Piemonte · Novara
Orta San Giulio
A promontory facing an islet basilica, with a UNESCO complex of Francis-of-Assisi chapels on the hill above.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Orta San Giulio is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, UNESCO and Bandiera Arancione.
Subscribe and you get Orta San Giulio's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 8 min from Milan
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 1,102
- 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.
Why come
The town occupies a promontory pushed into the eastern shore of the lake, facing the small island 275 meters long and 140 meters wide. The two are close enough that the island reads as an extension of the town rather than a separate place, and a five-minute motorboat from the piazza is the only way across. The old town holds three of Italy's quality marks at once: Borghi più belli, Bandiera Arancione, and the UNESCO inscription of 2003.
The relationship between the three parts of the town explains how it works: the waterfront square and its lanes sit at lake level, facing the island directly across the water, while the hill above holds the devotional complex, reached by climbing away from the shore rather than along it. Piazza Motta was also the seat of the Comunità della Riviera di San Giulio, an autonomous federation of lake towns that survived from the Middle Ages to the mid-eighteenth century, which is why the square, not the hill or the island, was built as a civic center. What results is a town in three registers at once: civic life at the water's edge, monastic life offshore, and devotional life on the hill above, each occupying its own ground and visible from the others.
How to get there
From Turin (TRN), about 1 h 33 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 1 h 36 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 1 h 58 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? Orta San Giulio is about 1 h 8 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Turin airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Basilica di San Giulio
Serpentine ambo inside and a silver shrine dated 1697. Reached by boat, the basilica stands close to the water's edge, the focal point of the view from every point on the promontory.
Piazza Motta and Palazzo della Comunità
The broletto's arcades face the water directly, and the square narrows toward the boat landing where the crossing to the island begins.
Sacro Monte di Orta
The chapels climb the wooded hillside in sequence, each framing a scene, with the town and the lake opening up in views between them as the path gains height.
Isola di San Giulio
A convent and an ex-seminary, built in 1844, stand over the ruins of the medieval castle, filling most of the small island's ground.
Centro storico
Pedestrian-only old town along the promontory, lanes of stone houses with painted facades stepping down to the lake.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
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.
Villa CrespiRistorante
Villa Crespi carries three Michelin stars, three Gambero Rosso forks (93/100), plus a place in L'Espresso's Top 300, among other nods.
Andrea Monesi - Locanda di OrtaRistorante
Andrea Monesi - Locanda di Orta carries one Michelin star.
Laqua by the LakeHotel
Laqua by the Lake holds one Michelin Key.
1 more place the guides name in Orta San Giulio
Villa CrespiHotel
One Michelin Key, at Villa Crespi.
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?
Orta San Giulio is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 1,102, with Gozzano (5,499 people) 6 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Gallarate, a city of 52,902, is 37 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 1,102, down 1.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Gallarate, 37 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Omegna, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,700 to €3,000 per m² to buy, €5.70 to €10.70 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
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 83% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 52 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 33 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
18% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Bangladesh, Ukraine and the Ivory Coast, against 9% across Italy. 20 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and the United States. There are 484 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 59% 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 Borgomanero, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Varese, 32 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Varese, 32 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Como, 50 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is European School Varese, 31 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.96% 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 nothing to your income tax. 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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 1% 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
SACRO MONTE
UNESCO inscription of 2003, twenty Francis-of-Assisi chapels on San Nicolao hill, modelled on Varallo and begun under Abbot Canobio in 1583.
ISOLA DI SAN GIULIO
The lake's only island, with a Romanesque basilica and a Benedictine convent on the site of a medieval castle.
PIAZZA MOTTA
Lakefront square framed by the 1582 broletto of the Comunità della Riviera, the autonomous federation of lake towns that ran until the 1700s.
Common questions
- What is Orta San Giulio known for?
- Orta San Giulio is a promontory facing an islet basilica, with a UNESCO complex of Francis-of-Assisi chapels on the hill above.
- Where is Orta San Giulio?
- Orta San Giulio is a comune in the province of Novara, in Piemonte, at 294 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Orta San Giulio?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 52 min by car.
- Can you get to Orta San Giulio 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 Orta San Giulio?
- About 1 h 58 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Orta San Giulio?
- 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 Orta San Giulio?
- Mergozzo, Porto Ceresio and Dervio.
- How many people live in Orta San Giulio?
- 1,102 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Orta San Giulio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Orta San Giulio is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Gozzano, 6 min). The nearest city, Gallarate, is 37 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Omegna, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 83% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 294 m
- Population: 1,102
- Surface area: 6.65 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 Orta San Giulio 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 towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of MilanNear Milanwithin 90 minWorld Heritage6 towns · smallest 1,102 residents · closest 40 min away
- The prettiest villages that eat well in PiemontePiemonteeats wellprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 617 residents
- The prettiest villages within 90 minutes of NovaraNear Novarawithin 90 minprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 454 residents · closest 37 min away
- The best hidden towns with a World Heritage site in PiemontePiemonteWorld Heritagehidden7 towns · smallest 506 residents
- The best small lake towns in PiemontePiemontelakesmall7 towns · smallest 450 residents
Featured on
Orta San Giulio appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Orta San Giulio
What all six share with Orta San Giulio: lake towns · hill towns
Mergozzo
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
both under 3,000 people · both have a railway station in the comune
Porto Ceresio
Province: Varese
both under 3,000 people · both have a railway station in the comune
Dervio
Province: Lecco
both under 3,000 people · both have a railway station in the comune
Gozzano
Province: Novara
both have a railway station in the comune
- Written about. No. 59.
Castiglione del Lago
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
Ghiffa
Province: Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
both under 3,000 people
The letter
Orta San Giulio 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 Orta San Giulio comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 171 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.