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 Belgirate appears in
- The best small lake towns in PiemontePiemontelakesmall7 towns · smallest 450 residents
- The 8 best towns you can reach by train in the province of Verbano-Cusio-OssolaVerbano-Cusio-Ossola provinceby train8 towns · smallest 450 residents
- The best lake towns in the province of Verbano-Cusio-OssolaVerbano-Cusio-Ossola provincelake8 towns · smallest 450 residents
- The best lake towns you can reach by train in PiemontePiemontelakeby train8 towns · smallest 450 residents
Similar
Towns like Belgirate
Iseo
Province: Brescia
both lake towns · both near sea level
Anguillara Sabazia
Province: Roma
both lake towns · both near sea level
Varenna
Province: Lecco
both lake towns · both under 1,000 people
Framura
Province: La Spezia
both under 1,000 people · both near sea level
Gardone Riviera
Province: Brescia
both lake towns · both near sea level
Salò
Province: Brescia
both lake towns · both near sea level
The letter
Belgirate is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Belgirate comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 172 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.