| Menaggio-Porlezza cycle / pedestrian path | |
 | |
| Itinerary type | Cycle lane |
|---|---|
| State |  Italy |
| Region | Lombardy |
| Territory | Comasco |
| Length | 13 km |
| Difference in height | 200 m |
| Difference in descent | 100 m |
There Menaggio-Porlezza cycle / pedestrian path it is an itinerary that crosses the Como municipalities of Menaggio, Grandola and United, Well Lario, Carlazzo is Porlezza. It takes place largely on the route of the formerMenaggio-Porlezza railway.
Introduction
This itinerary runs through the Val Menaggio leading from the banks of the Lake Como to those of Lugano lake. Its main route stretches over a distance of 13 km which, with the proposed variants, can become 15.
Starting from Menaggio in the first 4 km you face an uphill gradient of about 200m, in the second part a downhill difference of about 100m.
How to get
This route is described starting from the vicinity of the ferry dock in Menaggio, but it can also be tackled in the opposite direction starting from the center of Porlezza.
 | To learn more, see: How to get to Menaggio. |
Once the route is complete, you can return to the country of departure with the C12 (Menaggio - Porlezza - Lugano) and C14 (Menaggio - Porlezza - Cavargna) lines. Timetables, frequency and ticket costs are available on the website of the operator ASF Autolinee.
Preparations
If you decide to follow the itinerary on foot, it is advisable to wear trekking shoes. If you decide to tackle it by bike it is good that it has relationships that facilitate the ascending stretch. The route crosses various inhabited centers so it is advisable but not strictly necessary to bring a supply of water with you from the beginning.
A short stretch of just over 100 meters is in the tunnel: it is advisable to bring a torch with you to illuminate the bottom of the path well.
The route, full of dirt tracks, is not suitable for racing bikes.
Stages
Menaggio-Porlezza cycle / pedestrian path: full screen map.- 1 Piazza Traghetto in Menaggio - starting point
- 2 Grandola and United
- 3 Piano Lake
- 4 Piazza Giovanni Paolo II in Porlezza - arrival point
Starting from Traghettto square in Menaggio we head south on the coast road: after a few hundred meters you can see the beginning of the cycle path on the right (you need to overcome a small step) which detaches from the road and runs along the old railway embankment. After a first short asphalted stretch near the houses, the track becomes a dirt road. After about 800 meters from the start, the route makes a sharp hairpin bend: so dry that at the time of the railway, the train reversed the first stretch from the station to here and then set off again at normal speed for the rest of the route. Here you have to be careful not to go straight along what used to be the train maneuvering path.
Shortly after the hairpin bend, the route becomes an asphalted road between the houses (via Fratelli Castelli): the road leads to a bend in the Via Regina. Here we must, carefully, take a short uphill stretch of the provincial road up to the next bend from which a minor road branches off which we take. After a few hundred meters you reach a roundabout where the route becomes strictly cycle and pedestrian and where an information board is available on the route.
A little further on, the path crosses a short tunnel and continues uphill with wide curves through the woods. In the vicinity of Cardano, the lower hamlet of Grandola, at the end of the climb, the surface is paved again. Shortly after, at the intersection with via Roma, it is no longer possible to follow the route of the old railway as this has now become part of the private spaces of some residences.
In via Roma we can turn left and shortly after always take via Regina to the left and follow it for about 400 m until returning to the old railway track on the left which a little further on, when you arrive at the provincial road of Bene Lario, climbs up a ballast parallel to the road.
From via Roma, if you want to avoid the traffic of via Regina, it is also possible to turn right and follow the road to the wash house of Cardano where we can take via Gonte which leads to the hominma hamlet. Before entering the historic center of the hamlet, turn left into via Cascinello Rosso which takes us to the intersection with via Regina: the crossroads beyond which the provincial road for Bene Lario begins and we find the railway embankment a little further on the right of the road layout. .
After a few hundred meters the provincial road comes near an industrial warehouse that also occupies the old railway track, so we are forced to follow the provincial road to get around the industrial area, turning right at the first intersection following the signs for the cycle and pedestrian path. Back behind the shed, follow via dell'Artigianato e dell'Industria, at the end of which the cycle / pedestrian path resumes and continues through the woods to the suburbs of Piano di Porlezza: here the track winds through the campsites Frog is French Riviera and takes you to the banks of the Piano lake inside the homonymous nature reserve.
After following the shores of the lake for a few hundred meters to a picnic area, the path turns right, leaving the lake and crossing a stretch with some houses. After these, the track continues straight until it crosses the Cuccio stream which marks the entrance to the municipality of Porlezza. We follow the stream to the intersection with via Cuccio where two alternative routes are possible to reach the center of Porlezza.
The most faithful route to the old railway line is the one that follows via Cuccio first and via Prati after, until reaching piazza Giovanni Paolo II which marks the final point of the route.
Alternatively, we can continue along the Cuccio stream until it flows into Lake Lugano near the Lido di Porlezza park. Following the cycle path along the lake to the north, you come to cross the Rezzo stream: at the end of the bridge a few steps downhill lead to the park of the war memorial from which the coastal cycle path resumes which, after passing the small port, takes us to the intersection with via Garibaldi . Taking via Garibaldi you enter the pedestrian area of the center of Porlezza where, turning right into via Prepositurale first and vicolo Canonica then, you reach Piazza Giovanni Paolo II.
