Lake Maggiore & Around - The Italian Lakes - page 155

2 Funivia Stresa-Mottarone A1

Sleeping

3 Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees C3

4 Hotel Elena C1

Eating

5 Il Clandestino D1

6 La Botte C1

7 Osteria degli Amici C2

8 Piemontese D1

Sights & Activities

Monte Mottarone
The cable-car trip up Monte Mottarone (1491m) from the northwestern end of Stresa of-
fers pretty views over Lake Maggiore, including Isola Bella and Isola Superiore. From the
summit on a clear day you can see Lake Orta, several other smaller lakes and Monte Rosa,
on the Alpine border with Switzerland.
The 20-minute cable-car journey on the Funivia Stresa-Mottarone MAP GOOGLE MAP (

MOUNTAIN

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3 02 95; www.stresa-mottarone.it ; Piazzale della Funivia, Mottarone; return adult/child €18/12, Alpino station €12.50/
8.50; 9.30am-5.30pm Apr-Oct, 8.10am-5.30pm Nov-Mar; Stresa) takes you to the Mottarone sta-
tion at 1385m, from where it's a 15-minute walk or free chairlift (when it's working) up to
the summit. At the Alpino midstation (803m) more than 1000 Alpine and sub-Alpine spe-
cies flourish in the Giar-dino Botanico Alpinia ( 0323 3 02 95; www.giardinoalpinia.it/info.htm ; adult/child
€3/2.50; 9.30am-6pm Apr-Oct) , a botanic garden dating from 1934. On a clear day, the views
from here over Maggiore are truly special.
For the more active, there are plenty of good mountain-biking and hiking trails on the
mountain. Bicicò MAP ( 0340 357 21 89; www.bicico.it ; half-/full-day rental €23/28, half-/full-day guide €80/
150; 9.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-5.30pm) rents out mountain bikes at the lower Stresa cable-car
station. Rates include a helmet and road book detailing a number of 20km to 30km panor-
amic descents (about three hours, of which only about 30 minutes require slight ascents)