Campo dei Fiori is the hill that dominates the western skyline above Varese, rising to 1226 metres and now protected as a regional park. A road winds up through beech and chestnut forest to the summit, where you find trails, a small observatory, and the extraordinary ghost of the Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori — a vast abandoned Liberty-era hotel that looms out of the trees like a set from a gothic novel.
The park offers good walking and mountain biking, with waymarked trails at various difficulty levels. From the top on a clear day you can see across the lakes to the Alps and south across the Po plain to Milan. The sunsets are spectacular.
The summit is accessible by car (the road is steep and narrow) or on foot from Varese — the classic hike takes about two to three hours each way. Bring layers even in summer: the temperature at the top is noticeably cooler than in the city.