December 13, 2006 -

This route takes in Lake Maggiore in both Italy and Switzerland.Leave Stresa from the steamer station at the southern end of the lake on the SS33.Stresa is a stylish lakeside town with some stunning hotels on your left as you head towards the village of Baveno. Once through Baveno look for the SS34 signposted to Verbania.You then stay on this road until you reach Ascona. The ride is on roads with good surfaces, pleasant but not severe twisty roads and with some stunning scenery all around you,you will get a feast of mountains and of course the beautiful Lake Maggiore on your right hand side. The village of Cannobio with its small harbour, antique shops and cafes is well worth stopping at for coffee. You can ride your bike into the heart of the village and park opposite the many cafes with views over the lake. Ascona in Switzerland is a great stop for lunch with a wealth of restaurants facing the lake. You can park your bike under the shade of the plane trees if it is a hot day. You may wish to ride the whole of the lake and therefore continue around to the eastern shore. If you do, you may wish to ride to Laveno where you can get a ferry that will take you across the lake to Intra and then ride back through verbania and Baveno to stresa. That will up your mileage to about 126k. A nice gentle ride with scenery to die for ...enjoy