Piemonte · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Domodossola
The Ossola capital at the foot of the Simplon Pass.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Domodossola is on our list
It holds UNESCO.
Subscribe and you get Domodossola's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 46 min from Milan
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 17,663
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A29°
- S23°
- 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
Domodossola sits at the confluence of the Bogna and Toce rivers, the historic capital of the Ossola valleys and the Italian end of the Simplon Pass. Two Capuchin friars chose the hill above the town in 1656, and the sanctuary that follows still marks the skyline. The medieval core is built around the market square, its porticoes and merchant houses forming the center of the borgo, with the rest of the centro storico spreading out behind it in arcaded streets.
The Castle of Charlemagne once stood at Piazza Tibaldi, until 1804, when Napoleon ordered it demolished to open the Sempione road. The longer story of the pass arrived in 1906, when a rail tunnel under the Alps ran 19,803 meters from Iselle, up the valley from Domodossola, to Brig in Switzerland, the longest railway tunnel in the world for most of the twentieth century. Between the hill, the square and the tunnel, the town reads as a hinge point: a valley capital shaped as much by what passes through it toward Switzerland as by what was built to stay.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 2 h 14 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 2 h 14 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 2 h 36 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Sacro Monte Calvario
A Special Nature Reserve on the hill above town. The twelve Via Crucis chapels lead up to the sanctuary in sequence, started in 1657.
Piazza Mercato
The porticoes still shelter the square's merchant houses, their balconies and carved loggettes intact above the arcades.
Centro storico medievale
The walled core beyond the square, arcaded streets between fifteenth-century palazzi, named Borgo della Cultura after recent restoration.
Domodossola Railway Station
The border station of the Simplon line, still working as the gateway between Milano and Bern.
Collegiata dei Santi Gervasio e Protasio
The town's main church, rebuilt in the eighteenth century over a much older foundation in the historic core.
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.
AtelierRistorante
Atelier holds one Michelin star and a Gambero Rosso listing.
ElenaRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (79/100), at Elena.
La MeridianaRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at La Meridiana.
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?
Domodossola meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 17,663 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Verbania, a city of 29,953, is 52 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 17,663, down 2.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Verbania, 52 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,500 to €2,100 per m² to buy, €5.40 to €8.00 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
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 48% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 1 h 17 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 2 h 14 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, China and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 60 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Switzerland, Germany and France. There are 294 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 21% 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
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Varese, 52 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Como, 71 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is European School Varese, 51 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 between 0.6% and 0.75% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €14,999. 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. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 13% in a high or medium one. 34% 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
SACRO MONTE
UNESCO site since 2003, the octagonal Baroque sanctuary and twelve Via Crucis chapels on the Mattarella hill above town.
SIMPLON TUNNEL
19.8-kilometer rail tunnel under the Alps opened in 1906, the longest in the world until 1982, connecting Italy to Switzerland.
PIAZZA MERCATO
Medieval market square at the center of the borgo, fifteenth-century porticoes and merchant houses with carved loggettes.
OSSOLANO
The commune lies inside the Ossolano DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Domodossola known for?
- Domodossola is the Ossola capital at 272 meters at the foot of the Simplon Pass.
- Where is Domodossola?
- Domodossola is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte.
- What is the nearest airport to Domodossola?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 1 h 17 min by car.
- Can you get to Domodossola 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 Domodossola?
- About 2 h 36 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Domodossola?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 20 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Domodossola?
- Sondrio, Bergamo and Ivrea.
- How many people live in Domodossola?
- 17,663 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Domodossola a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Domodossola is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Verbania, is 52 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 48% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 272 m
- Population: 17,663
- Surface area: 36.89 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 Domodossola appears in
- The best towns with a World Heritage site that eat well in PiemontePiemonteeats wellWorld Heritage7 towns · smallest 1,102 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train that hold a World Heritage site in PiemontePiemonteby trainWorld Heritage7 towns · smallest 1,102 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 ski towns in PiemontePiemonteski area8 towns · smallest 496 residents
- The 9 best hill towns with a World Heritage site in PiemontePiemontehill townWorld Heritage9 towns · smallest 506 residents
Similar
Towns like Domodossola
What all six share with Domodossola: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Domodossola 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 Domodossola comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 207 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.