The Olcio beach is an equipped shore at Olcio, a hamlet of Mandello del Lario, below the provincial road.
What it is like
According to LeccoToday (18 June 2023) it is perhaps the least known of Mandello’s beaches but one of the prettiest: the shore lies between an ice-cream parlour and a restaurant and has wide wooden benches, which the writer says look like an open-air sauna. The renovation work dated from about two years earlier: you arrive on foot and the shore has comfortable areas for sunbathing or for getting into the water. The official profile of the bathing site lists a car park and, next to the beach, a pier for boats to dock.
A walk after the swim
From the pedestrian underpass you climb in a few minutes to the Olcio loop, according to LeccoToday: the paths lead to the Lierna woods on one side and to the church of Santa Maria sopra Olcio on the other, and cross some stretches of the Sentiero del Viandante.
Practical information
- We have not found on an up-to-date official source the hours, services or rules for using the shore. The only service listed in the official profile of the bathing site is the car park.
- The competent authority given in the profile is the Comune di Mandello del Lario, telephone 0341 708111.
- In June 2022 swimming was banned for about ten days because of cyanobacteria and allowed again after the sampling of 27 June (Lario News, 30 June 2022): an example of a temporary ban, which can happen again.
- The coordinates on this page are those of the “Olcio - LC 18” sampling point in the European bathing-water data (EEA).
Water quality
In the official European classifications (data reported by Italy to the European Environment Agency) the monitored bathing site «Olcio - LC 18» is rated “Excellent” in every annual classification from 2021 to 2025. The classifications summarise several seasons of sampling and do not rule out temporary bans after storms or other events: before swimming, check the Ministry of Health’s Portale Acque and the signs on site.