Getting There - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

- By car
- By train
- By plane
- Boat connections on Lake Maggiore
- When to go

By car, the shortest route is along the Swiss motorway (E 35) from Basel and through the St Gotthard Tunnel (16.3 km long) to Bellinzona-Süd (247 km), then on to Locarno at the Swiss northern tip of the lake (20 km) or to Luino on the Italian eastern shore (35 km).

If you are travelling from the Stuttgart or Munich area, the E 43 via the San Bernardino Tunnel (6.6 km) is a good option. Driving on Swiss motorways requires a motorway vignette (also available online as an e-vignette; see the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security for the current price). July and August are the busiest months, particularly on Saturdays, when the single-lane Gotthard Tunnel often becomes a bottleneck (a second tube is under construction and is due to open in 2030).

Keep to the local traffic rules. Speed limits in particular are checked frequently and penalties are severe in both Switzerland and Italy: in Switzerland the limits are 120 km/h on motorways, 80 outside built-up areas and 50 in towns; in Italy they are 130, 90 and 50 km/h respectively. Beware of parking illegally, too, as some towns tow vehicles away without hesitation. In the event of an accident, keep your vehicle documents to hand, along with your ID card or passport, since you will cross the border frequently.

If you are driving to Lake Maggiore, fill up the tank again in Germany. Petrol and diesel are noticeably more expensive in Italy than in Germany, and in Switzerland diesel in particular costs considerably more.

Lake Maggiore offers a wide choice of hotels in all price and star categories. Whether you would like to combine your holiday with a stay in a spa hotel, stay in a historic residence or settle into a practical and comfortable two- or three-star hotel, you will find a large selection of single and double rooms, family rooms and suites around the lake. You will not have to search long for your dream accommodation, because this wide choice of hotels on Lake Maggiore has something to suit every taste.

Lake Maggiore is also very easy to reach by train. From Bellinzona, the eastern branch of the Gotthard railway runs along the entire eastern shore of the lake. Locarno can also be reached directly on the Bellinzona - Domodossola line. The western shore is also served by a railway line from the Borromean Gulf to the southern end of the lake. The good rail links open up many destinations for day trips: Milan, Novara, Turin and even the towns all the way down to the Ligurian coast.

The nearest major international airport is Milan Malpensa, about 10 km south-east of the southern end of the lake.

Locarno itself has a small regional airfield, probably without scheduled services. The airfield at Agno near Lugano (CH) is somewhat larger and offers at least domestic Swiss flights.

Special mention should be made of the boat connections on Lake Maggiore:

All the towns on the lake are easily reached by regular passenger boats, some of them fast hydrofoils. On the map, the boat routes are shown in black and red.

The landing stages are usually in the centre, on the lakeside promenade, surrounded by shops, restaurants and cafés.

The scheduled boats run all year round, with more frequent services in the holiday season, supplemented by additional excursion boats to the sights around the lake.

For motorists, the only car ferry, between Laveno and Intra, is a useful option. It runs several times an hour (current timetables from Navigazione Laghi). Waiting times occur only occasionally in peak season.

The peak season is July and August. Book your accommodation in advance and expect heavy traffic on the lakeside roads and ongoing parking problems.

These two months have the highest average daytime and night-time temperatures (28/29 and 17/18 °C respectively), the lowest rainfall and the most sunny days.

The lake water temperature in July and August is a pleasant 20-22 °C.

If you would like to see the current weather on Lake Maggiore, visit our pages on Locarno and Ascona, each of which features a webcam image.

The quieter months of June and September are certainly lovely too, with a mild late summer lasting into October and November.

The winter months are fairly mild, and temperatures rarely fall below freezing. Bear in mind, however, that many hotels and museums are closed at this time of year.

Rainfall is not evenly spread through the year; it is markedly higher in April and May than in the other months. The often torrential downpours can cause the lake level to rise alarmingly at this time, and entire villages and stretches of the lakeside road have been flooded on several occasions.