Walking in the Italian Lakes
Five walks across Lake Como and Lake Maggiore from a June trip — a mix of proper hill days, lakeside wanders, and one very memorable bucket cable car. Route notes and the GPX from each.
We'd had a few days in Como — somewhere we keep coming back to — staying at Residence Diaz, self-catering apartments in the middle of town. We fancied widening our horizons to some of the other Italian lakes, so we spread out: more walking around Como itself, then a move across to Lake Maggiore, based at Pallanza, for a few days more.
Most of these walks came out of Gillian Price's Walking the Italian Lakes (Cicerone) — a guidebook well worth having if you're heading this way. What follows is how each day actually went for us, with a downloadable GPX from every one.
Lake Como
Three walks around Como, from the busy southern end to the wild, mountain-ringed top of the lake.
| Walk | Distance | Ascent | The day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brunate & the Volta lighthouse | 16.7 km | 820 m | Up from the lakefront to Brunate, the lighthouse and the ridge, down to Torno for the boat |
| Gera Lario | 9.1 km | 700 m | A proper climb into the woods at the wild north end — and a brush with wild boar |
| Above Moltrasio | 6.4 km | 350 m | The bus down the western shore, a tall waterfall, and the hydrofoil home |
Lake Maggiore
Two walks from our base at Verbania, on Maggiore's western shore.
| Walk | Distance | Ascent | The day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laveno & Sasso del Ferro | 6.1 km | downhill | An open "bidonvia" bucket cable car up, then the long walk back down to the lake |
| Above Verbania | 10.6 km | 460 m | A wooded hill loop straight from town, with wide views over the lake and its islands |
Where to start
If you only do one, make it Brunate and the Volta lighthouse → — the most varied day, climbing straight out of Como to a long ridge with the lake below you the whole way.
For something completely different, Laveno and Sasso del Ferro → sends you up in an open two-person bucket cable car — not one for a bad head for heights — before an all-downhill walk back to the water.
A note on getting around
Half the pleasure of walking these lakes is doing it without a car. Trains, the lakeside buses, and the ferries (and the faster hydrofoils) link the villages, so most of these days start or finish on the water. Each walk's page has the specific transport in a "Before you go" box, but the short version is: check the seasonal timetables, and always know your last boat back.