Just across the Swiss border, and less than three hours by train from Geneva, sits the beautiful Lago Maggiore region of Northern Italy. Split between Piedmont and Lombardy, the region boasts mountains, lakes, villas, bustling ancient towns, and quite remote villages. I had visited a few times previously for the Lago Maggiore Marathon, but I had wanted to visit by bike for some time.

We vaguely planned five days in the region, with two campgrounds in mind to base ourselves out of for daily adventures.

We took an early train to Domodossola, arriving around 10:30am. We then rode on a dedicated, leasurly bike pack south through the valley. There were great, paved sections, as well as some areas where my road bike felt out of place.

After two flats due to a tiny piece of scrap metal, and great pizza and gelato, we made it to out campground for the evening, on the shores of Lago d'Orta.

The next morning, we woke to serenity.

We then peddled on around the south end of Lago Maggiore and back up the East side to a campground on the shores of Lago di Monate.

One of the best things about cycling in Italy are the breakfasts.

We explored two towns nearby – Ispra and Angera.

During our second day, we saw a town on a mountain top far away, which became the goal of our fourth day – the Santuario di Santa Maria del Monte.

A lovely lakeside path guided us part of the way there, complete with a "bar" (read: cafe). We fully appreciated the gorgeous spring weather.

A few hours and some sweat drops later, we were fully appreciating the view from the top.

Our final day had us retrace our tracks around the south of the lake, then up the West bank through Arona to Stresa.

After more food and relaxing, we caught a train back to Domodossola, then back to Geneva. What a privilege to be so close and so well connected to the beautiful Lago Maggiore region!