Detour #259: Playing Gran Turismo at Lake Maggiore, Italy

There’s more to Italy’s Lake District than clooney’s Como as Nik Berg finds out – with a little help from maserati. 

Like many people with a Playstation the only time I’ve previously visited Lake Maggiore is to drive a virtual car on a fictional Grand Prix circuit in a digital world.

But here I am in the real world, at the real Lake Maggiore, in a real vehicle. And, as luck would have it, it’s even a real Gran Turismo. Well, technically it’s a GranCabrio, the convertible version of Maserati’s stylish four-seater sports car.

I never saw much of the lake itself playing the game, being focused only on each apex, but the reality of Maggiore is marvellous. It is the second largest lake in Italy after Garda, and although less well known (ie less George Clooneyed) than neighbouring Como it’s every bit as beautiful.

My journey begins in Stresa on the Piedmontese side of Maggiore. Across the water to the east is Lombardy while the border with Switzerland is north. Along the waterfront are variety of grand hotels, some slightly fading, others refreshed in a boutique style. Just offshore are a number of islands, most notably the aptly-named Isola Bella.

It took the Borromeo family some 300 years to complete their palazzo and its fabulous gardens. Now they only visit for a few weeks a year and it’s open to tourists to explore the rest of the time, and is a village in its own right, complete with restaurants and shops.

Driving north it’s a spectacular sight, standing proudly in the lake and, as I slowly work my way up the coast to Cannobbio I pass the other Borromean islands of Pescatore and Madre. The shoreline is densely populated with businesses offering access to the lake in various watercraft, or serving up the catch of the day, while on the hillsides homes offer uninterrupted views over the water.

At Cannobio I turn inland for an exciting run into the mountains. The SS631to Malesco is a great road, climbing steadily through a stream of continuous corners.

The GranCabrio is not a small car, but it’s exceptionally agile and seriously fast. Its twin-turbo V6 engine offers an epic operatic soundtrack that makes it feel quicker still and I’m soon passing through Malesco, Siberia (must be chilly up here in the winter) and Santa Maria Maggiore. For the next few miles the road is seriously narrow, but eventually, it opens up again as it descends and then there’s a lengthy tunnel which becomes a concert hall for the engine, its revvy rasp echoing off the walls.

Soon I’m travelling south again to pick up a section highway which proves that even at sustained high speed the GranCabrio is extremely quiet and comfortable whether the roof is up or down.

After a lunch break overlooking the little Lago di Megozzo I swap from the petrol-powered Trofeo into the all-electric Fologore version. Not only is it even more refined, it’s faster, and handles with more aplomb. Both derivatives feature all-wheel drive but the electric car feels more planted and simply fires out of corners.

That means the road to Mottarone, known by locals as the “motor” road, is even more entertaining as it climbs to over 1,400m through dense woodland. The countless corners blur into one another until I reach the summit where a glorious view greets me. There’s a full 360-degree panoramic vista that takes in all seven lakes of the region, the Ligurian Apennines, Maritime Alps, Monte Rosa massif and the peaks of Switzerland.

The descent back to Stresa is dizzying, with an even more switchback-strewn drive through the Mottarone Adventure Park and then it’s back to the streets of Stresa where this game of real-life Gran Turismo began.

Words Nik Berg Twitter/X | Instagram  
Photography Maserati & Nik Berg

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ROADBOOK

CLASS: LAKESIDE DRIVE AND MOUNTAIN PASSES

NAME: MaGGIORE

ROUTE: Stresa to Stresa

COUNTRY: Italy

Distance: 107 Miles

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