Posted by After a wet and cold side trip to Domodossola from Stresa it was an easy drive into lago d’Orta along the lakeside. We stopped at Pettanasco for some lunch and then met our facilitator to drive to the garage in Orta San Guilio, easy when you know how. It was then just a few hundred meters to the apartment, called Orta Paradise which was located right on the main Piazza Motta with a vibrant scene of cafe’s, restaurants, shops below us and of course the Orta ferries plying their trade to the Isola. We looked straight out to the Isola and the mountains beyond and it was just beautiful despite the overcast and drizzly weather.
The old town is facinating and they call it a hidden gem and it certainly is with its medieval streets and variety of buildings from the past 800 years there is a real sense of time standing still in a very relaxed way.
We noticed a bunch of plastic wolf statues around town and found out they were part of an exhibition throught the region called, “The call of the Wolves” with the statues appearing in randon places for the months from July to october.
The cobbled streets and sloping pathways and the tracks up to sacre Monte past the church were so easy to navigate that it made getting around a breeze.
The lakeside marina for the variety of boats going to the Monestary island were running all day long but everyone went quietly about their business so our Piaza fronted apartment was quiet and restful all day and night. The lakefront dining options were plentiful and we had a sensational meal at Ristorante Venus on our first night with a spectacular view of the island when the drizzle and mist lifted and the sun had set.
The streets and lanes that went down to the waterfront had suprises everytime and there were wonderful and interesting buildings and plats all through town. the vistas over the lake kept revealing sights as clouds cleared and moved on so the experience in goos and poor weather were just as satisfying.
The red ocre colourings were evident throughtout the town and villages surrounding and it showed that they were much fvoured in the past with much being replaced with whites, pinks and yellow of late.
I particularity love this photo of the island taken from our apartment at sunset through the mist, rain and moving clouds as the lights from the Monastery start to light up. Day two and still raining drizzle so we went out to the island anyway as the forecast was unclear as to what might happen next and we were fortunate that it stayed mostly dry so we were able to have a good poke around all the nooks and crannies of this unique place.
All the way around the town were plaques of sage advice in four languages, Italian, german, french and english so it was exciting to see what was next as you turned a corner. The old church dates back 700 years and the munbs mostly live in silence so the place is very quiet even though a bunch of people actually live there as well in beautiful waterfront villas.
We took the ferry from the island to the otherside of the lake a journeys around the town of Pelia and enjoyed a nice ice cream in the rain before getting ferry along the lake back to Orta.
The view below is looking back from the ferry to the main square of Orta san Guilio with our apartment being the narrow orange one right in the middle next to the even narrower green one.
Having a beautiful fresh lunch on our balcony with the ingredients from the town of Ameno deli up the hill from Orta, Bellissimo! The main piazza was such a great place to be part of everyday and the old Town hall with its frescos and Portico market space underneath.
The next day the sun came out and we headed up to sacre Monte to see the Orta version and wow what a suprise with wodden statues portraying all kinds of weird and wonderful things from the life of st Francis of Assisi. Wow did those old saints face some stuff in thier lives. The views were also spectacular over the lake and the chapels were all very special in thier own way.
We then went down for a walk along the Lake shore pathway past some stunning Villas and while there attempted to gain entry to the incomparable Hotel Villa Crespi, but to no avail…guests only and it takes 3 months to get a dining reservation!
Orta san Guilio has been off the tourist trail for a long time and all of a sudden in 2017 someone did a story on it and away it went and although there are more tourists it never seemed over crowded and really has maintained its charm and originality.
This place was a real delight and we are so glad we finally got here to enjoy all its charms
We found the best coffee in Italy at this eclectic cafe/pastry shop called “The Palace” and what a find it was which meant many visits over our 4 days here
Another great find was the Cafe Arts, and its 16th century bohemian courtyard dining and fabulous menu.
It was so great to experience at least one sunny day and full moon sky so it was apt to have a moondance in the Piazza before we left. Our apartment below was sensational in everyway and not just the views.
