Lake Orta

Orta is the westernmost of the northern Italian lakes, about thirteen kilometres long, and unusual in draining northward through the Nigoglia into the Toce and only then to Lake Maggiore, which local pride records on a stone in Omegna. Isola San Giulio sits a few hundred metres offshore, occupied by a basilica founded in the fourth century and a Benedictine convent whose nuns still live there; the single path around it carries signs on silence and listening. Orta San Giulio faces it with a stepped village of lanes and a lakefront square. Above, the Sacro Monte carries twenty chapels on the life of Francis.

What you actually see

• Isola San Giulio - a convent island with one circular path and a basilica.
• The Sacro Monte - twenty chapels on a wooded hill above the village.
• Orta San Giulio - a stepped lakefront village facing the island.
• The northward outflow - a lake that drains the opposite way to its neighbours.

When to go

April to October; the island boats run frequently in season and less often in winter. Summer weekends fill the small village. Autumn light on the lake is best.

Honest expectations

The island is small, with one path and limited access to the convent. Orta village is closed to cars with parking above. Summer crowds are heavy for its size.

Nearby

Lake Maggiore lies east; the Val Grande is north.