Eating in the mountains above Maccagno
The short answer: when the air stands still by the lake in August, drive up. Twenty minutes of hairpins and it is ten degrees cooler. For polenta with game go to Rifugio Forcora at 1,179 metres. For the best kitchen in the hinterland, Smeraldo in Dumenza. For a farm with its own dairy, Fattoria Roccolo. And for the day your guests will talk about at home, take the cable car to Monteviasco – a village no road reaches.
Twelve grotti, farm kitchens and mountain refuges in the hinterland – plus a village with no road, and a cable car running again since 2025.
By valley: Straight above Maccagno: Lago Delio and Passo Forcora · Val Veddasca and Dumenza · Monteviasco: the village with no road · Valtravaglia and Tronzano
Straight above Maccagno: Lago Delio and Passo Forcora
The reservoir above the village and the pass behind it. Both are twenty to thirty minutes by car, and both can be walked if you have the whole day.
Ristoro Lago Delio
Località Lago Delio – grill and mountain cooking
Up at the reservoir, looking out over the water with a shoreline path at the door. Grilled food, polenta, game. Ratings are mixed, particularly on service – you come for the place and the walk, not for the kitchen. As the destination of a morning it is still a good idea. Google Maps
Rifugio Forcora
Passo Forcora, 1,179 m – mountain refuge
On the pass between Veddasca and Dumenza, with a panoramic setting and parking almost at the door. Polenta with wild boar or venison, forest-berry cake. On foot from the Lago Delio car park in a good hour. Closed Tuesdays. Google Maps
Val Veddasca and Dumenza
The valley behind Maccagno, with hamlets almost nobody knows. What is cooked here is what grows and runs up here.
Ristorante Smeraldo
Dumenza, Via Fiume 3 – traditional valley cooking
The best address in the hinterland, steadily rated that way for years. Game, mushrooms, and as a speciality faraona alla creta – guinea fowl baked in clay, from a historical recipe. Two brothers in the kitchen. Closed Tuesdays, plus a variable winter break between November and January. Call: 0332 573 139. Google Maps
Fattoria Roccolo
Dumenza, Località Roccolo, 900 m – farm with its own dairy
On the road from Dumenza to Curiglia, on the north slope of Monte Lema. Their own dairy: toma, ricotta and mozzarella from their own herd, alongside polenta with salsiccia, brasato and oven-baked kid. Very few guest reviews – not because it is poor, but because almost nobody drives up. Call ahead: 0332 568 477. Google Maps
Bar Trattoria Saredi
Armio, Via Giacomo Saredi 2 – village trattoria
The only place in Veddasca, and a good one. Tortelli with ricotta and chives, house-made cured meats, fair prices. Small, rural, friendly – the opposite of the lakefront. Google Maps
Monteviasco: the village with no road
No road reaches Monteviasco. Until 2018 you took the cable car; after a fatal accident it stood still for almost seven years and residents climbed some 1,400 steps. Since 10 August 2025 it runs again.
Ristorante Il Vecchio Circolo
Monteviasco, Via dei Caduti 9 – Lombard mountain cooking
The best-rated place in the village and its actual centre: Barbara and Roberto kept it open through all the years without the cable car. Pizzoccheri, sciatt, polenta with game, house-made desserts. Reachable only by cable car or on the steps. Google Maps
Ristorante Il Camoscio Bellavista
Monteviasco – Alpine cooking
The second house in the village, looking down the valley. Alpine cooking with a Swiss inflection. Same rule here: cable car or steps, no car gets up. Google Maps
El Barchet
Curiglia, Via Leonardo da Vinci 1 – down in the valley
Down in Curiglia, near the valley station. Gnocchi and game with polenta, and a great many guests over the years. The practical answer when the cable car has stopped for the day or the legs have had enough. Google Maps
Valtravaglia and Tronzano
South and west, on the heights between Luino and the Valtravaglia. All twenty to thirty minutes by car from Maccagno.
Agriturismo Cascina Volpi
Montegrino Valtravaglia, Via Martiri di S. Martino 50 – farm kitchen
Everything made in house: beef from their own farm, salami, vegetables from their own fields, pasta by hand. Pizzoccheri and tagliatelle come up again and again. The tone of the house is blunt, the food is not in dispute. Closed Mondays, booking compulsory: 0332 576 408. The old guidebook says Cascina Volpe – the farm is Volpi. Google Maps
Agriturismo Il Torchio
Montegrino Valtravaglia, Fraz. Riviera, Via Margorabbia 33 – agriturismo
A great many satisfied guests, but open on few days – as far as we could establish, Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday lunch. Do not rely on that; call: 0332 575 419. Google Maps
La Pometa
Montegrino Valtravaglia, Via Fabiasco 3bis – regional cooking
Simple and very good, in nicely restored rooms, with produce from the area. More than five hundred guest reviews and well signposted – one of the most straightforward addresses up here. Google Maps
Mazzardit Restaurant & Lounge Club
Tronzano Lago Maggiore, Via Europa 1 – upmarket, with a grill
Formerly Grotto Mazzardit, today considerably more modern: upmarket Italian cooking, fish and grill, lounge operation. The place for anyone who does not want polenta in the mountains. Ratings vary; it is still the number one in its village. Google Maps
What to know about the hinterland
- We are not paid by any of these places. No commission, no partnership, nothing in return.
- The Monteviasco cable car runs again. Since 10 August 2025, after almost seven years standing still; since March 2026 on six days a week. It is operated by Milan's ATM together with a regional partner. Check the current timetable before you go – and count the last descent into your plan.
- Without the cable car the only way up is the staircase, some 1,400 steps from Ponte di Piero. That is a climb, not a stroll – proper shoes, water, and not in the midday heat.
- Closing days, as far as we know: Smeraldo and Rifugio Forcora on Tuesdays, Cascina Volpi on Mondays. Smeraldo also takes a variable winter break between November and January.
- Opening hours are less reliable up here than down by the lake. Several houses open only at weekends, some only by arrangement, and what is online often comes from directories rather than from the owner. One phone call saves the drive.
- The roads are narrow and winding. The climbs to Passo Forcora and to Curiglia are all hairpins; in a motorhome this is no pleasure. In winter there can be snow up there while the sun is still out at the lake.
- Take something back down with you. Fattoria Roccolo sells its own cheese, and several farms will let you have salami and preserves. Ask inside – it is usually not on the menu.
Questions about the hinterland
Is the Monteviasco cable car running again?
Yes. It stood still for almost seven years after a fatal accident in November 2018 and went back into service on 10 August 2025. Since March 2026 it runs six days a week, operated by Milan's transport company ATM with a regional partner. Check the current timetable and the last descent before you set off.
How do you reach Monteviasco without the cable car?
On foot, up the historic stone staircase from Ponte di Piero – around 1,400 steps. There is no road: Monteviasco is one of the few car-free villages in Italy. The climb takes one to two hours depending on fitness and wants preparing for.
Where do you eat well above Maccagno?
At Passo Forcora in the Rifugio Forcora at 1,179 metres, with polenta and game, closed Tuesdays. In Dumenza at Ristorante Smeraldo, the best-rated address in the hinterland, with game, mushrooms and guinea fowl baked in clay. And in Armio at Bar Trattoria Saredi, the only place in Val Veddasca.
Are there agriturismi near Maccagno?
Yes, several. Fattoria Roccolo above Dumenza at 900 metres with its own dairy, Cascina Volpi in Montegrino Valtravaglia with its own beef and hand-made pasta, and Agriturismo Il Torchio, also in Montegrino. For all three: call ahead, the opening days are limited.
How far is it from THE CAMP into the mountains?
Not far. Lago Delio above Maccagno is about twenty minutes by car, Passo Forcora about thirty, and Dumenza and Montegrino Valtravaglia twenty to thirty depending on where you are heading. The roads are narrow and winding, so allow more time than the distance suggests.