Just south of Arona, at the southern tip of Lago Maggiore, a small regional park protects a landscape of woods, meadows and peat bogs called the Lagoni di Mercurago. The lagoni are small ponds and wetlands formed after the retreat of the glaciers, and in the nineteenth century, while peat was being dug, the remains of a Bronze Age pile dwelling settlement were found here, including a wooden wheel. Mercurago is part of the UNESCO site of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.
The park is a quiet place for a walk, with paths through oak and chestnut woods and around the ponds. It is also known for its horses: the area has long been a centre of thoroughbred breeding, and you may see horses grazing in the meadows. Arona, three kilometres north, is a lakeside town with a long promenade and a historic centre. Above the town stands the San Carlone, a huge copper statue of Saint Charles Borromeo, the archbishop of Milan who was born in Arona in 1538; visitors can climb inside it and look out through the eyes.
The riding around Arona is varied. The lake road north along the western shore of Lago Maggiore, towards Stresa and Verbania, is scenic but often busy, with views of the Borromean Islands. The hills behind, towards Lake Orta and the Mottarone, have winding roads through forests with fine views over the lakes and the Alps. The Mottarone, between the two lakes, is reached by a road with many hairpins. South of Arona, the plain of Novara is flat and agricultural, with rice fields. Traffic around the lake on summer weekends can be heavy.
Arona has fuel, shops and plenty of restaurants. Dormelletto and Comignago, nearby, are small villages with basic services. The local cuisine combines Piedmontese and Lombard traditions: risotto, lake fish and gorgonzola, which comes from the Novara area. A coffee on the lakeside promenade in Arona, looking across to the castle of Angera on the Lombard shore, is a pleasant way to take a break. In autumn, the woods of Mercurago turn gold, and the park is particularly beautiful.