Lake Maggiore

Lago Maggiore

I'll skip the story of our third day in Milan for now... Will do that in the next entry.
Anyway, it's a pointless if you don't visit the lakes district, when you are in Milan. So, on the fourth day, we made a day trip to the beautiful Lake Maggiore!

We did not opt for a tour group, so we had all the opportunities and time to explore the lake and its surrounding areas at a leisurely pace. It was Mr Cafe Elysium's second visit, but my first.

Located on the south side of the Alps, Lago Maggiore is the second largest lake in Italy, but the largest in southern Switzerland. There are some famous islands (or isola in Italian) nestled in this lake - Isola Madre, Isola Bella and the Isola dei Pescatori. Collectively, they are called the Borromean Islands.

So, we left the hotel at the crack of dawn, to catch the first train from Milano Centrale FS to Stresa. We managed to have a quick breakfast at the hotel, and packed some snack from the train station kiosks, since the journey would take almost two hours.

Milano Centrale FS
... Look at the clear, blue sky! The weather was so fabulous that day - it was so gloomy and rainy just a day before.

Bought the train tickets from this kiosk. Thankfully, it was a super-friendly kiosk...

While waiting for the train, we packed some snacks, and had these yummylicious frozen cappuccino!


And as usual, Mr Cafe Elysium went on his coffee hunt...

Drop me a coin... Summer is making way for the cold shivers...

That's the train, behind me, that would take us to Stresa.

After traveling for almost two hours, we reached Stresa!

From this quaint train station, we had to walk only 15 minutes to reach Stresa's town center where Lake Maggiore is located. As we strolled, we took in the breath-taking views of the journey, taking pictures of what caught our fancy...

Spiral chimney? One would wonder if this is merely for cosmetic appearance, or if there is any practical function to it!





A glimpse of Lake Maggiore...

Scenes around Stresa....





We opted for the water taxi to get to the islands, since the ferries seemed to be jam-packed. Furthermore, a water taxi gets you there faster and with lesser fuss. The adrenaline rush ticks as we ride the waves in the water taxi!




The very awe-inspiring Isola Bella...


This is the Isola dei Pescatori... and yes, we visited this island first!

Click here to read my entries about:

Isola Dei Pescatori

Isola Bella