AIReworked with AI
What changed. Warm late-afternoon light and a pale blue sky with a few high clouds in place of the original light and sky. Readable signs, cars and people removed where present, filled with what was plausibly behind them. Buildings, shores, boats, trees and framing are those of the original; small distant details are rendered by the model and should not be read as a record. The 16:9 format was partly obtained by extending sky and ground at the edges.
Source photo: Ameno Chiesa di San Bernardino.jpg · Francoerbi
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nano Banana 2 (Higgsfield) · 6/10/2026
74 min · 85 km · from Piazza del Duomo, by car
Ameno
Mottarone hills · Nineteenth-century villas, meadows and woods above the east shore
In one sentence
Ameno is the hill village with the most winter sun of the sixteen places: 8 h 04 min on 21 December, at 531 m, 241 m above the lake, 74 min from Milan.
Data sheet
By car, without traffic
| From | Drive time | Kilometres |
|---|---|---|
| Milan | 74 min | 85 |
| Malpensa | 54 min | 45 |
| Linate | 82 min | 90 |
| Novara | 50 min | 47 |
| Turin | 1 h 36 min | 125 |
| Lugano | 81 min | 94 |
| Zurich | 3 h 51 min | 297 |
| Basel | 4 h 24 min | 354 |
| Bern | 4 h 22 min | 321 |
| Geneva | 3 h 54 min | 302 |
| Munich | 6 h 05 min | 509 |
OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, without traffic, measured on 6 October 2026. Arrival at the centre of the place.
elevation
531 m241 m above the lake · from 471 m to 573 m around the point
Copernicus DEM (GLO-90) for the point; Terrain Tiles for the surroundings (400 m radius). Ground elevation, not buildings.
Sun on 21 December
8 h 04 min of direct sun, from 08:28 to 16:31 (out of 8 h 29 min of theoretical daylight)
Our own calculation on the terrain (Terrain Tiles): only the mountains count, not buildings or trees.
Train, boat, schools
- Nearest station
- Orta-Miasino · 1.8 km
- Nearest pier
- Orta piazza · 3.0 km
- State schools in the municipality
- scuola infanzia
- residents
- 874 · ISTAT 1/1/2025
as the crow flies
Landslides and floods (municipality)
- of residents in high or very high landslide hazard areas
- 0.1%
- of residents in medium flood hazard areas
- 1.3%
ISPRA IdroGEO, percentages for the whole municipality (2021 census population), not for the point.
Distances
Ameno and its neighbours
| Places | Drive time | Kilometres |
|---|---|---|
| Vacciago | 3 min | 1.4 |
| Miasino | 4 min | 2.3 |
| Legro | 6 min | 3.6 |
| Bolzano Novarese | 6 min | 4.0 |
| Armeno | 7 min | 5.0 |
| Orta San Giulio | 9 min | 5.1 |
| Pettenasco | 9 min | 6.6 |
| Gozzano | 10 min | 6.5 |
| San Maurizio d'Opaglio | 13 min | 10.1 |
| Pella | 19 min | 13.7 |
| Omegna | 20 min | 13.5 |
| Madonna del Sasso | 22 min | 16.6 |
| Ronco | 23 min | 16.6 |
| Nonio | 24 min | 20.1 |
| Quarna Sopra | 32 min | 21.6 |
OSRM without traffic, measured on 6 October 2026. On the lake the road goes round the water: from one shore to the other the car takes longer than the boat.
How life is
Living in Ameno
A hill village above Orta
Ameno lies halfway up the slope of Mottarone, at 531 m and about 1.4 km from the shore as the crow flies. The lake is not at your door: you see it from above, depending on the spot. The municipality has 874 residents (ISTAT, 1 January 2025; 2026 estimate: 866) and includes the hamlet of Vacciago, lower down towards Orta.
In Vacciago, in the house-studio of a 17th-century palazzo, is the Antonio and Carmela Calderara Foundation: a collection of 327 works, 56 by the painter Antonio Calderara (1903–1978) and 271 by other European, American, Japanese and Chinese artists.
The longest winter sun in the atlas
On 21 December our calculation gives Ameno 8 h 04 min of direct sun, from 8:28 am to 4:31 pm, out of 8 h 29 min possible with a flat horizon: the highest figure of the sixteen places. On Piazza Motta in Orta it is 6 h 39 min. On 21 June Ameno gets 14 h 29 min. The calculation covers terrain only, without buildings or trees.
According to ISPRA landslide hazard is low: 0.1% of residents in high or very high hazard areas, on 0.3% of the area. 4.9% of the territory has flood hazard, with 1.3% of residents: these are strips along watercourses, to be checked plot by plot.
Services: the basics in the village, the rest nearby
The municipality has a state nursery school; for primary and lower secondary you go to Orta, Miasino (primary) or Armeno, all within 9 min. The nearest upper secondary liceo is in Gozzano, 10 min. For healthcare the nearby reference is Omegna, which has a first-aid point and not an emergency department; the level-I emergency department is in Borgomanero.
Ameno's limit is also its character: no lake at the door, no boat landing (Orta's is 3 km away as the crow flies), and every errand means taking the car.
What you buy and at what price
According to OMI (2nd half of 2025), in the residential hill zone D1 standard homes are valued at €1,100–1,550/m² and villas at €1,150–1,650/m². In the old core (B1) standard homes are at €990–1,450/m², economy homes at €580–840/m². Against the 2nd half of 2024, standard homes in zone D1 rose by 6.0% at the midpoint, villas by 3.7%.
Ameno's villas are valued at about half those on Orta's lakefront. These are valuations, not sale prices: ranges estimated by zone and type, on gross floor area and normal condition.
Getting there
By car, without traffic: 74 min (85 km) from Milan's Duomo, 54 min (45 km) from Malpensa T1, 81 min from Lugano. Orta-Miasino station is 1.8 km away as the crow flies: on a sample Wednesday there are 8 direct trains to Novara and none between 8:04 am and 1:51 pm; for Milan you change at Novara.
Vacciago is 3 min away, Miasino 4, Orta 9. Boats from Orta run from March to October.
By car, without traffic · OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, measured on 6 October 2026.
Quotations
What the quotations say in Ameno
| OMI zone | Type | €/m² | Rent €/m² per month | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 · vecchio nucleo centrale Centrale | Abitazioni civili | 990–1,450 | 3.2–4.6 | +4.3% |
| Abitazioni di tipo economico | 580–840 | 2.0–2.8 | +1.4% | |
| D1 · collinare residenziale Periferica | Abitazioni civili | 1,100–1,550 | 3.5–5.0 | +6.0% |
| Abitazioni di tipo economico | 590–850 | 2.0–2.9 | +1.4% | |
| Ville e Villini | 1,150–1,650 | 4.2–6.0 | +3.7% |
Italian Revenue Agency, OMI, 2nd half of 2025, normal condition; change on the 2nd half of 2024. These are estimated ranges per zone, not individual sale prices.
Honestly
Does Ameno suit you?
It suits you if
- You want the most winter sun on the lake: 8 h 04 min on 21 December.
- You want a villa at hillside values: €1,150–1,650/m².
- You like a quiet village with a contemporary art museum in its hamlet.
Look elsewhere if
- You want the water at your door: the shore is 1.4 km away as the crow flies.
- You need a primary and lower secondary school in the village.
- You do not want to depend on the car.
Questions
The questions we are asked
How much does a house cost in Ameno?
In the hill zone D1 OMI values standard homes at €1,100–1,550/m² and villas at €1,150–1,650/m² (2nd half of 2025). In the old core standard homes are at €990–1,450/m². These are estimated ranges, not signed prices.
Does Ameno really get more winter sun?
Yes, according to our terrain calculation: on 21 December 8 h 04 min of direct sun, the highest among the sixteen places, against 6 h 39 min in Orta. The village is high and the horizon around it is low. Buildings and trees can take hours off a given house.
Does Ameno have a lake view?
The village is 241 m above the lake, about 1.4 km from the shore. From many spots you see the lake from above, from others you do not: it depends on height, aspect and trees. Check house by house.
Which schools are in Ameno?
Only the state nursery school. The nearest primary is in Miasino or Orta, lower secondary in Orta or Armeno, within 9 min by car. The nearest liceo is in Gozzano.
Can I buy here through OrtaVillas?
Yes: TriesteVillas srl is a registered agency and can act as broker on the lake. Today, however, the lake's Private Collection has 0 homes, and this page is not a listing. Sign up to be notified, or write to richieste@triestevillas.com or call +39 347 8628738.
Private Collection · Lago d'Orta
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Sources
- ISTAT – Popolazione residente al 1° gennaio 2025 (POSAS) · read on 2026-10-06
- Agenzia delle Entrate – OMI, quotazioni 2° semestre 2025 e 2° semestre 2024, Ameno · read on 2026-10-06
- OSRM su dati © OpenStreetMap contributors – tempi in auto senza traffico · read on 2026-10-06
- ISPRA IdroGEO – indicatori di pericolosità, comune di Ameno · read on 2026-10-06
- MIM – Anagrafe scuole statali a.s. 2026/27 · read on 2026-10-06
- Sole al 21 dicembre, marzo e giugno: calcolo OrtaVillas su AWS Terrain Tiles (EU-DEM/SRTM) · read on 2026-10-06
- Quota: Copernicus DEM GLO-90 via Open-Meteo Elevation API · read on 2026-10-06
- Fondazione Antonio e Carmela Calderara · read on 2026-10-06
- Abbonamento Musei – Fondazione Antonio e Carmela Calderara (327 opere) · read on 2026-10-06
- Wikipedia (it) – Ameno (Casa Calderara, Antonio Calderara 1903–1978) · read on 2026-10-06
- Trenitalia, motore orari lefrecce.it – campione del 7 e 10 ottobre 2026 · read on 2026-10-06
- ASL VCO – Punto di Primo Intervento di Omegna · read on 2026-10-06
- ASL NO – Borgomanero, Ospedale SS. Trinità, DEA di I livello (BUR Piemonte 1/4/2026) · read on 2026-10-06