Climb the Monte Mottarone peak, a natural balcony that overlooks the Alps and lakes; then take a ferry to Santa Caterina del Sasso, an enchanting medieval hermitage that clings to a cliff by Lake Maggiore.
DISTANCE: Walking: 1.5km (1 mile); ferry return trip 9km (5.5 miles)
TIME: A full day
START/END: Stresa
POINTS TO NOTE: Between lakes Maggiore and Orta, the Mottarone peak commands a wonderful panorama of the lakes and Alps. A road leads up there from Gignese but be warned: you will have to pay several euros to get there, as the last section is a toll road. You can also access the peak on foot, and then walk down to Orta. Choose a clear day for Monte Mottarone and take something warm to wear. Check out afternoon ferry times to and from Santa Caterina (there is at least one an hour) and note the time of the last boat. There are no midday boats from Stresa, and for a leisurely visit you need to get the earliest afternoon ferry and return on the penultimate or last boat. There is no café at Santa Caterina, so lunch on Monte Mottarone or in Stresa. An alternative would be to drive on from Monte Mottarone to Lake Orta .
Between lakes Maggiore and Orta, Monte Mottarone (1,491m/4,891ft) commands a magnificent panorama of misty lakes, snow-crested peaks and the Po Valley. On one of the rare clear days the view stretches to seven lakes. However, following a fatal accident in 2021, the cable-car remains closed, and with investigations continuing as we write in 2023, it may remain so for some years.
Access by car
Mottarone can also be reached by car (take the road to Gignese from central Stresa). The last section of the road is owned by the Borromeo family, and you will have to pay a toll.
You can also get to Santa Caterina by car in about an hour. From Stresa drive to Intra (18km/11 miles), then take the Intra–Laveno car ferry (20 mins), and drive from Laveno to Santa Caterina (5km/3 miles). A short walk from the car park are the 268 steep steps down to the church.
On the drive up Monte Mottarone, it is worth making a diversion (signposted from Gignese) to see the rock gardens of the Giardino Botanico Alpinia (Alpine Botanical Garden; www.giardinobotanicoalpinia.altervista.org; charge), with over 1,000 species of Alpine and medicinal plants. The latest family attraction is the panoramic Alpyland 1 [map] coaster (www.alpyland.com; charge), where you can ride bobsleighs at speeds of up to 40kph (25mph) come snow or sunshine. Just down the road is Casa della Neve, see 1 [map], where you can admire the views and grab a bite to eat.
Santa Caterina del Sasso monastery
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The Monte Rosa Massif mountain range
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Monte Mottarone and Santa Caterina
Return to Stresa and go to Piazza Marconi, where ferries for Santa Caterina leave from the main landing stage. It is only a 15-minute trip, then from the landing stage you have to climb up eighty steps.
The Carmelite convent of Santa Caterina del Sasso 2 [map] (the Hermitage; www.santacaterinadelsasso.com; charge), seemingly suspended over a rocky precipice and overhung by crags, is at its most romantic when viewed from the lake. Set on the only stretch of Lake Maggiore that has no banks, the Hermitage, which is renowned for its Gothic frescoes, guards the deepest parts of the lake. According to legend, it was founded by Alberto Besozzi, a shipwrecked 12th-century moneylender who vowed to become a hermit if he survived.
In 1195 Besozzi’s piety was said to have been instrumental in averting a plague, and he was rewarded with the building of a hermitage to the 3rd-century St Catherine of Alexandria. Since 1975 the sanctuary has been entrusted to a small group of lay brothers led by a Benedictine monk.
After your tour of the convent catch the next ferry back to Stresa.
1 [map] Casa della Neve
Loc. Mottarone; www.casadellaneve.it
This family-run hotel restaurant enjoys great vistas of the Monte Rosa chain. Many of the specialities are geared to warm up winter skiers: fondues, pork ragout, jugged deer. Lighter fare in summer. €
Fresco inside the convent
Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications