Just about an hour easy drive from Stresa, the Parco Naturale dell'Alta Valle Antrona offers many walks, from easy to difficult, from 40-minute strolls around tiny lakes, to day journeys for serious trekking. There are 18 natural lakes here, and six man-made lakes.

Just as an example, here's what we did: We drove to Lago Camplicciolo (an artificial lake created by one of the hydroelectric dams), parked the car there, and we walked the 1.5 hour giro del lago (loop around the lake). Once back at the car we drove back down to Lago Antrona, had a relaxed lunch at Ristorante Bar Lago Pineta, and after a hearty lunch walked from there around Lago Antrona (there are charming picnic areas distributed all around the lake as well). This second lake loop took only 45 minutes.

For you serious hikers, below are links to very detailed hiking maps for Stresa and the surrounding area, encompassing the area from Feriolo to past Lesa, and up and over Mt. Mottarone. Many of the trails link two towns, where sometimes it will be possible to take public transportation, or one of the ferries, back to your staring point. The second link gives detailed information about some of the most common trails. The pdf pages are downloadable and printable. Happy hiking!

Map: http://stresaturismo.it/Cartina_Stresa_Bianca_web.pdf

Trail info: http://stresaturismo.it/Cartina_Stresa_Volta_web.pdf

Late December, just a couple of days left in the year, and the place to be this Sunday afternoon is here on the Promenade in the Suna part of Verbania. 

Are you the sort who stops to pet every dog you pass while walking along the lungolago? Do you throw crumbs to the swans and ducks in Lago Maggiore? Then you will also enjoy visiting this somewhat hidden corner of Stresa and saying hello to the donkeys who live there. 

We found a great new place to walk, and it's one of those places that makes you ask yourself, "Why didn't we ever stop here before?" We have driven past it probably hundreds of times, on the trip back and forth between Stesa and Verbania. I've even wondered, both silently and aloud, about it, but we still never stopped. Finally, on a somewhat chilly early winter day, we spontaneously decided to park the car, and we ended up exploring the Riserva Naturale Speciale del Fondo Toce for the next couple of hours. This is a very different glimpse of Lago Maggiore, in its natural state, and you can reach and enjoy it easily from Stresa, by using the bus to get here.

The Special Nature Reserve Fondo Toce was established in 1990. It is located on either side of the Toce River, which enters Lago Maggiore at this location. It is a wetland, reed bank area; particularly important for the reproduction of lake fish and migratory birds. You'll find the entrance and parking area if you look carefully as you drive from Stresa toward Verbania. You'll see the sign for the large camping complex, Isolino, on your right, then a large area that looks like a tree farm, and then, a parking area for the reserve. There are signs posted in the parking area, giving an idea of the park you're about to enter.

With the start of autumn, cooler temperatures, and colorful foliage, I'm so happy that I was shown this link, on the CAI Stresa website, of the best maps I've ever seen for the official hiking and walking trails around this area.  CAI, Club Alpino Italiano, has, for more than 150 years now, promoted and organized all sorts of outdoor activities in the region, focusing primarily on trekking and cycling. The Stresa chapter is more than 60 years old. 

Many visitors write asking about walking trails in Stresa. I've even been stopped on the streets and asked for directions to the beginning of the trails and for other trail information. I knew the basics, but these maps go far beyond the few trails I already knew. There are three maps, each giving a mid-aerial view of the hills, first over Stresa, and then over Baveno and Verbania. Here's Stresa:

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The charming town of Baceno, nestled in Italian Alps just a stone's throw from Switzerland.

So... a priest, an astronaut, an American and an Italian walk into the woods. Sounds like the classic joke? Well, it's no joke. It happened last weekend, when we went to see the Orridi di Uriezzo. This is a fascinating natural formation dating to the last Ice Age, when glaciers moving through Europe carved great, long lakes (Lago Maggiore among them) and deep, flat mountain valleys. But a certain combination of factors in this location left particularly beautiful results: the now-named Orridi and the Marmite Gigante.

We drove up to Baceno, a pretty Alpine town in Italy near the Swiss border. It took about 40 minutes from Stresa. Parking for the Orridi path is in front of the medieval church; worth peaking into as it was one of those churches that looks so unassuming on the exterior but then opens to glorious treasures inside. To begin the walk, enter the path on the left of the church, down and around the church and into the woods. The ground varies between ancient rock-paving, to dirt, to solid rock that shone in the sunlight like metal.   (continued ...   )

Cardio! If part of your daily routine means cardio exercise, and your vacations don't mean a vacation from that, then you're probably already thinking how to exercise while you're here in Stresa. Depending on what your exercise of choice is, here are a few suggestions:

Running: Stresa's lakefront measures just about one mile from one edge to the other. The pink-paved Lungolago path runs the entire distance, and there is a bit of sidewalk continuing past that. It's flat, and wide, and you can't beat the scenery. For long-distance runners, it might become boring running back and forth along this path; once you become familiar with Stresa's streets you can cut inland and run along a parallel street, creating a loop. For those of you who like or want to run some hills, that's easy; just run inland a few streets and you'll find them. 

Back on the Lungolago, while running you will notice some exercise stations that Stresa has placed along the route. If you like to interval train, these are good points to stop and do a set of pull ups or stretches.

Here's the next collection of photos from the FotograFIAMO contest. These six were taken by three different photographers, but all have a common theme of having a view of the lake from a vantage point high in the mountains. And every one of these vantage points is part of a well-established and easily hiked trail, making these photos hopefully an inspiration to take your camera and do some trekking. (continue for photos ....)

Now that the days are turning a little bit cooler, and the leaves are turning as well, it's time to turn away from the lake, just temporarily!, and head into the hills. While there is much serious hiking to be done in the nearby mountains and in the Parco Nazionale delle Val Grande, there are some trails right here in Stresa very well suited to the casual walker.

The place to start your trek is at the Tourist Office at the Stresa imbarcadero. Here, pick up the brochure entitled Trekking on the Slopes of Mt. Mottarone -- Discover Our Countryside. Acquaint yourself with the map within, which marks the local trails with different colored lines. Stresa - Belgirate, officially Path L2, is indicated with the orange/black line. The actual trail will be marked in this same way.



There is another location in Stresa from which to pick up the trail. If you are starting from Piazza Cadorna in the center of town you will need to find Via de Vit to the right of Cafe Torino, and walk along it, continuing straight when the road becomes Via Alessandro Manzoni. Walk uphill, towards the large Collegio Rosmini property on your right. You will see the entrance to the cobblestone trail on your left.


From here follow the path and the orange/black marks along the way. The brochure tells some landmarks... several villages and churches... Passera, the medieval church and cemetery of S. Albino, a small group of houses in Falchetti, as well as Pianezza and Calogna.

To reach Belgirate should take about two hours. More if you stop to admire and explore churches and towns. The path rises an altitude of 260 meters during the walk, enough to afford you spectacular views of the lake from many spots. As you approach Belgirate, by walking down a steep mule path, you'll encounter the old 12th-Century church, famous for its 15th-century frescoes and its Romanic bell tower.



If you have decided to walk this far, and don't want to walk back to Stresa on the trail again, this is when those euro will come in handy. From the lakefront in Belgirate you can take a train or a ferry back to Stresa (Please check the schedules in advance if you do plan to do this,) or, walk back to Stresa along the main road (but here please note there are stretches with not much of a shoulder to walk on, and heavy traffic. Please do be especially careful if you choose this option.)

Not so this time. These are hot summer mornings. The lungolago is crowded, and now it seems to be more tourists than locals. I hear several languages spoken, most of them not Italian. I see many couples pose at the prettiest spots to take photos, one taking photos of the other. I offer to take a photo of them together, and then I make it my goal, my mission, to do this for as many people as I can. I speak to them in English or Italian, and if neither of those languages work the universal hand gesture of clicking a camera always is understood. Then I continue running. I reach L'Idrovolante, do a circle of the parking lot, and begin my return. Inevitably, I'll pass some of the people I've taken photos of. Now I greet and wave to my new friends. In fact, I say hi to almost everyone I pass, especially if I can hear them speaking. I love saying good morning to them in their own languages.


Dana L'Americana, she really loves starting her days in this way.

Well, my mind and body have switched into vacation mode. I think long, researched posts may have to wait a bit. I have the time, but not the inclination. Nel frattempo, in the meantime, a few photos from my walk this morning, a grayer morning, sinister of rain, but also beautiful.

I headed west this morning, and due to a small injury l'altro ieri, the other day, I walked, no running. I went in the direction of the Zoo, where there also is the villa that it has been rumored George Clooney was looking at. The red brick path ends, unfortunately, about there, at the Stresa city limit. If I could keep walking, however, I'd soon arrive at the villa that Silvio Berlusconi did purchase, and where he visits often. Then I doubled back the other way... along the Lungolago come sempre, like always. If I had any say in the matter here, I'd continue the lungolago through the next towns, connecting all to each other this way, so that it were possible to run, walk, or ride between them.

I never use an iPod when I walk, never have, never will. It's always been my time to think and be lost in my own little zone. I never get bored, even with the same route, because it's never really the same, is it? Maybe that's why this morning I was thinking about the Greek philosopher Hericlitus, who some 2600 years ago said, "You can't jump into the same river twice..." Look here at the Lungolago post from two days ago and you'll see what I mean.

The rain never came, just as I finished my walk, the sun began to break through the clouds and dry up the mist. Perfect... sunshine prevailed for the remainder of the morning, when I headed over to the Friday Stresa mercato... Photos on that later...

The long-range forecast for the weekend looks good and so we are planning to take a walk on one of Stresa's beautiful trails. The choice is between the hike down from the Giardino Alpinia, and The Chestnut Route, also known as the Sentiero dei Castagni. I think I'd prefer the latter this time, partly because I am still in my seasonal chestnut mood, and partly because it is the less strenuous of the two. We can leave right from the center of Stresa and make our way past waterfalls, across meadows, through villages, all on clearly marked and well-defined paths that are, of course, covered in chestnuts this time of year. Taking the trail all the way to its end would leave us in Belgirate, the next town, where we would have to take the ferry or a bus back to Stresa. So instead, we may walk about half way, to the small church with the amazing view of the lake, have a little picnic lunch, and then return back the way we came. This walk should take us about two hours roundtrip; all the way to Belgirate would take longer, about 3.5 hours. Next question... what should we pack for lunch?

A leaflet titled "Trekking Mottarone", available at the Stresa Tourist Office, details several of the walks in the area.