Lake Maggiore is not a destination to rush through.
It is a place to discover slowly.
Every day can be completely different.
Take a ferry without planning every stop, wander through historic villages, visit local markets, hike to panoramic viewpoints or simply enjoy an afternoon by the lakeside.
Many guests tell us the same thing when they leave.
What they remember most is not only the scenery, but the slower rhythm of life.
That is exactly why ViaRoma53 exists.
To give you a quiet base to set out from each morning and to come back to each evening.
In the Borromean gulf, opposite Stresa, three islands can be visited in a single day: Isola Bella with its palace and terraced gardens, Isola dei Pescatori with its houses pressed tightly together, and Isola Madre with its botanical park.
You can try to see all three, or pick one and take your time. The second option is usually the one people remember.
Further north, just across the border, lie the Brissago Islands: a botanical garden on an island, reached by boat from the Swiss shore.
From here you can leave in the morning and be back in the afternoon.
The simplest way to understand the lake is to cross it.
The nearest piers are Porto Valtravaglia and Luino, and from there you can reach both shores, the central lake and the Swiss villages.
The ferry between Laveno and Intra runs at short intervals all day and takes cars: it is the shortcut that makes any trip along the Piedmont shore far quicker.
The first village worth seeing is the one you are sleeping in. Above Brezzo di Bedero, on the hill, stands the Collegiata di San Vittore, which everyone here calls la Canonica: a twelfth-century Romanesque church in dark stone, with a forecourt looking out over the lake. You can walk up, and it is the right place for your first evening.
Luino is the main town: the lakeside promenade, the plane trees, the bookshops, and on Wednesdays the market, held since 1541, filling the whole centre down to the pier.
To the north, Maccagno and the upper-shore villages grow quieter as you approach the Swiss border. To the south, Castelveccana and Caldè with its rock, and further down Angera with the castle that closes the lake.
On the opposite shore, Cannero and Cannobio are reached by ferry and are worth the trip for the way they look as you arrive from the water alone.
The mountain rises immediately behind the village, and the trails start from the streets of the old centre: no car needed.
They range from a half-hour walk up to the forecourt of the Canonica, where the lake opens up all at once, to full days along the ridges of Valtravaglia and Valveddasca, through woods, mule tracks and villages that time has left alone.
If you want the view without the climb, the cable car from Laveno takes you high above the lake in a few minutes.
Spring and autumn are the best seasons for walking: in summer it is better to leave early and be back by lunchtime.
Brezzo di Bedero has four small beaches below the village — Ca’ Bianca, Varesella, Belmonte and Tri Sgaritt — more coves than beaches: you arrive, lay down a towel, and from every one of them you see the whole lake.
A little further along are the better-equipped ones: Punta Molino and the Lido at Porto Valtravaglia, the Boschettino at Germignaga, the beaches of Luino and, to the north, the wide lawn of Parco Giona at Maccagno.
The wind often picks up in the afternoon: that is normal, and it is the same reason people sail here.
This part of the lake is windy in the afternoon, and has always been where people learn to sail and windsurf. The sailing clubs along the shore run courses and rentals during the season.
Those who prefer a canoe or a paddleboard go out early, when the water is still and you follow the shoreline under the woods without meeting anyone. It is the moment when you see the houses from the lake, which is a different way of looking at them.
You do not need experience to start, but you do need to ask: the wind changes quickly here and the clubs know when it is worth going out.
The border is a few kilometres away and you cross it almost without noticing.
Lugano, Ascona and Locarno are close, and in a single day you can take a cable car high above the lake and still be back for dinner.
Two practical points: you need a valid ID document, and Swiss motorways require the annual vignette, which you can buy at the border.
01
Market in the morning, lunch to take away, an afternoon on the promenade or on the beach. Arrive early and park away from the centre.
02
Ferry from Laveno to Intra, boat into the Borromean gulf, one island visited properly, back in the late afternoon.
03
An early climb to the Canonica, a ridge trail, back in the early afternoon and a swim below the village.
04
The border in half an hour, a morning in a lakeside town, a cable car in the afternoon, home for dinner.
Every season gives Lake Maggiore a different personality.
Spring brings flowers and fresh colours.
Summer belongs to the lake.
Autumn offers peaceful landscapes and warm colours.
Winter is perfect for travellers looking for quiet villages and slower days.
ViaRoma53 welcomes guests throughout the year.
