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Book one of 105 Lake Maggiore Hotels A day Trip on Romantic Lake MaggioreFind Romantic Lake Maggiore cheap hostels!It’s rather surprising that romantic Lake Maggiore has never been so far so popular romantic destination of Northern Italy like Como Lake or the biggest Garda Lake. If this short day trip to this fascinating lake can convince you it is worth of visiting than I will be very happy. This Northern Italy lake has very similar form as more famous Come Lake (but not less beautiful at all).
It is only 50 km from the center of Milan and is the "must" destination to visit. This destination is also reachable from Malpensa International Airport and it’s a good idea to take few hours visit to this a magic place of lake islands, mountains and wonderful views. If you have no idea where is this lake. Maybe Google map will help! My purpose was not to visit only Lago Maggiore but to enjoy an incredible view of the Lake from the top of Mount Mottarone (1491m2 / 4892 ft2) taking a cable car from Stresa, romantic little town on the Piedmont lake side. My day trip to the lake started on July 17 from Milan's Cadorna railway station. Just to remind you that this station is a part of Milan’s metro network. I took a 07, 50 direct train to Laveno Mombello a nice little town on the Lombard side of Lago Maggiore. The ‘LeNord’ trains keep all connections from Milan to both lakes: Como and Maggiore. Check their site for up-to-date scheduling information to make sure that the timetable didn’t change. Read more about Italy trains and LeNord Company.
Once in Laveno you walk few steps from the train station to the ferry landing dock and in a few minutes you board the ferry to Intra, where at 10:30 you find a boat that takes you to Stresa - Carciano on the other side of the Lake, arriving in Stresa at 11:20. A cable car leaves at 11:30, giving you the time to visit the Botanical garden as well as having lunch at the intermediate station "Alpino", and then taking you to the peak of the Mottarone mountain. The Mottarone Cable Car departs every 20 minutes from the Lido in Stresa and is one of the best ways to view romantic Lake Maggiore. In case you decide to stay another day in Stresa, book your cheap accommodation here. 
The Mottarone, situated between Lake Maggiore and Lake d'Orta, is considered one of the most beautiful natural terrace in the whole Piedmont and Lombardy. I was impressed by the mountains and by the seven lakes scattered in this area(Lake Maggiore, Lake d'Orta, Lake Mergozzo, Lake Varese, Lake Comabbio, Lake Monate, Lake Biandronno). For your trip back you can use the same itinerary backwards leaving Stresa - Carciano at 4:40 PM, and arriving in Milano at the Cadorna station at 8:11 PM. There is another solution to return to Milan, using a train from Stresa (in this case you have to check Trenitalia train schedules) since they run on the Piedmont side of romantic Lake Maggiore taking different route then the ‘LeNord’ and they don’t arrive in Cadorna station, but either Porta Garibaldi or Stazione Centrale (Central Milan’s Station). I personally chose to stay overnight in Stresa in Hotel Italie et Suisse and next day July 18 I took Trenitalia train to Central Milan Station. Romantic Lake Maggiore - Some useful links:
Bicycle tours and bike renting Related Pages
From Malpensa airport to Como lake
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