I want to spend some time - in late September - in the Lakes region. I've been to Lake Como a few times (city of Como, Bellagio, Varenna, etc. - mid lake region) and to Stressa (also to Lugano) so I'm looking for other places people have enjoyed. I will not have a car so trains and boats only. Time frame is flexible but probably looking at a few days up to a week. I fly into Bergamo and after the lakes I'm heading to Bellinzona, Switzerland.

Thanks for any suggestions.

The northern part of Lake Como is scenic, but not exactly dotted with attractions. Northern Lake Maggiore is stunning and has a lot of sights - but that would be Switzerland, not Italy.

Isabel, have you been to Lake Garda? Not a long way to Bellinzona via Milan from the southern party of Garda. We have been there a couple of times and love it. Easy to get there by train from Bergamo (one of our favorite under-rated cities). You can get around the lake v very easily by boat. We highly recommend Bardolino (red) wine festival this year Oct. 1-5. Lake Orta was wonderful for a short visit, but you probably need a car from Maggiore. ×

In Locarno, you will find all you need:
mildest clima of the lake,
hotels, restaurants, shops etc. open all the year round,
boats, buses, gondolas, trains to all parts of the area (up to mountian villages) every 30-60-minutes
free ride on trains and buses thanks to Ticino Pass (free for most hotel guests)
etc. etc.

...and Locarno is only 27 min by train from Bellinzona. Trains every 30 min.

Thanks for the replies. Yes I've been to Lake Garda and loved it. And, as I said, to Lake Como twice but never further north than mid lake.

But it does look like Maggiore would be better. I was just there briefly and stayed in Stressa and visited the islands but no further. I'll do some more research on that.

We did spend part of a day in Cannobio and recall a beautiful waterfront promenade and enjoyed the weekly market on the streets of the old town. A friend of ours bought a house there after our visit, and he raved about the hiking trails in the area. We have wanted to return there but it hasn't worked out. ×

I have been to Stresa many times and will go back again. It's my favorite of the big lakes in Italy. If you do go back, be sure to visit the enoteca and amazing (but small) food store La Cambusa.

We stayed in Cannobio this June (not right on the lake, though). Yes, there's a beautiful Waterfront promenade and the place wasn't overly crowded. I didn't regret staying there.

Isabel, we had a short visit to north lake Como (after Switzerland), in 2017, my report is here

Switzerland (and a bit of Italy) trip report

it is really lovely, not as touristy but still very busy road traffic.

We didn’t have a car, so I wouldn’t advise our BnB, as wonderful as it is. But some old medieval villages up high on the hillside, vineyards, sweeping lake views, and then the charming Italian lakeside towns, buzzing with life.

We visited Lake Garda last October. The busy towns of Malcesine, Limone and Riva. Dramatic cliffs and lovely towns.

(We are going to Locarno in June, am looking forward to this!)

We have been to Lago Maggiore twice. Staying at the Hotel Cannero. It is a beautiful spot. We'll go back again God willing. Take the little boat tour to the Isles... Market in Luino..
Drive and hike...

Cannobio is nice. It's one of the some 25 easy daytrips that you can do from Locarno by publlic transport without any problem.
If you stay at Cannobio, Locarno is one of the some 5 easy daytrips that you can do from Cannobio by publlic transport without any problem.

I'm definitely planning on Maggiore now, in fact I just found my old Rough Guide to the lakes region and it even says that while Maggiore and Garda are more beautiful, with more interesting towns the further north you go, Como is the opposite.

If I based in Stressa is it easy enough to do day trips to Cannobio, Cannero and down to Angera? One day for each direction?

How about a day trip to Lake Orta? I read there is a bus that takes one hour so that sounds doable but couldn't find the frequency of said bus. I prefer to base in one place and do day trips when they are reasonable but am not opposed to shorter stays. So would one or two nights there be better?

Then I'd probably plan to move to Locarno for a couple days unless boat rides from Stressa to Locarno are worth doing it as a day trip.

Thanks for the replies.

This might help:

https://www.visitstresa.com/Travel_and_transport.htm

I'm not sure about a 1-hour bus to Orta. I always thought it was about 2 hours, with a connection in Arona. Takes just over 2 hours.

Note the spelling: Stresa, not Stressa (that would not be a tourist draw

Thanks StCirq. It's in my eight year old Rough Guide that says there are buses from Stresa to Orta that take 1 hour, but you are correct, once I start searching it seems 2 hours is the quickest. And that might only be in 'summer' (does summer include September?)

Looks like maybe I should plan on staying in Orta for a couple days before Stresa. Then maybe 3 nights (so as to do one boat trip to the southern end of the lake and another towards the north. Does that sound reasonable?

I'm glad that I stayed along the waterfront in Ascona when I visited Locarno.

For what I did while in that area, including my visit to Bellinzona, here's my trip report:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...thanks-983126/

Although we had a car, here is our brief trip report on our visit to Lake Orta. It included a day trip to Stresa (our second time there but we had a car both times). Lake Maggiore/Lake Orta/3 Nights September

We had a well located airbnb in quiet Orta San Giulio and especially enjoyed Sacro Monte di Orta. There are 20 chapels in a breathtaking spot above Orta San Giulio. We had the place virtually to ourselves on a gorgeous fall day, but we came upon a chapel that seemed full of people until we got closer and realized that it was all lifelike statues. Bring your wide angle lens to get the full effect.

There is a way to get between Stresa and Orta with a train but you have to switch once or twice, and it's longer than the bus. ×

isabel, I think it's worth pinning down the transportation options to Orta in September and working from there. I'd start by emailing the mayor's office (that's what we do here in France if we want something to happen - not sure it works in Italy). You could always arrange the now-popular Bla Bla Car to get yourself to Orta, and that could be an adventure in and of itself (I'd do it!)

STRESA VERSUS LOCARNO
Locarno has some 30000 inhabitants, some of them lliving in the historical city center, but most of them in rather small houses in big gardens along the lake and on the slopes up to 1000 ft above the lake.Locarno looks therefore never deserted or "closed", like som small resort villages along the lowver part of the lake. and Locarno is THE transport hub with trains, buses and gondolas to everywhere about every 30-60 minutes.

That doesn't mean that Stresa is a hell for people without car. But as long as you don't take the gondola to Mottarone which runs every 20 min from 9.30 until 17.10, you must plan much more carefully.
Stresa - Arona: trains about every hr
Stresa - Verbania - Domodossola: trains about every hr
Stresa - Pallanza - Intra - Lavena: boats about every hr
Intra - Pallanza - Verbania - Omegna: bus about every hr
Stresa - Lake Orta: train to Verbania plus bus to Omegna (lower end of the Lake)
Stresa - midlake Orta (Orta etc.): as above plus train from Omegna to Orta, dp 8.50, 10.25 (Comazzibus), 12.07 (Comazzibus), 13.37, 14.44, 16.41....
Intra - Cannobio - Swiss border (Brissago): 10 buses daily
Stresa - Locarno: 2 direct boats plus 10 boat-bus connections via Intra - Brissago
Stresa - Luino: 1 boat, 2 boat - train -conncetions and 1 boat - bus - boat connection in the morning, 1 boat and 4 boat-train connections in the afternoon

Thanks for the replies

kja - thanks for the link to your trip report, I remember it from 'back then' but hadn't seen it yet in my current research. So it looks like you did Bellinzona en route between Lucene and Ascona. I'm trying to decide between an overnight and just doing it en route. I'll probably be leaving Locarno so that's just a half hour away, but my next destination will be Chur. A direct train is only two hours but if I want to do some of the Glacier Express it's four. Hmmm... Decisions.

whitehall - thanks for that Lake Orta trip report. Looks like you were there exactly the same time I plan on (3rd week in September). Given that I won't have a car I'm now thinking one or two overnights. I probably won't get there (from Bergamo) till fairly later (maybe 18:00 or so) and then when I leave there will need to get to Stresa. And since I'm not sure about a bus I might end up with the train which could take a couple hours at least. I know you had a car but do you remember how bad the walk from the train station to the center of town looked? And given that I'd want to go out to the island is one full day (2 nights) too much time?

st cirq - what is a Bla Bla Car? Like Uber or Grab?

neckervd - I'm thinking probably two or three days each Stresa and Locarno given that I want to see things all along the lake. Does that make sense?