Piemonte · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Cannero Riviera
A commune of 900 on the western shore, fronted by three rocky islets whose Borromeo ruins are the town's signature view.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Cannero Riviera is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione and Bandiera Blu.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 40 min from Milan
- Population
- 892
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- 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.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Cannero Riviera sits on the western shore of Lago Maggiore, fifteen kilometers north of Verbania and just south of the Swiss border. About 900 people live here. The fortifications off shore are what remains of the Rocca Vitaliana, built between 1519 and 1521 by Ludovico Borromeo over an earlier castle, the Malpaga, used as a refuge in the early fifteenth century by the Mazzarditi brothers, five pirate brothers who ran the high lake from this base until the Visconti put them down.
The town itself runs as a lakefront row below the promenade, while above it on the slope sits the parish church, and higher still on the hillside, reached only by mule track, is the abandoned frazione of Carmine Superiore with its fourteenth-century church. The settlement is layered from water to hill: fortress ruins offshore, houses and gardens at lake level, a church on the rise, and a dead hamlet further up still. What the water sees from below and what survives on the height above it are the same centuries, read at different altitudes.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 2 h 7 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 2 h 8 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 2 h 30 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castelli di Cannero
Ruins standing in slow decay since their eighteenth-century abandonment, the islets visible from the whole promenade and reached by boat rather than on foot.
Lungolago di Cannero
Lakefront promenade past pastel-stuccoed houses, citrus and oleander gardens, beach access and ferry stops for the high-lake circuit.
Chiesa di San Giorgio
Parish church on the slope above the lake, with a portico opening toward the water and the islets beyond.
Carmine Superiore
Abandoned medieval frazione on the hillside above town, reached by mule track, with the fourteenth-century church of San Gottardo.
Living here
Could you live here?
Cannero Riviera is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 892, with Cannobio (5,017 people) 14 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Verbania, a city of 29,953, is 23 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
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 892, down 8.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Verbania, 23 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Oggebbio, 3 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,700 to €2,350 per m² to buy, €5.80 to €8.00 per m² a month to rent
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 99% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 1 h 20 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 2 h 8 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
12% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Germany, Bangladesh and Brazil, against 9% across Italy. 30 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and Switzerland. There are 502 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 69% 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 Luino, 6 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Varese, 24 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Varese, 24 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Como, 41 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is European School Varese, 22 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. 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. 9% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 11% in a high or medium one. 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
CASTELLI DI CANNERO
Three islets off shore with ruins of the Borromeo Rocca Vitaliana from 1521, built over the Mazzarditi pirate stronghold, part of Lago Maggiore's shoreline though administratively belonging to Cannobio.
MILD MICROCLIMATE
Lake-tempered climate that lets lemons, oranges and oleander grow in lakefront gardens at 225 meters.
BANDIERA BLU
Bathing-water flag awarded for the lakefront beaches; one of the few Lago Maggiore communes to hold both Blu and Arancione.
Common questions
- What is Cannero Riviera known for?
- Cannero Riviera is a commune of 900 on the western shore, fronted by three rocky islets whose Borromeo ruins are the town's signature view.
- Where is Cannero Riviera?
- Cannero Riviera is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte, at 225 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Cannero Riviera?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 1 h 20 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Cannero Riviera?
- About 2 h 30 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Cannero Riviera?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Cannero Riviera?
- Varenna, Mergozzo and Ghiffa.
- How many people live in Cannero Riviera?
- 892 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Cannero Riviera a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Cannero Riviera is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Cannobio, 14 min). The nearest city, Verbania, is 23 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Oggebbio, 3 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 99% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 225 m
- Population: 892
- Surface area: 14.42 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.
Similar
Towns like Cannero Riviera
What all six share with Cannero Riviera: lake towns · hill towns
The letter
Cannero Riviera 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 Cannero Riviera comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 189 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.