Italian Lakes

Italian Lakes (Italian Lake District Bike Trips)

On this page, you will find...

A link back to the overview of all of our trips is here.
Our Trips
Overview Map
of all of our routes

Departure Calendar
of our regular trips
What's Included
in the Trip Cost
Additional Services
you can add to the bike trip.

Our Italian Lakes route roughly follows the Italian / Swiss border through the Alps, circling three beautiful and world-renowned lakes: Maggiore, Lugano and Como. As our Swiss route often visits France, our Italian Alps route dips into Italian-speaking Switzerland. The contrast is beyond entertaining....

The cuisine is all you’d expect, Northern Italy at its finest. Pastas, refined sauces, mushrooms you never imagined, all accompanied by luscious and varied wines. The mountains seem greener and less imposing than their cousins just to the north. Or perhaps the softer impression comes from the flower-covered villas reflected in the azure lakes....

At the end of the biking, all of our trips visiting the Italian Alps include (or offer as an option) two days in incomparable Venice. Describing the sensation that is Venice is beyond our art. Tiny islands of fisherman, the folly of San Marco, and the Lido beaches cater to all tastes in one of the world’s most enchanting corners.

The following trips visit the Italian Lakes:

Biking Transcontinental (5 weeks)
Visits France (Northern Burgundy), Switzerland, the Italian Lakes, and Austria

Mozart & the Matterhorn (3+ weeks)
Visits the Italian Lakes followed by Austria

Giro d’Italia (3 weeks)
Visits our 3 Italian itineraries: Tuscany, Umbria, and the Italian Lakes

Alpine Lakes (2 weeks)
Visits Switzerland, then the Italian Lakes

Essential Italia (2 weeks)
Visits the Italian Lakes and also Tuscany

France & Italy (2 weeks)
Visits the Italian Lakes and one of our French routes (different with every departure)

Italian Lakes follows this itinerary exclusively.
Departure dates and prices are in the table, below.


Italian Lakes
2008 Dates
Trip Prices*
Baggage Services Offered**
(optional)
Difficulty of the Ride
May 18 - 24
$1,975
US or C

1,250€
Daily, Half
Moderate

Some distance, a few hills, pretty good back-ups. Suggested rides are doable for all, but a work-out if you’re new to this and refuse occasional help from the train. Conversely, can be “easy” if you shave off a few corners.
June 15 - 21

Daily, Half
July 12 - 18

Daily, Half
Aug. 24 - 30

Daily, Half
Sept. 21 - 27

Daily, Half

* Prices in $ and € do not include precisely the same things. Click here for details, and for prices of optional extras: private single rooms, baggage services, “Access Packages,” and (in the case of the € price only) bike rental and shipping.

** At least 4 riders must subscribe to a given baggage service for it to operate. The services listed are those currently offered on the departure in question. Services which appear in bold already have at least 3 subscribers (so, one more would ensure their operation). See here for a discussion of our baggage services.


Day-by-Day Itinerary: Italian Lakes
Day of the Week
Description
Typical distances, in km
Sunday
(Saturday in
July)
 The SIMPLON PASS
Our trip meets in Brig, Switzerland, on the afternoon of the start date. See our Access Package for hints on getting there.

Those joining this itinerary from Zermatt do not actually “meet” here at all, but rather cycle through at your own pace on your way to this evening’s stop in Domodossola.

Newcomers pedal around the station parking lot to get used to the bikes. Like many Swiss train stations, Brig’s has trains running around the parking lot as well as inside, so this is more of an adventure than you imagine. They come in handy, though, if they don’t squash you first: we use one to get through the Simplon tunnel (under a large Alp) and into Italy. A warm-up bike ride is on offer on the far side.

Half Baggage
0 - 25 k
Monday
(Sunday in
July)
 The OSSOLA VALLEY
Breakfast surrounded by the mountains. Before you leave town, be sure to check out Domodossola's beautiful, eliptical piazza, an idyllic spot for a 2nd breakfast cappucino.

We mount our bikes and enjoy the gentle downhill roll in the sun, following the wide, sleepy valley to Lago Maggiore. The villages we pass are built of the stone carved from the surrounding mountains, lending a soothing harmony to what would otherwise be an austere scene. Just a harbinger of greater glory to come.

We reach the lakes at Mergozzo, and cycle along the shore through Pallanza and to Intra. Spend the evening hours admiring the flower-covered villas overlooking this wonderful lake.
50 k
Tuesday
(Monday in
July)
 LAGO MAGGIORE
Two nights on Lago Maggiore, and a day in between for lake fun. Visit Stresa, the Montreux of the Italian Alps. Ferry out to the Borromean islands, especially Isola Bella, for the Borromeo family palace, terraced gardens complete with white peacocks (peahens, actually), and an antique fishing village. Swimming and boating are other options. The lake’s shores have been inhabited since the iron age, and the towns have steadily evolved since, producing some architectural gems. Cyclists can head up-lake for a stunning mountain ride to Santa Maria Maggiore, and the only chimney sweep museum we have ever found. But then, we aren't generally on the lookout for them.
0 - 100 k
Wednesday
(Tuesday in July)
 TICINO
A ferry takes us across the lake to Laveno to start the morning. Iced tea with peach juice is the bar specialty on board. Turning north, we follow the lake shore along a winding road of little villages and splendid vistas. Take time to swim, to delve into more of the unforgettable local cuisine, or relax in the sun on a quiet piazza off the road. Idyllic!

By mid-afternoon, we cross into Italian-speaking Switzerland and turn away from the lake, following the base of the mountain. A train ride pulls us over an impressive ridge and down to the Cerisio, a.k.a. Lago di Lugano. Stop in Lugano for a visit, if you're in the mood: Italian Switzerland's biggest city is oh-so-Swiss... or is it?

Half Baggage
50 - 70 k
Thursday
(Wednesday in July)
 THE CERISIO
A dream day of cycling on quiet roads along Lake Lugano’s shores. Beautiful Morcote, built up a mountain side to a crowning vineyard, starts us off. Check out the church’s fabulous mosaics, or the stone shopping arcades along the lake.

Then on along the water. Cross from Switzerland to Italy, back to Switzerland, back to Italy... you loose track, and anyway, who cares? It's all gorgeous. Stop for a break at the Alprose chocolate factory in Ponte Tresa. Free samples, and a chocolate fountain. Yum! Wander through merlot vineyards in Mendrisio.

The evening brings us to the jewel of the Italian lakes, Lago di Como, and to the city of the same name.
60 k
Friday
(Thursday in
July)
 LAGO di COMO
For Stendhal, the Lago di Como was the most beautiful place in the world. It is certainly in the running. Rossini’s music was inspired by it, and 16th century villas with their toes in the water line its banks. Residences of cardinals and princes have been transformed into palatial hotels (come back when you make CEO).

Today, one of our favorite loops (senza paniers) takes us along the shores of the lake to Bellagio, perched on a tip of land between its two branches. Then down the other arm to come home. It makes for a full and unmatchable day of culture, vistas, cuisine, and biking.
75 k for our recommended loop, another 20 or so if you tackle a long route.

Saturday
(Friday in July)

 COMO, VILLA d’ESTE, Travel to VENICE (or Elsewhere)
A morning free to relax or to explore Como. Then a short bike ride along the lake shore to Villa d’Este, and up to the railway Chiasso railway station, where our trip disbands at midday. If you are continuing to Venice, you will train there this afternoon.

If your trip ends here, the “Access Package” includes tonight in Como, to position you for ongoing travel tomorrow morning.

Half Baggage


The description offered below is for those continuing to Venice, either as part of their trip (“A - Biking Transcontinental,” “E - Mozart and the Matterhorn”) or as a post-trip extension.

VENICE
Optional, included in trips A - Biking Transcontinental, and E - Mozart and the Matterhorn.

In the afternoon we train down out of the Alps to Milan, and thence to Venice. If you have a long connection in Milan, catch the bizarre wax museum in the railroad station. If you’re on schedule, dinner tonight is canal-side.

Two days to explore Venice’s canals and islands. No city is more affected by light. A given piazza, approached from the same angle at different times of day, is unrecognizable. We generally find that we are hopelessly lost. Opera, pasta, Italian fashion, night boat rides.... Sunbathe on the Lido, visit the market, browse through the Carnival mask shops.... Venetian glass is famous the world over, and the lace makers on Burano, less known, are also worth a visit.
20 k
Saturday Afternoon, Sunday & Monday

(Starts Friday afternoon in July)