3.4
(5)
55
hikers
View of Lake Maggiore – Historic Alleys of Luino loop from Luino
00:59
3.76km
30m
Hiking
Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.
Last updated: June 23, 2026
Waypoints
Start point
Train Station
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525 m
Luino Lakeside Promenade
Highlight • Viewpoint
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895 m
Verbania Palace
Highlight • Monument
The year is 1904. From 1882, the trains between Berlin and Genoa ran ashore in Luino to land illustrious personalities of a flourishing Belle Époque, who visited the famous Borromean Islands by steamboat. Since 1885, another railway line was opened to Ponte Tresa, making it easier for those who wanted to admire, in a single route, the basins of three lakes, all very famous among tourists: Maggiore, Lugano and Como. At the turn of the century, the new Art Nouveau was the best to celebrate these progressive destinies: an elite town decided to equip the village with a Kursaal for "concerts, dance parties, meetings, conferences, cafes, restaurants", in the focal point of the lake shore, which by now was renovated.
They entrusted the design to the Luino architect Giuseppe Petrolo (1872-1953), to whom they presented updated architectural journals on the models developed in the most progressive European centers, first and foremost Vienna. It was a successful choral choice: Petrolo took charge of a happy synthesis and created one of the lake's first Art Nouveau buildings, the finest. He was able to create a dialogue with the landscape by modeling the volumes to create a cascade of terraces towards the panorama: on the roof, in the center of the building, overhanging the water. He drew dark circles around the windows with a sure hand, as if they were balloons. He forged the irons into sinuous curves. He arched the walls to get the best view of the lake from the main hall and increased the lighting.
The Kursaal became the center of the social life of the village: in March 1913 a friend of Filippo Marinetti (the Sicilian Gesualdo Manzella Frontini) held a conference on Futurism. More than a decade later, tastes changed and the same architect extended the building to preserve pure Liberty details and, above all, to preserve the succession of viewpoints and large windows opening onto the lake. These windows, beacons of a refined modernism, were perhaps discovered by the protagonist of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms while fleeing by boat to Switzerland one night during World War I: "[...] the lake widened, and on the opposite bank, at the foot of the mountains, we saw a light that must have been from Luino». Vittorio Sereni, following this version of facts, used it to connect his most famous verses dedicated to Luino (under the title Terrazza) to the Kursaal.
Text / Source: Text / Source: City of Luino
visitluino.eu/listing/palazzo-verbania
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1.04 km
View of Lake Maggiore
Highlight • Viewpoint
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1.05 km
Piazza Libertà
Highlight • Settlement
1.05 km
Luino Ferry Terminal
Highlight • Rest Area
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1.13 km
View of the Golden Madonna statue at Luino Harbor
Highlight • Monument
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1.32 km
Via Felice Cavallotti — Art Alley, Luino
Highlight • Structure
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1.58 km
Historic Alleys of Luino
Highlight • Historical Site
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3.76 km
End point
Train Station
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
1.58 km
1.57 km
503 m
< 100 m
< 100 m
Surfaces
2.43 km
1.19 km
128 m
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Elevation
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Weather
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Today
Tuesday 14 July
32°C
23°C
79 %
Additional weather tips
Max wind speed: 6.0 km/h
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Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.
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