Only a short distance from Milan, Lake Maggiore has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. It’s the 2nd largest lake in Italy (behind Lake Garda) and borders both Italy and Switzerland. Not far from the east side of Lake Maggiore, and just over the Swiss border, is Lake Lugano. I had no idea Switzerland dipped down into Italy like that, so in an effort to add one more lake and one more country to our trip, we included it in the itinerary! Then, just a hop, skip and a jump from Lugano is Lake Como.
Wednesday, September 25
Mottarone
To give us some incredible views of the lake, and to have a little fun, we decided to go to the top of Mottarone for an Alpine coaster ride, then drive down into Stresa.
Alpyland (4.5/5)
Since we had the rental car, we opted to drive up the backside of the mountain from Milan, which took about 1.5 hours. You can actually see Lake Orta on the drive up and from the top, which was a nice surprise, as we hadn’t planned to visit it!
I believe you can also get to the top of Mottarone via cable car for around €20/person. Not sure where it drops you off, though.
At the top, there’s a little bar/restaurant where you can park before walking up the hill to Alpyland. The walk up the hill is a little bit of a hike, but not difficult. You can either take the steep grassy hill or a stone driveway/walkway (no cars) that is less steep but longer.
We went on a weekday and there were no lines or issues with it being too crowded at all. The views were absolutely amazing and the area was so quiet, which really added to the experience. They have benches in rows looking out over Lake Maggiore which was a great idea. I could have sat there all day and just watched the water and the sky. Hubby even laid down for a while… I guess the good news is that there was plenty of space!
The actual Alpine coaster ride at Alpyland was super fun, but also pretty short, which is the only thing preventing a full 5 stars. Maybe do 2 rides if you want to get more out of it? It’s €5 per ride/person, but you can buy 4 rides (2 people 2 rides) for €17 which I probably would have done if I knew better.
When we were boarding the ride, the operator told me, “Don’t worry, I ride this every day and I haven’t died yet!” Yet? Not sure that helped things… but, the fact that we had brakes made me feel better. I did make Bobby operate them or we would have been inching our way along forever!
You can find the videos of the ride on Instagram!
Stresa
When we left Alpyland, we went down the other side of the mountain toward Stresa. The road required a €10 payment, which the backside (on our way up) did not collect.
Ristorante Cardini (4.5/5)
Hubby found a little spot for lunch on the way to Stresa. Thank goodness for our international data plan, because there was construction and we got a bit turned around… The restaurant was in the middle of a cute hillside neighborhood. Parking was tight, but we found a little spot fairly quickly.
The restaurant was absolutely lovely – spectacular views from the covered stone patio and rich, delicious homemade food. This local gem also had the best service from the owner, and we heard her speak 3 different languages fluently while we were there!
Our spread:
- House wines (red & white)
- Grilled prawns w/tomato, herbs & olive oil: Code di gameroni alla griglia con emulsions aromatics e pomodoro all piastra. It was simple, but nice.
- Mushroom ravioli-style dish: Agnolotti Piemontesi con misty funghi e Scogliera di Castelmagno. The flavor was really rich and we learned that the cheese, which complimented the dish so well, was a local variety.
- Homemade blueberry tart
Beach Views of Lake Maggiore, Stresa
Just a short drive down the hill from our lunch spot, we reached the “coast” of Lake Maggiore. It’s just as beautiful from the waterline as it is from above! We parked along the lakeside road and enjoyed a little walk along the water. It’s beautiful, but there’s not much else to do there, so we only stayed about 15 minutes.
Here is our parking spot near Via Gilberto Borromeo, Stresa. We just walked to a little lookout about 100 feet away.
Lugano, Switzerland
After Stresa, we headed into Switzerland. It was an easy drive most of the way, and we crossed the border without incident. Once we got nearer to Lugano, the traffic picked up (rush hour, I assume) and it took longer than we hoped to get into town on the 2 lane road.
I wish we had had more time in this town. There are mountains surrounding the lake that boast lovely little towns on top with incredible views of the area. A grove of olive trees lines the lake on the north side. A hard-to-reach grotto along the lake offers a boat ride + risotto-making classes. And the people. Are. Fantastic. We can’t wait to go back one day and explore more!
Hotel Atlantico, Lake Lugano (4.5/5)
First stop in town, we checked in to our hotel for the night. It was located only a couple minutes’ walk from the lake, and they had free parking, which was important for us. The hotel was simple, but cute and very very clean! While it wasn’t fancy or luxurious, they had absolutely wonderful service and it was a lovely, comfortable and welcoming stay.
We were lucky to get a 3-person room, which was very large and roomy! The bathroom was very large for Europe and again, clean and simply decorated. Breakfast was served in a cute little B&B style room and had plenty of options and good coffee.
Sara (one of the owners) was also very helpful with local suggestions, including where to walk for the best views of the area, and dinner suggestions for our only night in Lugano. When we asked for a local dinner spot that was not touristy and somewhere she’d go herself, we got the best recommendation (reviewed below)!
Sara also helped me call a place (Grotto Descanso) I’d been trying to get a hold of for weeks regarding a cooking class. Unfortunately we learned they were closed the next day and therefore couldn’t accommodate us, but I was very grateful for her assistance!
We would absolutely recommend Hotel Atlantico!
Grotto da Pierino (4.5/5)
This was one of our most memorable dinners because of how unique it was, and we’re so grateful to Sara at Hotel Atlantico for the recommendation!
We drove up the hill in the dark, and boy was it dark, to finally arrive at a little street side parking lot outside the restaurant (only about 10 mins from the hotel). It wasn’t very busy, which worked out great. The restaurant is attached the owners’ home perched on the hillside and has a large patio-style seating area with string lights and views of the lake. The ambience was so dreamy!
The restaurant opened in 1967 and the man who owns/runs it now took over from his parents years ago. He is adorable and friendly and embodies all the things about a sweet (older) European man!
He and his wife make all the food. The only downside was that he didn’t speak much English. But in addition to Italian, he also spoke French, which I know a bit of. (Geez, I should… I only took 8 years of it!) So, between the broken French I remember and the broken English he knew, we made our way through the dinner just fine!
We ordered the house wine (merlot), which was served in adorable little bowl-like ceramic cups, the meat platter, and a dinner entrée for each of us.
Although I don’t recall all the meats we selected for our meat platter, I can tell you that the Lardo was hands down our favorite. You’ll recognize it by it’s pure white appearance. Lardo = lard = fat. Just in case you hadn’t yet made the connection… you’re welcome! We even ended up taking some extra lardo back to the hotel for a late night “dessert.”
The entrée included polenta, which is a local style and something Lugano does uniquely. For the main dishes, we selected osso buco and brasato (beef stew). The entrées were absolutely wonderful and so very tender! This style of polenta wasn’t my favorite, but the hubby liked it.
At the end of dinner, when we went to pay, the owner provided us a complimentary “digestivo” to finish off the meal. I believe a couple of the options were even homemade. Pretty strong!
The total for dinner was €61,00 which is not bad at all for the value! We were so pleased with this meal – the food, the service, the overall experience – everything was wonderful!
Thursday, September 26
Lake Como
Despite all the silly messages from friends and family about George Clooney, we really enjoyed our stopover in Lake Como on the way to Lake Garda from Lake Lugano. We agreed that we’d even spend a whole week there sometime in the future (not going to lie, we may have looked at 1-week Airbnb’s for the same time 2020).
Car Ferry: Cadenabbia to Bellagio
We took the beautiful drive from Lugano to reach Cadenabbia, where there’s a ferry to Bellagio.
It was € 15,50 for 1 car & 2 people. People only (no car) would have been € 4,90/ea. Honestly, you really don’t need to bring your car over. If we had a do-over, we would have parked it beforehand and just taken the ferry over without it. Why? We had to park it once we got there anyways and never used it!
Bellagio Express Train (4.5/5)
This was a cool little thing I found on TripAdvisor ahead of time and worked out great for us. It’s €5/person for a trip around the village on the little red train. They’ll talk about the history of the area and it’s a hop-on-hop-off kind of ride.
You’ll board the train first, then pay in cash when they come around. You’ll then be given your tickets to show if needed when you stop and get back on again. We never had to show our tickets, though.
In our opinion, the best stop was at the Giardini di Villa Melzi. Beautiful streets and buildings and roads and stairs… all the great IG photo backdrops!
Ristorante alle Darsene di Loppia, Bellagio, Lake Como (5/5)
While we were wandering around at the Giardini di Villa Melzi stop, we noticed this restaurant and decided to grab lunch. In the window, we noticed it was a 2019 Michelin recommended restaurant (not Michelin starred) so we felt confident we’d enjoy it!
While this place did not have the best view of the water, the ambience was still lovely and the service was amazing!
The tasting menu is €50 and includes 4 courses, which they allow you to share, plus we ordered a couple of a la carte items to share as well. Plus, they brought a basket of gluten free bread for me, so that automatically upgraded my experience!
Our order:
- Calice Rosso wine (recommended by the server)
- Tasting menu (Gamberi Rossi, Zuppetta di Cavatelli, Filetto di Vitello, Cannoli)
- Fiori di Zucchina
- Filetto San Pietro (grilled so it’s GF)
Total with coperto and water was €122,00. Well worth it for beautiful plating, rich flavors, wonderful service. A top restaurant on our trip!
Villa del Balbianello
Back across the ferry and a short drive south, we found the famous location of a couple of films (both James Bond 007 and Star Wars filmed scenes here), Villa del Balbianello. This was a must-visit for the hubby as he’d heard a lot of great things about it, plus he likes both 007 and Star Wars movies!
Once you find parking, getting to the Villa requires a LONG WALK. Signs quoted it at 1 km and 20 minutes, but I imagine it could be even longer if you’re a slow walker. We did it in about 15 minutes. The walk is along a gravel path most of the way, and there’s hills up and down, so proper footwear is ideal. They do have 2 routes to get to the villa, but the other route is even longer – 45 minutes quoted for 2.5 km!
While it is absolutely beautiful, be aware it’s therefore full of tourists. The cost was €10 for the gardens only or €20 for gardens + villa. We did the gardens only and it was nice. Hubby doesn’t like museum-type things so it would have been a waste for us to go inside the villa. We spent about 45 mins to an hour on property at the gardens, which was plenty of time.
That’s it for now! We really enjoyed getting out of the big city and into the hills and lakes that inspired our trip to Italy in the first place.
Don’t you worry, though, there’s one more Northern Lake to come!
XO,
J
Oh! This is a blog that I used to help plan for Lugano, but with such limited time, we ended up not having time to do any of it! Thought I’d share in case it’s helpful to you.
