I have 2 weeks in August I want to spend with my husband in the Lake Maggiore area......Would also like to see Switzerland or maybe do a scenic train ride. Any suggestions for an itinerary and where to stay? We will be renting a car.
Posted by
11609 posts
Correction: spelling, Lake Como
The northern end of Lake Maggiore is in Switzerland.
We have stayed in both Stresa and Ranco.
Ranco is closest to MXP. It is a very nice town, recommended to us by an Italian friend.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17563 posts
If you would consider not renting a car, you could do something like this:
Wherever you choose to stay on Lago Maggiore, you can take a ferry from there to Locarno in Switzerland, or the adjacent town of Ascona. Spend a few days there (be sure to visit the lovely Valle Verzasca). Then take the scenic Treno Gottardo from Locarno over the mountains to Luzern ( you can do the last half of this journey by lake boat if you wish).
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/treno-gottardo/
https://www.ascona-locarno.com/en/explore/valle-verzasca
From Luzern you could fly home from Zurich to avoid backtracking.
If you really want the car, you could leave it in Locarno for 2 days while you take the scenic train to Luzern and back. But that seems kind of wasteful. Or ride over and back in the same day, but you would not have much time in Luzern that way.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
The Centovalli scenic railway is very famous on Lake Maggiore, from Locarno (Switzerland) to Domodossola (Italy). It is not managed by Trenitalia so you won't find it in the Tranitalia website, as it is run by FART (Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, the local Swiss transit agency). You can find information in the website below: