The Stresa waterfront proper runs for about a mile (2k) along Lago Maggiore, bordered on its western edge by the Stresa imbarcadero (read about it here) and on the east by the Carciano imbarcadero. On the north side are the grand old hotels of Stresa, The Hotel des Iles Borromees, the Regina Palace, La Palma, and others. More about them in another post. On the south, of course, is the lake. This is my morning walk… a brisk, 4k powerwalk or jog along the lungolago, the lakeside path, back and forth. Come along with me today...

The lungolago is a clearly designated, wide path made of red bricks. Just stay on this path and you can’t go wrong, even when it winds around one large villa. Although relatively straight, the path meanders just enough, the balustrades change just enough, the angle of the view is just enough different every few hundred yards to seem like a series of connected gardens. There are park benches all along the way, everyone probably has a favorite, I know I do.

If we get the urge to stop for a cappuccino of a gelato there are two cafés, both with plenty of tables on outdoor terraces. There are a few statues planted here and there, some memorials to citizens lost during the second World War, others of famous Stresiana, and some newly added ones. But there are two ruins I like, forgotten looking outside an abandoned villa. And always ever present is Isola Bella, which gets larger as we walk towards Carciano.

Carciano imbarcadero is my usual turnaround point. Here one finds another boat station, the loading station for the cableway, a mountain bike rental office, and L’Idrovolante Ristorante.

A passeggiata, a walk, on the lungolago is part of my routine here, as I think it is for many. Whether it’s for a before or after dinner stroll, a chance for a quiet conversation, or like me, a bit of morning exercise, it's a place to people watch, or to be people watched, or both...

The temperature today was about 20 degrees Centrigrade, the sky clear and blue. I walked long and fast, feeling that I'd earned the pasta I was planning to have later.