How to get to Lake Orta, and how to get around once you are there

Malpensa Terminal 1 is 54 min from Orta San Giulio, Linate 83 min: OSRM times in free-flowing traffic, measured on 6 October 2026¹. From Malpensa the route does not go through Milan: SS336 and SS33 to the branch towards Gattico, then the A26.

Routes and airlines at the two airports change every season and we have not read them from the airports' own sources: this is why we do not write which cities have direct flights.

How to read these times: they are calculated by OSRM on the OpenStreetMap network, without queues, roadworks, border checks or stops. They are a minimum. We have not measured the real delay at rush hour.

From Milan you take the A8 (Autostrada dei Laghi), then the Gallarate–Gattico branch and the A26. According to the calculated route, you leave the A26 at the junction signposted for Arona, then take the SS142, the Borgomanero bypass and the SS229 Lago d'Orta state road to Orta¹. If you arrive from the south (Turin, or Geneva via the Mont Blanc), you leave at Borgomanero instead.

Italian motorways are tolled: we have not calculated the amount.

From Zurich and Basel the fastest route goes down the Swiss A2 to Lugano and re-enters Italy towards Varese; from Bern it goes over the Simplon and along the SS33; from Geneva through the Mont Blanc tunnel and the Aosta Valley; from Munich it crosses Austria and the Grisons¹.

Each starting point has its own page, with the times to all sixteen places: Distances.

On Swiss motorways and expressways, vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes must have the motorway vignette. According to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS)²:

• it costs 40 francs, including the electronic version on the official Via portal;
• it is valid from 1 December of the previous year to 31 January of the following year: the 2026 vignette covers 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027;
• it comes as a sticker (motoring clubs and some customs crossings) or electronic.

If payment goes through third parties, the FOCBS warns that surcharges may be added: buy from the official portal. The route from Munich also uses tolled Austrian motorways, which we have not calculated here.

The town's station is Orta-Miasino, on the Novara–Domodossola line, single-track, regional trains only⁴. On the lake there are also stations at Gozzano, Bolzano Novarese, Pettenasco and Omegna, all on the east shore.

The Trenitalia journey planner, queried on 6 October 2026³, gave for Wednesday 7 October 8 direct trains from Orta-Miasino to Novara (06:26, 07:12, 08:04, 13:51, 14:57, 16:53, 18:54, 19:52), taking 42 to 53 minutes, and 7 for Saturday 10 October. Between 8:04 and 13:51, no trains.

There is no direct train to Milan: all the journeys to Milano Centrale on 7 October require a change at Novara (the first, at 06:26, two changes), taking 1 h 33 to 1 h 54³.

It is a two-day sample, not a published official timetable: always check on the day of travel.

The public scheduled service is run by Navigazione Lago d'Orta, with three motor vessels; the main landing stages are Omegna, Orta, San Giulio island, Pella, Pettenasco and Gozzano, and the timetables also call at San Filiberto, Lagna, Ronco and Oira⁵⁷.

The service runs from March to October. From 4 to 31 October 2026 the «Linea Rossa» operates, every day: Orta, island, Pella, San Filiberto, Lagna, island, Orta, with departures every 35–45 minutes between 10:15 and 17:45⁶. From November to February the published timetables provide no scheduled service.

The ferry is the only direct link between the two shores: to find out what changes between east and west there is the guide East shore or west shore.