I heard that you can take a train from Stresa (by Lago Maggiore) up to Switzerland, then to France and back to Stresa in some sort of a loop, in a day. Is this worth doing? anything to see, or just too rushed?

Only did the train trip from Stresa to Locarno, and the views were awesome. Almost reminded me of Alaska. Don`t know about going on to France. We came back by ferry from Locarno to Stresa and it was a great day.

I learnt about this from a friend who was originally from Switzerland. He moved to Canada some 20 yaers ago and seemed to rememebr taking a 1-day train tour like that, but doesn't know if the rail still operates.

This sounds like a puzzle which will intrigue several visitors to this site, and I know you'll soon hear from them. In the meantime, though, I know you can zip (more or less) along a gorgeous route from Stresa to Montreux. From there you can get a pretty glance at France by boat from Montreux to Nyon to Yvoire. How long a day did you have in mind? J.

to jmw:<BR>we can start as early as 7 am to as late as 8-9 p.m.

Hi again. Since no one else seems to be on duty, maybe you'd like to play a bit with the sbb.ch Swiss rail site. There's an English page and then a timetable page in which you can plug in destinations for possible connections. I began by trying Stresa to Montreux to see the possibilities, and then Montreux to Yvoire. I don't have a map in front of me, but with a good one and that website, you can probably plan a nice day on the train or train/boat or whatever. Planning is half the fun, right? Lago Maggiore and Lac Leman are two of my absolute favorite places in the world. One French-speaking and one Italian. I envy your trip. <BR><BR>p.s. There's still a chance that your loop thing is a tour package of some sort, and someone will pop in to tell you about it. Just continue to top. J.

Thanks

Johnmango - I don't think you could do a loop to include all 3 countries by train as a day-trip.<BR><BR>You could, I think, take the train to Locarno via Domodossola (- I believe the Centovalli line runs between Domodossola and Locarno), and then return to Stresa by boat/hydrofoil. This would be a scenic loop but it excludes France.<BR><BR>To include France I think you'd have to re-enter Italy either:<BR>- by bus from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Courmayeur in the Valle d'Aosta.<BR>- by train via Bardonecchia and Turin. <BR><BR>Either would be a long day-trip!<BR><BR>Steve<BR><BR>