Varese earns its nickname "the Garden City" from the Liberty-era villas and landscaped parks scattered across its hills, built by Milanese industrialists who escaped the summer heat here. The city sits at the foot of the Sacro Monte di Varese, a UNESCO-listed pilgrimage path that climbs through forest past fourteen baroque chapels to a hilltop sanctuary with views across the Po plain to Monte Rosa.
Lake Varese and the smaller Lake Monate are just outside town, quieter and less touristed than Como or Maggiore. The city centre has a pleasant pedestrianised core around Piazza Monte Grappa and the Palazzo Estense gardens. Above the city, Campo dei Fiori rises to over 1200 metres with forests, trails, and a panoramic view that stretches to Milan and the Alps. Varese is an easy day trip from Milan — under an hour by regional train.