Holiday apartment in Novate Mezzola – Lake, Val Codera and granite culture

Holiday apartment in Novate Mezzola between the lake and mountain trails

Novate Mezzola brings together the lake, mountain trails and culture. The town is accessible by car via the SS 36, as well as by train and STPS buses. Choosing a holiday apartment in Novate Mezzola therefore allows you to include water activities, hikes, a cycling tour and local history in your holiday plans.

Lago di Mezzola stretches between Verceia and Novate Mezzola, set in a landscape of forests, rock faces and mountains. The lake is suitable for kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding, rowing and boat trips. This variety makes the lake a concrete destination for active days away.

Hiking in Val Codera

Val Codera has no road access; footpaths connect its old rural settlements and mountain pastures. Your hike into the valley can begin at Novate Mezzola railway station or in Mezzoalpiano, where parking is available.

San Giorgio di Cola is a mountain hamlet on a meadow behind a granite spur at the entrance to Val Codera. It can only be reached via a steep mule track from Novate Mezzola or along the Tracciolino trail. Anyone wishing to visit San Giorgio di Cola should plan access via these paths.

Culture between granite and mountain hamlets

Artists and craftsmen who were funded by Bishop Francesco Giani worked at the Chiesa della Santissima Trinità di Novate Mezzola between 1685 and 1715. The church in the mountain hamlet of San Giorgio di Cola has Romanesque features in its semicircular apse with exterior pilasters.

The Museo Picapreda is a small museum on Piazza Europa in Novate Mezzola that preserves the history of granite processing in the town. For generations, local stonemasons quarried Sanfedelino granite in Novate Mezzola and processed it.

The Museo Storico Etnografico Naturalistico della Val Codera was founded in 1982, recognized by Regione Lombardia and organized as an ecomuseum with departments in Codera and San Giorgio. The Museo della Val Codera department in San Giorgio is housed in a former stable and hayloft. There, the museum preserves stonemasons' tools used for extracting and processing granite. It also displays tools used by farmers, blacksmiths and shoemakers, kitchen furnishings and equipment, as well as hand-embroidered clothing and household linens.

In the area around Novate Mezzola, at the northern end of Lago di Mezzola, stands the Romanesque Tempietto di San Fedelino. It can be reached by boat from Novate Mezzola and adds a lakeside destination to the town's history.

Cycling paths and nature observations

Along the lakeside cycling route, brown hares and kingfishers can be spotted near the dam. A cycle path follows the river through Mese, Gordona and Samolaco, reaching the lake at Novate Mezzola after a total of 17 kilometres. The cycling options described here give you different ways to plan active days according to the length you prefer.

Other places for your planning

For further orientation, you can also explore Prosto, Tirano, Sassella, Sernio, Cataeggio, Forcola, Dubino and Samolaco.

For the higher-level travel overview: Sondrio.