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Comune in Lombardy, Italy
Photo: Richard Mayer, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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In Biumo Superiore, in the noblest of the ancient "Castellanze", there are Ville Ponti, a complex of two villas, one in Venetian style (16th century), the other in neoclassical, both of them used as congress centers, surrounded by a magnificent English park. Just in front of the entrance of Ville Ponti, there is Villa Panza, architectonic masterpiece dating back to the first 17th-century Lombard style. Its marvelous façade overlooking the garden is an evidence of the neoclassical period. Today the Villa hosts an important contemporary art collection.
The "Lido of Schiranna" is one of the most pleasant places of the lake, a few minutes from the city centre of Varese. The park is a moment of leisure and it's a really quiet and reserved place that allows you to disconnect from daily monotony. Absolutely not to lose a visit to "Isolino Virginia", regarded as one of the most important Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, from 2011 added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Varese and its Province host four major UNESCO World Heritage Sites, two of them in the city territory, the Sacro Monte and the Alpine Prehistorics pile-dwellings on the lake of Varese. In addition, few kilometers from the city, in Gornate Olona, you can visit the Archeological area of Castelseprio-Torba, part of the UNESCO's patrimony of the "Longobards in Italy. The centres of power (568-774 A.D.)" and the Saint Georges's Mount, a transnational UNESCO World Heritage site (CH-I), one of the most important fossil deposit in the world.
By car
Autostrada dei Laghi A8 from Milan. Coming from Switzerland exit in Mendrisio and drive to Varese going through the customs of Stabio-Gaggiolo
By train
The "Servizio Ferroviario Regionale" connects Varese by train to other major cities in Lombardy and Switzerland (Canton Tessin). Services are provided by Trenitalia and Trenord railway network.
Varese is small enough to get around on foot, and many of the streets are pedestrian-only. Nevertheless if you want to reach and visit towns and villages spread over the area, such as Sacro Monte and S.
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Ferno (VA) · International · MXP
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