Orta San Giulio, Italy
(T) This was the first time I visited Italy. G went to Rome and Pompeii when he was in high school with his art class. When thinking of places we’d like to see, of course, Lake Como came to mind, but we chose not to put it on our itinerary because it’s so well known and a bit pricy. Plus, with the high season just coming to an end when we would be there, we thought it may be overcrowded. So, I pulled up Google Maps, searched “Lake Como”, zoomed out a little, and began looking for similar places. That’s how we found Orta San Giulio on Lake Orta. After finding it on Google Maps, I looked at Google Images, liked what I saw, then started researching how to get there from Interlaken. Fortunately, we could take trains the whole way and it wasn’t difficult.
Nestled in the foothills of The Alps off of Lake Orta in the Piedmont Region, Orta San Giulio became the perfect introduction to Italy.
September 8, 2022
Switzerland has a great reputation for their trains being on time, so we weren’t too worried about taking 3 trains to go from Interlaken to Orta San Giulio since our connections were all in Switzerland. We were quite surprised when our first train was delayed and our first connection was tight! Fortunately, we made it with a few minutes to spare. The rest of the journey went smoothly although we didn’t get to enjoy the views as much as we thought we would be able to because we went through so many tunnels.
As we stepped out of the train when we arrived, it became clear to us just how small Orta San Giulio was. Their train station consisted of two tracks, a boarded-up building that was the old station, and a smaller, open building off to the side with two squatty potties.
The walk to our accommodation was less than 10 minutes. On our walk over, we noticed some lovely street art and during our time there we found numerous other beautiful frescos scattered throughout the town.
We stayed at Agriturismo Il Cucchiaio di Legno. If you go to Orta San Giulio, we highly recommend staying here. It’s close to the train station and a 10-15 minute walk from the town center so it’s in a great location but also tucked away. After we arrived, we got some good recommendations of things to do from the receptionist, settled in, sat on our balcony for a while, then went to dinner. They have an amazing farm-to-table restaurant that serves delicious, local products.
Satiated from dinner, we returned to our room, let our food settle, planned for the following day, then slept well.
September 9, 2022
Dinner set the bar high for breakfast, and we were not disappointed. After eating our fair share of the buffet breakfast, we set out for our first destination, Sacro Monte di Orta (Sacred Mountain of Orta), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the walk over, we had to stop to admire this absolutely stunning building which turned out to be just a hotel.
Then we made the climb up to Sacro Monte di Orta, situated at the top of the highest hill in the area, overlooking the lake. It boasts 21 chapels and hundreds of frescos and statues built over 200 hundred years from the 16th-18th centuries. You could spend all day here if you wanted to. The chapels and artwork are just as impressive as many other chapels and artwork in the bigger cities that we saw. Plus, they are not overcrowded so it’s a peaceful experience and it’s free. We spent a couple of hours wandering around Sacro Monte, then made our way down to the town center.
Sometimes, it’s fun to have a little impromptu photo shoot. We really liked these gates.
The town center is what I’d hoped Italy would look like. Cobblestone streets lined with vibrant, colorful buildings, some with frescos on them, and filled with pasta shops, gelaterias, cafes, trattorias, art galleries, chapels, and a grand piazza on the lake with Isola San Giulio in view. We spent some time walking through the streets before we took a taxi boat out to the island (9 euros round trip/person).
Isola San Giulio is a very small island with a basilica, restaurants, views, and the “walk of silence” with signs that guide you through a meditative walk around the island that takes only 10-15 minutes. We found it very picturesque and worth the visit.
It wouldn’t be a trip to Italy without gelato. When we got back to the town center, we ate some gelato, which really is better in Italy. We explored the town for a while longer before walking the entire lakefront perimeter. The walk took about 20-30 minutes. If we had more time, we definitely would have gone swimming. The water is beautiful shades of blue and green and very clean.
Eventually, we made it back to our accommodation, where we spent the remainder of the evening relaxing and packing to leave the next day.
September 10, 2022
1 full day was not enough. We think at least 3 full days would be ideal to spend in Orta San Giulio. Our train wasn’t scheduled until later in the afternoon, so after breakfast, we left our bags with reception and walked around the residential part of town where we found even more frescos and a quaint piazza.
We came back to the hotel and relaxed in their spa area until it was time to walk to the train station. Soon enough, we boarded our train for our next destination.