Alps tour in a few weeks time, and we have a journey between St Moritz and Bourge st Maurice. Plan is to travel through Italy via Lake Como. Mostly for the scenery and none of us on the trip have seen it. So, west side coming out at Como, or east side Lecco? Then heading in most direct route to Aosta so we can do the Saint Bernard pass down in to Bourge. OR, should we change the route and go via Locarno and lake (lago) Maggiore. Should still be very scenic and it avoids getting too close to Milan and extra traffic. None of us are familiar with the middle part of the journey. Advice and recommendations welcome.
West side...... try and avoid the weekends though... every man and his dog is out on the roads. Bike mad at the weekends...! Take your time, the scenery is to die for...not literally, of course. Go up over the mountain at Menaggio onto Lugano and then easy ride to St Bernardino pass.... enjoy!!
Just had a week there in the area . I'd recommend the west side too. Como, Tremezzo, Mennagio, and Bellagio are all worth a visit. Plus you will be very close to Monza which is worth a visit too. Enjoy!
Cheers folks. This is the proposed route, slight tweeks to avoid roadworks and keep clear of Milan... St Moritz, Switzerland to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France - Google Maps
You could do that, and it might be a good one. There's another route that could be fun. After you have seen Lake Como, you can go to Lugano and then Locarno and then do the Centovalli road between Locarno and Domodossola. This is very narrow and twisty but quiet weird - you go through all sorts of tiny villages. It's not fast, but it is interesting. When you get to Domodossola, you take the the Simplon pass to Brig (pretty much) in Switzerland. It is marked "Sempione" on the Italian side (so you won't see any signs to Simplon). Then you scoot down the road to Martigny where you can pick up the Grand St. Bernard Pass to Aosta, or there are other possibilities. It's bound to be a longer journey (quite a long one) but spectacular with a few Alpine passes if you are in the mood, and a good taste of the Italian canton of Ticino Just a thought really.
That's a pass I have missed on previous trips, looks interesting. Makes the day just a bit too long though. Maybe next time in Switzerland
I vote for the west side too as well as the variant proposed by gliddofglood through Centovalli and Simplon. I also love to take the small ferry between Mennagio and Como...
Lugano and Lucarno are both well worth a visit, if you've time go to Mandello del Lario to the north of Lecco and visit the Moto Guzzi factory. Its open from 3pm in afternoon midweek and free.
