Lake Maggiore
Fly here
The lowest point in Switzerland at 193 m, with a Mediterranean air.
From the basket
South of the Alps, Lake Maggiore stretches for sixty-five kilometres, from Switzerland to Italy. From the balloon it looks like a long fjord of light, lined with gentle mountains and villages with colourful façades. One fifth of it belongs to Ticino, the rest to Piedmont and Lombardy.
On the Swiss side, the lake begins near Locarno, where the Maggia and the Ticino flow into it. Further south, two Swiss islands, the Brissago Islands, float in the middle of the water. Then the lake runs on towards Italy, where other, more numerous islands shelter palaces and gardens.
More open and brighter than its neighbour Lake Como, it nonetheless reaches a depth of more than three hundred and seventy metres. On some days a veil of mist settles on it and gives it the air of an old postcard.
Fly over the Swiss basin, from Locarno to the Brissago Islands, then let the wind carry you south, towards the Italian shores.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Lac Majeur” (in French).
All around
- Bellinzona, 13 km to the east
- Lugano, 18 km to the south-east
- Basodino, 3273 m, 35 km to the north-west