Switzerland · Cantone Ticino · Lugano
Cassarate, Lugano — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Cassarate sits on the northern shore of Lake Lugano, east of where the Cassarate River comes out. The river shares its name.
About Cassarate
Where to stay in Cassarate
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Rooms along the Lake Lugano front are the draw. Staying in Cassarate puts Campo Marzio, the Cantonal Museum of Natural History and the Lugano Exhibition Center inside a short walk, with the centre of Lugano close along the same shore rather than a long transfer away. You would choose it for the water.
Castagnola sits next door under the same quarter name.
About Cassarate
What are the main landmarks in Cassarate?
The Cantonal Museum of Natural History anchors the museum side, with the Museo Rainis e Aspazija a smaller stop nearby. Campo Marzio takes the open ground. The Lugano Exhibition Center handles events, while Chiesa di Santa Maria a Pazzalino carries the older architecture of the Castagnola-Cassarate quarter, the political unit that holds all of this inside Lugano.
What is the history of Cassarate?
Until 1972 this ground answered to an independent municipality named Castagnola, which took in Cassarate along with the shore it stands on. Lugano took over. The old commune survives in the compound name of the Castagnola-Cassarate quarter, so the village keeps its identity as part of a city unit rather than as a municipality of the canton of Ticino.
Where is Cassarate?
The Cassarate River reaches Lake Lugano just west of Cassarate, on the lake's northern shore in the canton of Ticino. Water sets the edges.
Good for
More areas in Lugano
Updated September 2026