Spring has finally arrived in Stresa! This weekend Luca and I decided to take advantage of the clear blue skies and have a day out to Laveno and a ride on the
bucket lift. I haven't been on it since I was a holiday rep back in the summer of 1999 and Luca, due to suffering from vertigo, has never been. However, we'd agreed it was to be on our list of things to do this summer so I made sandwiches for a picnic and off we went.
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| The bucket lift |
The name bucket lift might sound a bit ominous but it is well worth a go! It is akin to a chairlift, in that it is in continuous motion, but you are stood in a "bucket" suspended from the cable instead of sat on a "chair". Each bucket takes maximum two people. There are some enclosed buckets, but we think it is a much better experience to ride in the ones that are open from just above waist height.
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| Setting off from Intra on the car ferry |
We drove around to Intra and from there we took the car ferry to Laveno as foot passengers. If you don't have a car then you can catch the ferry to Intra and change on to the car ferry. Prices are at the end of the post.
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| Leaving Intra (top), the car ferry crossing (middle) and arriving in Laveno (bottom) |
Once you get off the car ferry in Laveno, turn left and walk along the lakefront. Follow the road round to the right and past the church. After the church take the first right, signposted "Funivia". You'll find the bucket lift station after 200m.
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| The Bucket Lift station |
The bucket lift man helped us get on. He slowed down the lift and opened the bucket door for us to get in. We were asked to stand on markers a few metres apart so we each had time to get in. He shut the door and we were off!
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| Starting our ascent! |
For us, the wonderful thing about travelling in an open bucket was the silence. There's just you and the countryside. The bucket lift whirs gently, you can't hear any cars or street noise and, with no glass or windows, you have uninterrupted panoramic views across the lake.
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| View across to Pallanza and the Borromean Bay |
As we ascended the views got wider and wider. We started off with Verbania and the Borromean Bay in our sights and ended up with Monte Rosa and all the way round to the south of Lake Maggiore and Lake Varese.
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| Looking towards the south end of Lake Maggiore |
Luca's vertigo, although not forgotten, was sidelined whilst he thoroughly enjoyed taking photographs of the views!
When we reached the top we were helped off and then chose a place to eat our sandwiches. We sat on the sun terrace but there were also grassy areas and picnic tables to choose from. If you don't take a picnic there are a restaurant and snack bar offering refreshments.
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| The restaurant and panorama viewed from the sun terrace |
As well as enjoying the sunshine and the panorama we watched four hang-gliders taking off from the special launch ramp (Luca says he'll try that next time but I've a feeling he's only joking!!). As well as hang-gliders there were paragliders making the most of the glorious weather.
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| Hang gliders queuing up, ready for take off ... |
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| ... and in flight |
Then, after a restorative ice-cream we started our descent. I got to stand at the front this time and the feeling when we went off the edge of the station platform was pretty amazing!
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| Starting our descent: Verbania, Isola Madre and the mountains |
The town of Laveno is a pretty little town with a boat-filled harbour, promenade, shops and bars. If you time your visit for a Tuesday you can also browse the weekly, local market. We enjoyed a stroll along the lakefront before catching the ferry back over to Intra.
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| Laveno harbour |
Practical Information
From April to October the bucket lift is open everyday (
full timetables here) and costs €10 for adults, €7 for over 65's and €4.50 for children. There are also reductions for families.
Ferry
return Stresa – Laveno (change in Intra) € 16.80 or € 13.60 for over 65’s (over
65’s price Monday to Friday only, ID required).
Return ride
on the bucket lift € 10.00 or € 7.00 for over 65’s
For drivers
you will only need a foot passenger ticket Intra to Laveno which costs € 6.80 or €
5.60 for over 65’s (over 65’s price Monday to Friday only, ID required). This
works out much cheaper than taking your car on the car ferry.
So ... have you tried the bucket lift? Let us know what you thought.
Sarah, Viaggi Tomassucci
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