Monte Verità is the hill above Ascona where utopian Europe came to sunbathe, argue, dance, fast, and write manifestos. The colony that formed here around 1900 drew artists, anarchists, philosophers, dancers, and seekers who wanted a freer life than industrial Europe seemed to offer.
Today the hill is calmer: part museum, part conference centre, part wooded walk. Go for the story as much as the view. It gives Ascona an edge that the elegant lakefront alone would not have.