Estimated duration: 80 minutes
Overview
Welcome to Ascona, a small town on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore that feels more like the Italian Riviera than Switzerland. With its pastel-coloured houses, its lakefront piazza lined with cafes, and its subtropical gardens, Ascona has long been a magnet for artists, writers, intellectuals, and anyone seeking beauty, warmth, and a touch of bohemian freedom. On this walking tour, you will stroll the famous lakefront promenade, explore the narrow lanes of the old town, discover the extraordinary story of Monte Verità, the utopian colony that drew anarchists, vegetarians, and avant-garde artists to this hillside a century ago, and visit the galleries and churches that reflect Ascona's rich cultural heritage. This is Switzerland at its most Mediterranean, its most artistic, and its most surprising.
Let us begin.
Stop 1: The Lakefront Piazza (Piazza Giuseppe Motta)
Start at the Piazza Giuseppe Motta, the main lakefront square.
You are standing on the Piazza Giuseppe Motta, the heart and soul of Ascona. This broad, south-facing piazza stretches along the lakefront, lined with cafes and restaurants whose terraces extend nearly to the water's edge. The piazza is named after Giuseppe Motta, a Ticinese politician who served as President of the Swiss Confederation multiple times in the early twentieth century.
The setting is as close to the Mediterranean as Switzerland gets. Palm trees line the promenade, bougainvillea cascades from balconies, and the warm waters of Lake Maggiore lap at the stone embankment. Across the lake, the mountains of the Italian shore rise in soft, hazy layers, and the light has a golden, southern quality that painters have tried to capture for generations.
Ascona has been a haven for artists since the early twentieth century, when the Monte Verità community drew creative spirits from across Europe. The Bauhaus artists Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky visited. The psychologist Carl Jung came to lecture. The dancer Isadora Duncan performed on the hillside. And the tradition continued throughout the twentieth century, with Ascona becoming an established artists' colony and gallery town.
Today the piazza is the social centre of the town, and on a warm evening it fills with locals and visitors enjoying aperitivi, gelato, and the incomparable sunset over the lake.
Walk east along the piazza and then turn into the lanes of the old town.
Stop 2: The Old Town (Borgo)
Walk from the lakefront into the narrow lanes of Ascona's old town, the Borgo.
The Borgo, Ascona's old town, is a labyrinth of narrow lanes, small piazzas, and stone buildings that climb the hillside behind the lakefront. The architecture is distinctly southern: stone walls, terracotta roofs, wrought-iron balconies, and wooden shutters in every shade of green, blue, and brown.
The oldest parts of the Borgo date from the medieval period. Ascona was a fishing village for centuries, and the narrow lanes and densely packed buildings reflect the need to maximize limited space on the steep shoreline. Many of the buildings have been beautifully restored, and the ground floors now house galleries, boutiques, and small restaurants.
Look for the carved stone doorways and the occasional faded fresco on a wall. The Ticinese have a tradition of embellishing their buildings with small artistic touches, and even in a modest village like Ascona, the details reward close attention.
The Borgo also contains several small churches and oratories that are worth seeking out. The Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia, dating from the fourteenth century, contains important late Gothic frescoes depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, the largest fresco cycle in the canton of Ticino. The frescoes were painted in the fifteenth century and were rediscovered under layers of whitewash during a restoration in the 1890s.
Stop 3: Museo Comunale d'Arte Moderna
Walk to the Museo Comunale d'Arte Moderna, located in the Palazzo Pancaldi on Via Borgo.
The Museo Comunale d'Arte Moderna, Ascona's municipal museum of modern art, holds a collection that reflects the town's century-long association with artists. The museum is housed in the sixteenth-century Palazzo Pancaldi, a beautiful building that provides an atmospheric setting for the collection.
The permanent collection includes works by Marianne Werefkin, a Russian-born painter who moved to Ascona in 1918 and spent the last two decades of her life here, creating vivid, expressionist landscapes and townscapes inspired by the Ticino. Werefkin was a remarkable figure: a member of the Blue Rider group in Munich before World War I, she left Germany and found a new home and a new artistic direction in Ascona.
The museum also holds works by other artists associated with the town, including Richard Seewald, Fritz Pauli, and contemporary Swiss artists. Temporary exhibitions bring additional works to the museum throughout the year.
Stop 4: The Collegio Papio
Walk to the Collegio Papio, on Via Collegio, near the old town.
The Collegio Papio is a Renaissance cloister and educational institution that is one of Ascona's architectural highlights. Founded in 1584 by Cardinal Bartolomeo Papio as a seminary for the education of priests, the college features a beautiful arcaded courtyard with a double loggia in the Lombard Renaissance style.
The courtyard is a peaceful oasis, with its columns, arches, and a well at the centre. The proportions are graceful, and the space has the serene quality of the best Italian Renaissance architecture. The cloisters are particularly atmospheric in the late afternoon, when the low sun casts long shadows through the arches.
The Collegio Papio also contains the Church of the Collegio, which has a fine Baroque interior. The church is still used for services and concerts, and its acoustics are excellent.
The college reflects the Catholic identity of the Ticino, which was firmly in the sphere of the Counter-Reformation during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The religious orders, particularly the Jesuits and the Capuchins, played a major role in education and cultural life, and their architectural legacy is visible throughout the region.
Stop 5: Monte Verità
Walk or take a short bus ride to Monte Verità, the hill above Ascona. The walk takes about 20 minutes uphill.
Monte Verità, the Mountain of Truth, is one of the most extraordinary places in Switzerland, and its story is one of the most fascinating chapters in European cultural history.
In 1900, a group of idealists from northern Europe, led by the Belgian Henri Oedenkoven and the pianist Ida Hofmann, established a utopian community on this hillside above Ascona. They sought to create an alternative way of life based on vegetarianism, nudism, free love, communal living, and harmony with nature. The colony attracted a remarkable cast of characters: anarchists, artists, theosophists, dancers, writers, and reformers of every stripe.
Over the following decades, Monte Verità became a gathering point for the European avant-garde. The Dadaists held events here. The choreographer Rudolf von Laban developed his modern dance theories on the hillside. The anarchist Mikhail Bakunin had lived in the area before the colony was established. Hermann Hesse, who lived nearby in Montagnola, was a frequent visitor. And in the 1930s, the Bauhaus artists and architects brought their vision of modern design to the mountain.
Today, Monte Verità is a cultural centre, hotel, and museum. The Casa Anatta, a wooden house built in the early days of the colony, has been restored and houses an exhibition on the history of the community. The Bauhaus Hotel, designed by Emil Fahrenkamp in the 1920s, is a striking example of Bauhaus architecture set amid subtropical gardens. And the park itself, with its mature trees, sculptures, and panoramic views over the lake, is a beautiful place to walk and reflect.
The view from Monte Verità is spectacular. Lake Maggiore stretches south toward Italy, the Brissago Islands are visible in the middle distance, and the mountains of the Gambarogno rise on the far shore. It is easy to understand why the utopians chose this spot for their experiment in alternative living.
Stop 6: The Lakefront Promenade West
Return to the lakefront and walk west along the promenade.
The lakefront promenade extends west from the Piazza Giuseppe Motta, passing gardens, small parks, and the marina. The promenade is lined with subtropical plants, including palms, oleanders, camellias, and magnolias, creating a lush green corridor alongside the sparkling lake.
Ascona's mild microclimate, similar to that of Locarno, allows plants to thrive here that would not survive elsewhere in Switzerland. The growing season is long, the winters are mild, and the lake acts as a thermal buffer, releasing warmth stored during the summer months.
The promenade leads to the Lido, Ascona's public beach and swimming area, where you can swim in the warm waters of Lake Maggiore. The lake water temperature reaches 24 degrees Celsius or more in the height of summer, making it one of the warmest swimming lakes in Switzerland.
Stop 7: The Brissago Islands Access
From the lakefront, note the boat departure point for the Brissago Islands.
The Isole di Brissago, the Brissago Islands, are two small islands in Lake Maggiore accessible by boat from Ascona. The larger island, the Isola di San Pancrazio, is home to a remarkable botanical garden, the Parco Botanico del Cantone Ticino, where over 1,700 plant species from subtropical regions around the world flourish in the open air.
The gardens were created in the late nineteenth century by the Baroness Antoinette de Saint Léger, a wealthy and eccentric figure who transformed the island into a private paradise of exotic plants. After her fortune was exhausted, the island was purchased by the canton of Ticino and opened to the public in 1950.
The collection includes plants from the Mediterranean, South America, South Africa, East Asia, and Oceania, and the setting, with the lake, the mountains, and the island's own microclimate, creates growing conditions that are unique in Switzerland.
Stop 8: The Cultural Calendar and Festival Life
Walk along the Piazza and through the streets, noting the cultural venues.
Ascona's cultural calendar reflects its long history as an artists' colony and creative haven. Throughout the year, the town hosts events that range from intimate gallery openings to international festivals.
The JazzAscona festival, held annually in June, is one of the finest jazz festivals in Switzerland, focusing on New Orleans jazz and related styles. For ten days, the lakefront piazza and multiple indoor and outdoor stages fill with music, and the atmosphere is joyous and relaxed. The combination of live jazz, the lakefront setting, and the warm summer evenings creates an experience that draws music lovers from across Europe.
The Settimane Musicali di Ascona, the Musical Weeks of Ascona, is a classical music festival that has been running since 1946, making it one of the oldest classical music festivals in Switzerland. The concerts feature internationally renowned soloists and orchestras performing in the churches and halls of Ascona and nearby Locarno.
The Museo Comunale and the numerous private galleries ensure that visual art is represented year-round. Many of the galleries specialise in contemporary art, and the standard is consistently high. Walking through the Borgo and the streets around the piazza, you will pass gallery windows displaying works that range from local landscape painting to international contemporary pieces.
The Monte Verità also contributes to the cultural calendar, hosting conferences, seminars, and artistic residencies that continue the tradition of intellectual and creative exchange that began with the utopian colony over a century ago. The mountain serves as a conference centre for ETH Zurich, Switzerland's prestigious federal institute of technology, bringing scientists, artists, and thinkers to this hilltop above the lake.
Stop 9: The Surrounding Landscape and Excursions
Walk to the western end of the lakefront for views toward the Brissago area.
From the western end of Ascona's lakefront, the view extends along the shore toward the village of Brissago and the Italian border beyond. This section of the lake is particularly beautiful, with steep, wooded hillsides descending to the water and small villages clinging to the slopes.
The Valle Maggia, accessible from Locarno just a few kilometres east, is one of the wildest and most beautiful valleys in Ticino. The Maggia river carves through deep gorges of polished granite, creating natural swimming pools of extraordinary beauty. The valley is dotted with stone villages, many of which have been carefully restored, and the hiking trails that penetrate its upper reaches lead to remote alpine landscapes of great serenity.
Closer to hand, the hillsides above Ascona are laced with walking paths that pass through forests of chestnut, birch, and pine. The chestnut forests of Ticino are a cultural landscape in their own right: for centuries, chestnuts were a staple food of the rural population, and the forests were carefully managed to maximise production. In autumn, the chestnut harvest is celebrated with local festivals, and the nuts are roasted, ground into flour, and used in traditional dishes and desserts.
Stop 10: Evening on the Piazza
Return to the Piazza Giuseppe Motta for a final evening walk.
We end where we began, on the piazza, as the sun sets over the lake. The colours of sunset on Lake Maggiore are legendary: the sky turns from gold to rose to deep violet, and the water mirrors every shade. The mountains across the lake become silhouettes, and the first lights appear in the hillside villages.
The cafes fill. The sound of Italian conversation, laughter, and clinking glasses creates a warm, convivial atmosphere. Order an aperitivo, a Negroni perhaps, or a glass of local Merlot, and settle in to watch the evening unfold.
Closing Narration
Our walking tour of Ascona has taken you through a town where Italian warmth and Swiss order create an irresistible combination. From the lakefront piazza to the utopian dreamers of Monte Verità, from Renaissance cloisters to modern art galleries, Ascona is a place of surprising cultural depth beneath its sun-kissed surface.
Ascona invites you to slow down, to linger, to enjoy the southern light and the gentle pace. Visit Monte Verità and contemplate the visionaries who sought a better world on that hillside. Take the boat to the Brissago Islands. Walk the lanes of the Borgo. And return to the piazza at sunset, because some things are worth seeing twice.
Thank you for joining this ch.tours walking tour of Ascona. We look forward to guiding you again.