In Upper Piedmont on two wheels among rivers, lakes and hills

An infinite variety of routes among mountains and bodies of water: there are many proposals in Alto Piemonte to satisfy the needs and tastes of cycling and mountain biking enthusiasts, also thanks to the possibility of using the train to customise their experience with an intermodal solution. One of the less demanding routes is the Toce Cycle Route (47 km), which runs from Domodossola to Lake Maggiore along the river of the same name: the itinerary can be covered in its entirety or divided into themed sections, favouring visits to old villages or cycling through the woods (from Vogogna to Ornavasso) or flower-filled meadows (from Ornavasso to the Fondo Toce Nature Reserve in the Verbania lake setting). Towards the southern tip of Lake Maggiore, in the hinterland of Arona, you can instead pedal on dirt roads in the Parco dei Lagoni di Mercurago (12.5 km loop) among the pastures where racehorses are bred, while the Giro del Vergante from Gignese to Armeno (41 km) is also not to be missed. This route starts in Invorio and runs with a succession of climbs and descents on the hills separating the Verbano (Lake Maggiore) from the Cusio (Lake Orta).