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If you drive to Italy via Switzerland, Lake Maggiore is one of the first sights you will see. It’s the second biggest lake in Italy and the most famous of the Alpine lakes. The area is peaceful and beautiful, but, unlike other areas of Italy, it is not the place to go if you want to visit cultural sites. It is, however, the ideal place for both a relaxing as well as an active holiday. There are plenty of opportunities to get some exercise walking in the mountains.
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The east coast
Maccagno lies on the northern part of the lake, and is one of the least commercialised places in the area. It is a pretty town and you can go for long walks in the mountains from here. You can, for example, take a trip to the town of Curiglia, and if you carry on 500 m up a mule track you get to the remote village of Monteviasco. No other roads lead this way and it is only recently that you have been able to access it by cable car.
A little south of Maccagno lies Luino, which is definitely worth a visit on Wednesdays, when you can go shopping at Lake Maggiore’s largest market. In the historic centre, you can also find good wine and food shops.
Laveno has a lot of strange things to offer. The main industry in the town is ceramics, and there is a ceramics museum with strange and wonderful artefacts, including a toilet bowl with its interior decorated with pastoral scenes! And stranger still, at Christmas time you can also see the underwater nativity scene. From Laveno, you can take the cable car to Sasso del Ferro, from where there is a wonderful view of the Alps.
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