Ranco is a charming village in a plum spot on a headland jutting out into Lake Maggiore. It’s just to the north of Angera, on a narrow stretch of lake, with a rocky shoreline and a picturesque opposite bank. Ranco is known for being peaceful, and we recommend the best places to stay in Ranco to those looking for a lakeside escape or retreat, or a quiet base for exploring Lake Maggiore’s larger centres. Our picks in Ranco include a really excellent restaurant with rooms, and a beautiful hotel with a fantastic restaurant.
As well as being a peaceful retreat for guests, Ranco is primarily still a fishing town, and one of our favourite hotels has its own fishing boat, which guests are welcome to go out on. A peaceful atmosphere is often inducive to relaxing pursuits like fishing, and walking, and cycling, and Ranco makes a great base for all these activities.
Ranco’s appeals are more in its natural surroundings, than man-made ones, but it does have a rather excellent transport museum, the Ogliari Museum of Transport, which has a surprisingly large collection of locomotives, trams, stagecoaches, train carriages and underground cars.
However as with all destinations in the Italian lakes, the town is especially busy during the peak summer months. So if you want to guarantee your room in one of the best places to stay in Ranco in July or August, get organised and book well ahead.