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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Monte San Giorgio and Mercurago

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
108 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 55
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 108 km round trip from Arcisate - roughly 2 h 55 in the saddle. The stops in between: Bodio centrale o delle Monete, Mercurago and back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete. It crosses from Switzerland into Italy - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Monte San Giorgio

    Monte San Giorgio is a wooded, pyramid-shaped mountain on the shores of Lake Lugano, straddling the border between Switzerland and Italy. To the eye, it is a pleasant green hill with villages on its slopes. To palaeontologists, it is one of the most important fossil sites in the world. About two hundred and forty million years ago, during the Middle Triassic, this area was a tropical lagoon, and its sediments preserved an extraordinary range of marine reptiles, fish, invertebrates and plants. The mountain was added to the UNESCO list in 2003 on the Swiss side, and in 2010 on the Italian side.

    Read the complete Monte San Giorgio write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Monte San Giorgio is where the day begins. Next is Bodio centrale o delle Monete.

  2. 2. Bodio centrale o delle Monete

    Gavirate, on the northern shore of the Lago di Varese in Lombardy, has a sweet claim to fame: it is the home of the brutti ma buoni, ugly but good, crunchy biscuits made with hazelnuts and egg whites, which were reportedly invented here in the nineteenth century and are still sold in local pastry shops. The lake itself is a small, shallow lake surrounded by low hills, and its shores were home to some of the earliest pile-dwelling villages in Italy. The site of Bodio Centrale, also known as delle Monete, on the southern shore near Bodio Lomnago, is part of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, listed by UNESCO in 2011.

    Read the complete Bodio centrale o delle Monete write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Bodio centrale o delle Monete comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mercurago.

  3. 3. Mercurago

    Just south of Arona, at the southern tip of Lago Maggiore, a small regional park protects a landscape of woods, meadows and peat bogs called the Lagoni di Mercurago. The lagoni are small ponds and wetlands formed after the retreat of the glaciers, and in the nineteenth century, while peat was being dug, the remains of a Bronze Age pile dwelling settlement were found here, including a wooden wheel. Mercurago is part of the UNESCO site of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.

    Read the complete Mercurago write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Mercurago. Next is back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete.

  4. 4. back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Bodio centrale o delle Monete write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete, late in the day. Next is Monte San Giorgio.

  5. 5. Monte San Giorgio

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Monte San Giorgio write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Monte San Giorgio. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Monte San Giorgio to Bodio centrale o delle Monete

Monte San Giorgio → Bodio centrale o delle Monete is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Bodio centrale o delle Monete to Mercurago

Bodio centrale o delle Monete → Mercurago is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Mercurago to back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete

Mercurago → back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete to Monte San Giorgio

back through Bodio centrale o delle Monete → Monte San Giorgio is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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