Pizza, pasta and plunges

According to Harper’s Bazaar, Lake Orta is the new Lake Como for those who want a taste of the Italian Lakes without the crowds. For swimmers, it offers the perfect basin for watery adventures. Ella Foote joins SwimQuest for a long weekend of pizza, pasta and plunges 

While the tourists flock to Lake Como and Lake Garda, SwimQuest have been offering swimming adventures in Lake Orta for 10 years, way ahead of the influencers hoping to spot Clooney or posing beside baroque style buildings in pretty Italian alleyways.

Lago d’Orta (in Italian) is seen as the little sister to Lake Como. Located in northern Italy, just west of Lake Maggiore, it takes less than an hour to drive from the nearest airport in Milan. Orta is about 13km in length and sits on the foothills of the Alps. There is one island, San Giulio, which is home to a Benedictine monastery and if conditions allow, you can swim around it!

Getting to Lake Orta couldn’t be easier from Milano Malpensa Airport. We chose to hire a car and drive, stopping on the banks of Lake Maggiore on our way, but with less than an hour of travel, a taxi wouldn’t cost too much and SwimQuest also offer to help organise with other swim-guests to share the cost. The roads are less heavy with traffic and in far better condition than in the UK, so diving was a joy. There are plenty of swimming spots in the local area, so you can top and tail your weekend with more exploring. Driving into the area, down the winding road towards the water is a wonder.

Lake Orta shows itself to you in little moments between Italian buildings and lush foliage. Bright parasols line the spiaggias (beaches) while the road meanders through pretty villages adjacent to the water’s edge. Our destination is Hotel l’Approdo, which forms the base for the weekend.

Hotel l’Approdo is located on the water in Pettenasco, a small village with a couple of restaurants and local shops. The hotel offers lakeside rooms with views across the water and immediate access to the surrounding garden and pool area. There is direct access via steps or a little beach into the warm lake water. It is ideal for swimmers and a great base for a weekend of swimming in Lake Orta. Offering this trip in September is no accident; SwimQuest clearly considered the timing. The lake is still warm, holding the heat from the summer and the sun is still hot enough to hang out in swimsuits all day. Not long after checking in, we’re in the lake, which is clear enough to see the bottom and, at 25ºC, perfect for leisurely swims.

We join the other guests and guides poolside to get an idea of the weekend. It hasn’t really started, and yet we have already swum twice and taken hundreds of photos. We have three guides for the weekend, two are Italian and know the area well. As well as providing coaching, guiding in the water and safety support, our local guides also recommend and organise dinner locations each evening. There is a lovely mix of experience and ability in the group, which gives us options each day. Guides plan swims according to conditions and swimmers’ ability. Our first group swim sets off from the hotel in a simple loop around swim-area buoys. It is late afternoon and the sunlight is magical across the water. The lake here is deep, blue and smooth to swim through. Swimming here is not only easy, but also beautiful and any thoughts of home and work worries wash away into Orta.

Our evening is spent walking alongside the lake and to a local restaurant for pizza, which the whole group joins. One of the lovely things about SwimQuest trips is that no one ever has to eat alone, you can join a trip solo, with friends or a partner but there is always a group meal on offer, often at a great restaurant locally recommended by a guide. It is also a great chance to share swim-stories, swim experiences and get to know each other. Despite all being very different people, we all laugh and enjoy our meal like old friends – swimming does that.

Our first proper swim starts again from the hotel. No silly early start; we enjoy a relaxed start to the weekend, enjoying the Italian breakfast and watching the hotel set up for a wedding. Our first swim is in a natural bay of the lake adjacent to the hotel. There are two options, a longer swim or a shorter one. I enjoy the longer swim, which is still only 2km with the most incredible scenery. Mountains on one side, Italian structures, flowers and fauna along the edge. What you see from the water you can’t see from the road or on foot. It all seems unreal and to see it all while swimming feels dreamlike. We swim back to the hotel for coffee and to regroup before having some downtime. We use the time to walk into Pettenasco along the lake.

Our afternoon swim takes us on a different route from the hotel. Some of the group have chosen to relax rather than swim; there are always options on these trips. We swim alongside the path we took earlier in the day. The lake is now busy with locals paddleboarding, swimming and sunbathing. Nearby, there is an open water event and we watch from the water as hundreds of brightly coloured tow floats bob around a marked route. We swim towards them before turning, so we don’t get mixed up with other swimmers. What a super place to do a swimming event! Our afternoon swim is a leisurely kilometre and our reward is cool beers poolside.

As the sun starts to slide behind the mountains, we are driven to the nearest town, Orta San Giulio. Here we get to finally see the island, San Giulio, in all its beauty as well as witness the town in the most stunning light. Our guides drive us and walk with us into the centre where we have a table booked at another recommended restaurant. The cobbled streets and Italian architecture is like what you see in the movies. Despite it being busy with tourists, it isn’t crowded, it is alive. We share beers sat around a small table spilling into the street. All a little sun-kissed and limbs aching from the days swimming.

On our final full-day our guides take us to the south end of the lake for a different swim location. We start from Buccione Beach at Lido di Gozzano where the locals are already claiming sunbeds and parasols for a day on the water. Our guides take us through a route and again, there are two options for distance. We swim out together in a pod and the water here is like glass. It is so still, so glossy, only as my hand enters does the mirror image break. Again, it feels dreamlike. The water is warm and holds us. Still early for Italians, it is still and peaceful. Sun warms our backs. I turn back with another swimmer for a shorter swim, so they don’t swim alone, and we stop every now and then to just absorb the beauty of it all. When we return to the beach, some of us climb onto the dive board structure and enjoy childlike play waiting for the other swimmers to return. We eat lunch here, watching the locals enjoy the lake with ease. All this water, all this access, free and available to all. Lifeguards blow their whistle at daring kids larking about on the dive boards and we sit, eat and watch.

After lunch, we return to the hotel briefly before embarking on a boat trip from the hotel jetty. We are heading to the island, for walking and exploring. I pop my swimsuit on regardless, never one to miss an opportunity. The island is small, just 272 metres long and 140 metres wide. The most famous building on the island is Basilica di San Giulio, a Benedictine monastery. Sometimes you can see inside, but on our weekend, there was a silent retreat in progress. It is known as the island of silence and you are invited to walk in silence and meditation as you take the path around. There are little messages along the way that make you stop and think. I loved it. Every now and then there is a gap in the buildings and a little path to the water, which is where we end up sitting and swimming for a while before our boat returned.

On our final day we had chosen the very last flight out of Milan, which enabled us to explore more of Lake Orta. The whole weekend, we had been overlooked and caught sight of the beautiful Santuario della Madonna del Sasso from every angle. This is a Baroque style church, which is located on the very edge of a cliff overlooking Lake Orta. We could see it from the hotel, swimming in the lake and from the island. It was worth a visit. We also visited Pella, another stunning village on the lake. We took a final swim in the warm waters before heading home. The weekend was long and yet a short trip, but we left feeling rested and in awe of Italian beauty.

Join SwimQuest in Lake Orta in September 2026. For more information and to book visit:
swimquest.uk.com/italy