A guide to visiting one of the country’s most beautiful villages:

Only recently did I learn about the stunning village of Orta San Giulio on Lake Orta. And this albeit is not far from Switzerland, my home country. This medieval small town features on the list of the most beautiful villages in Italy (“I Borghi piu belli d’Italia“), and rightly so! It is a gem of a place, directly on the water, enveloped by woodland and backed by mountains. Strolling along the cobbled alleys, passing little squares and admiring different sorts of historic buildings is such a nice thing to do. And you can easily visit the village and its main sights in the course of a day. Find in the following my three top tips for what to do in Orta San Giulio on Lake Orta, and all of them involve exploring by walking.

Location/Directions

The small town of Orta San Gioulio is directly situated on Lake Orta. This lake is one of many in the so-called Lake District in the north of Italy and close to Switzerland. In this region, where a mild climate goes along with attractive scenery, you find many beautiful lakes. The most popular are Lake Garda, Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Lake Orta is one of the smaller ones and a bit of a hidden gem. It lies to the west of the Lake Maggiore and Lake Como. This lake is a favorite with Italians, especially from the ones from Milan and surroundings.

Back to the village of Orta San Giulio. A good place to start your exploration is Hotel Villa Crespi, a luxury hotel and 2-star Michelin restaurant. Ideal of course is a stay here, as my husband and I had one – see here how it is – , but of course this is not for everybody. Villa Crespi is notable for its quaint minaret-like tower, I find it quite a sight!

If you are driving, you get here in a bit more than an hour from Lugano or Locarno/Switzerland or from Milan/Italy. There is a parking lot right across Villa Crespi. By train, you reach the hotel from Milan in about two and a half hours (change trains in Novara). From the train station in Orta-Miasino, you reach Villa Crespi in less than ten minutes.

What to do in Orta San Giulio

There are three top things to do in Orta San Giulio, one of Italy’s jewels in terms of picturesque villages. First, a lakeside round walk along the Orta San Giulio peninsula that brings you also to the small town’s heart. Second, a boat trip from Orta San Giulio’s main square to the mystic San Giulio Island. Third, a walk to the top of the UNESCO-listed Sacro Monte di Orta with its 20 chapels.

If you start early in the morning, you can do all three activities in one day. And it is much recommended to do the first walk as soon as possible as Orta San Giulio is at its best before the hoards of tourists arrive.

1. Lakeside walk on Orta San Giulio peninsula

time needed: 1 ½ hours with some short stops along the way

As mentioned above, start your walk at Hotel Villa Crespi. Here have a good look at this Moorish-style castle where chef Antonio Cannavacciuolo, a two-star Michelin and famous television chef, manages a luxury hotel and fine dining restaurant.

From there, take Via Giuseppe Fava and turn left at Strada di Ortello to reach the water edge. You find here a public lake access to Lake Orta. Turn into Strada della Litarda and walk along the water’s edge until you come to Orta San Guilio’s heart. Make a short stop at the first small square (Chiesa della SS. Trinità)

where you have a good view of Isola San Giulio.

Continue your way along the narrow cobbled streets

until you reach the main square, Piazza Motto.

Have a look around here. Gaze at the small island again, take in the derelict hotel building and check out the restaurants and shops here. If you are into ice cream, I have a tip for you, Il Banco di Cannavacciuolo.

Here you can buy the before mentioned chef’s products. There is also the jetty from where you board the boat to Isola San Giulio. Maybe you want to study the timetable to find out when to go there.

From Piazza Motto walk up to Chiesa Dell’Assunta

and lose yourself a bit in the maze of the romantic small streets before returning to the square and turn into Via Bossi that becomes Via Motta later on (always parallel to the lake). Then, before Villa Motta, it becomes a narrow path just by the lake (Via Ettore Motta, later Via 11 Settembre).

When it ends, head up to Via Panoramica and proceed to the starting point.

2. Boat trip from Orta San Giulio to Isola San Giulio

time needed: 1 to 1 ½ hours

When you have read the first walk’s directions, you know where you have to go to board the boat to Isola San Giulio, Piazza Motta. This is Orta San Giulio’s main square and you reach it from Villa Crespi in about twelve minutes by foot.

If you stay at Villa Crespi, then ask the reception about a ticket to Isola San Giulio. They will give one to you for free. In the other case, go to the website of navigazione lago d’Orta and buy your ticket here (you can acquire one on the boat, too). You find here also the timetable to the island and to other destinations. The boat trip is short, only five minutes.

Once arrived, here is what to expect. It is a tiny island in the middle of Lake Orta. The main thing to see ist the 12th-century Basilica di San Giulio with its pastel frescos and impressive sculptures.

In the 20th century, it was turned into a Benedictine monastery. You can visit the church and do the so-called “Way of Silence” afterwards. It is a circular path outside, which takes you on a walking route of the entire island. You need about 15 minutes to finish it. On the way, there are several opportunities to get access to the water. Go down the one or the other path to take in the scenery.

Back at the jetty, you can hop on a boat back to Orta San Giulio or head to another place, as my husband and I did by mistake. The boat brought us to Pella on the western shore of Lake Orta.

We decided to disembark and to have a brief look at the village. It is a small but charming place with a scenic row of lakeside houses. After a detour over San Filiberto, Lagna and Isola San Giulio, we finally returned to Orta San Giulio.

3. Walk to the top of Sacro Monte di Orta from Orta San Giulio

time needed: 1 1/2 to 2 hours

The sacred mountain of Orta is the highest part of the San Giulio peninsula. It is a monumental complex of 20 chapels with 900 frescoes, 366 statues and a church at the arrival point of the devotional journey. Each chapel represents a scene from the life of the Saint Francis of Assisi.

Since 2003, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Sacro Monte is not only for the ones interested in religion. The fact that these chapels are harmoniously imbedded in the surrounding landscape and vegetation makes it a total work of art.

It is the ideal place for a pleasant walk, and you have beautiful views from here of Lake Orta and the Isola San Giulio.

You reach it from Piazza Motta in Orta San Giulio in a walk of about 20 minutes. Head to the Chiesa dell’Assunta and turn right into Via Gemelli. Follow the signposts to Sacro Monte until you come to the Chiesa di San Nicolao. Enjoy the splendid view of the lake, the island and the area before you set off for the chapel tour.

If the question arises how much time to allow for this activity, this heavily depend on your interest. My husband and I became somewhat captivated by the individual scenes that are accompanied by fitting descriptions.

In the end, we spent about an hour here.

Once arrived at the end of the course, you can descend on the other side of the hill. On this way, you get to Villa Crespi in about 15 minutes.

Looking back and forward

After outlining what to do in Orta San Giulio, a delightful village on Lake Orta in Italy’s Lake District in the north of the country, here is some info about the journey where it was part of.

My husband and I visited northern Italy and southern France on a 11-day road trip, here our itinerary. The Lake Orta region on the edge of the Piedmont made the start. Should you be interested in our choice of hotel in Orta San Giulio – we consider ourselves as rather luxury-minded globetrotters – , find here more about our stay at Villa Crespi (my post).

Then we did a halt at a place in the heart of the Piedmont, near Alba. Soon on my blog, you will learn about staying and dining here in style (my post) plus what to do in the area.

Next was a stop at the Ligurian coast in Alassio (hotel) west of Genua before heading to the south of France where we stayed at two spots (French Riviera: hotel & 2 walks/Provence) before returning to Switzerland with a stopover south of Lyon.

Date of visit: August 2021

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