Stresa and Transportation

Posted by nixit71 (Chicago ) on 01/06/26 04:12 PM

In the early stages of planning a summer vacation in Northern Italy. Planning to stay 3-4 nights in the Northern Italy Lake Region and leaning towards Lake Maggiore and Stresa. Not sure if I'll have a car at this point.

In looking for activities in the area, I''m considering a day trip to Locarno to go up the mountain. Unfortunately, the ferry service scheduler isn't working but it looks like it might be 3 hours from Stresa to Locarno by ferry. Train service is about 2.5 hours. That would make for a long day. Driving, on the other hand, is around 1 hour.

I'm not married to a Locarno trip but I thought it would be fun to hop the border. But wondering if it's reasonable via public trans.

Posted by Allan

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

01/06/26 04:30 PM

5553 posts

I can't help you but I'm commenting so I can follow the comments. We're planning a trip with a date TBD to Piemonte with a few days at Lake Maggiore as well.

Posted by Roberto da Firenze ⚜

San Francisco Bay Area (USA)

01/06/26 05:44 PM

17243 posts

A few things to do while in Stresa:
Visit Borromean islands (by ferry or private boats, of which there are many and not really more expensive than the ferry)
Visit Orta San Giulio and lake Orta (by car or bus)
Visit Cannobio, the quaintest village on lake Maggiore (by ferry or by bus from Intra, or by car)
Take Cento Valli scenic railway from Domodossola to Locarno (via train). You could also take the ferry to Locarno and return via train via Domodossola with the Cento Valli. The train from Domo to Stresa is the main line run by Trenitalia, the Cento Valli is run by the Swiss FART.

A car is useful and more efficient to visit the area, but if you don’t mind the extra effort and the extra time you can manage by trains and ferry. If you have limited time a car would be a good choice, but it also depends on the rest of your itinerary, depending if a car could be useful to go to other locations you are planning to go to.

Posted by lachera

Firenze, Italy

01/06/26 05:50 PM

2045 posts

First, it is Locarno; if you use a wrong spelling the timetable search engines may not work.

You have three ways from Stresa to Locarno; first, you go south by train till you intercept a railway going north; sometimes you have to change trains in Milan, sometimes you can do local itineraries with a great number of changes. This is the less interesting way.

Second, you can go by ferry. Ferry will be as fast as possible (that is, slow) but landscape is glorious.

Third, you can take train north to Domodossola and change to a small narrow gauge railway to Locarno, called the Centovalli train. This is a very scenic run (so scenic that there is an article this month on TRAINS, the magazine of railway enthusiasts).

https://www.trains.com/trn/travel/scenic-rides/swiss-saga-part-4-the-centovalli-railway/

You could combine going up by ferry and going down via Domodossola, or the other way round. It would be a long day, but you cannot get more scenic than this. Actually going up and down will be the highlights and Locarno just a quick visit. Remember to bring your passport as you are making an international trip and there could be checks. Also, such a long trip is worth only if the weather is decent. Restaurants in Switzerland are very expensive, usually the best choices for lunch are the self services in shopping malls like Manor or Migros.