Published on: 16 March 2013  | Last updated: 25 December 2019

A short, relaxed ride taking in three lakes, there’s lots to see along the way so it’s worth taking your time.

The Lago d’Orta is one of the smaller and less well-known lakes but it’s defin­itely worth a morning. The town of Orta is lovely and a short boat trip takes you to Isola di San Giulio with its striking frescoed chapel. Above the town is the Sacro Monte one of a group of UNESCO-listed monuments in Piemonte and Lombardia. It consists of a series of chapels with scenes depicting the life of St Francis of Assisi. The chapels involve a mix of frescoes and life-sized models. The realism and dynamism of the scenes is aston­ishing, and there are some striking details - in one scene two oblivious children play with a wooden go-kart as an aged and ill St Francis returning to Assisi. The Sacromonte also has a belvedere from where you can enjoy the view over the lake and over the monastery.

From Orta to the lake at Mergozzo, another lovely Piemonte village. As you ride along the road keep your eye out for the pink granite stone that marks the border of what was the repub­blica parti­giana dell’Ossola an area between here and the border with Switzerland, which, for a brief period in September 1944, was a liberated free zone. Sadly, as the allied advance ground to a halt in the Apennines, the republic was crushed. Further down the road at the junction with the main road there’s the Casa della Resistenza with its memorials to partisans from who died in the Guerra della Liberazione, as well as jewish people who were murdered in and around the lake.

Map and altitude profile

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Distances
Orta San Giulio to Mergozzo	22 kms
Mergozzo to Cannobio	34 kms

If you are heading eastwards the one-way system in Verbania means you need to take the road through San Bernardino rather than the lakeside road.

At Verbania the route follows the lakeside to Cannobio - one of the nicest towns on the lake.

Between here and Cannobio there are a couple of other sights you might want to see. The first is the Sacro Monte above Ghiffa. It’s a stiff climb, but the place is beautiful and there’s a nice restaurant. However, if you had to pick one Sacro Monte to visit I’d choose the one at Orta. The other place that’s well worth a visit is Carmine Superiore a village and church perched high on the hillside above the lake. You’ll need to leave your bikes and take the path up the hill, but this place is exceptional.

Options

From Cannobio you could continue along the lakeside into Ascona and Locarno and from there pick up the Swiss national cycle network.

The bicitalia route 15 Svizzera-Mare (Switzerland to the sea) passes through Megozzo and Omegna. It’s a good option if you want to continue through Piemonte, however, going north of Mergozzo, between Domodossola and Santa Maria Maggiore, there is a 1.5km tunnel with a 9 percent gradient. The tunnel is pretty well lit and there isn’t much traffic so this isn’t such an issue if you are coming from Switzerland, but if you are planning on heading to Switzerland, it’s a pain. Personally, I would take the road from Cannobio to Santa Maria Maggiore - or follow the lakeside road to Ascona and then Locarno (taking care to avoid the tunnel at Ascona).

Articles in this series

• Tour of the western lakes: Overview
• Western Lakes – Part 1
• Western lakes – Part 2
• Western lakes – Part 3
• Western lakes – Part 4
• Western Lakes – Part 5