Traveling to Locarno and Italy

Locarno is on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore, a very beautiful lake, not lake Como.
Of course you can go to lake Como by train, but it's not the same lake. You can go to the Italian side of lake Maggiore by boat, if you want, which is actually a very beautiful way to do it. There is boat service all over lake Maggiore. There is also the Centovalli railroad from Locarno to Domodossola (a very scenic historical railroad). There are probably buses as well that connect Locarno with the Italian side of the lake. I was there last July, but I had a car, so not sure about the bus service between the two.
There is a lot to do on Lake Maggiore, but the lake is very long, so it takes time by boat from the far north (Locarno) to the southern part (Stresa/Arona). Do you have a car?

joannie,

Visiting Lago di Como from Locarno is not the easiest solution, given the travel times involved. Travel from Locarno to Como S. Giovanni will be about 1H:45M each way, while travel to Varenna at the mid-lake area will take much longer. There may be Bus options from Locarno, but I'm only familiar with the trains in that area.

As Roberto suggested, touring Lago Maggiore would be a much easier option, and the small town of Stresa would be a good place to visit. One option you could consider would be travel by boat to Stresa in the morning, and return to Locarno via the Cento Valli Railway in the afternoon (not sure what time the last train runs from Domodossola).

Thanks for the advice on traveling from Locarno to Lake Como. We have a car. Or we can go by train. Lake Como is very beautiful. I wanted to know if you all new of other places to see and do around the area of Lake Como, Milan. And any where else that we can do for day trips.

Visiting lake Como from Locarno on a day trip is not a short trip by car either. You need a couple of hours each way. To get there you need to travel through the A2 to Lugano, then you can choose if you want to continue south to Como, or take the road along the lake Lugano to Menaggio. Don't forget you need a vignette to travel on Swiss motorways.

I presume that you are asking because you will be in Locarno at least 4 nights. If you are there any less, you should stick to visiting lake Maggiore only which is just as beautiful and certainly has more things to do and visit than lake Como.

While in lake Maggiore you should visit at least the following:
- Locarno and Ascona
- the Centovalli Railroad to Domodossola
- the beautiful medieval village of Cannobio
- Stresa
- the Borromee islands (by boat in front of Stresa)
- lake Orta and the village of Orta San Giulio, on its shore.

You need 3 days to see all of the above from Locarno.

If what you care to see is lake Como, and you don't have three days to see the lake you will be staying on (lake Maggiore), then you should consider staying on lake Como itself, or another location that is closer to lake Como.

We will be in Locarno for 2 weeks. Thanks for the information.