Across the Alps: Lyon to Lake Maggiore

Your trip begins in Pérouges, a medieval hill town ringed by walls and now free of cars. Wander the cobbled lanes, stop under the lime on the Place du Tilleul, and taste a galette pérougienne at one of the oldest inns in France. Then on to Yvoire.

Yvoire sits at the tip of a peninsula where the two parts of Lake Geneva meet. Leave the car outside the medieval core, wander among the flowers and the fishermen's harbour, and look up at the church's domed bell tower. Stay the night here, by the water.

Étroubles has seen soldiers, pilgrims and guides pass on their way over the Great St Bernard, and now the whole village is an open-air art museum about the journey. Follow the artworks through the lanes, then stay the night here with a bowl of fontina and black bread soup.

Bard is where the Dora Baltea squeezes through the tightest spot in the valley. Climb to the fortress, which now houses a museum devoted to the Alps, then walk down to the old houses on the Roman road that pilgrims follow as the Via Francigena. Then on to Fontainemore.

Fontainemore sits in the valley of the Lys, with an old arched bridge across the water. Cross it, then look at the nearby Gouffre de Guillemore gorge, the old divide between two language communities. After that, on to the Ricetto di Candelo.

The Ricetto di Candelo was a fortified store rather than a village, a walled pentagon in which the community held its wine and fodder in safety. Enter by the gate tower, wander the lanes and visit the winemaking ecomuseum in the old cellars. Stay the night here or nearby.

Borgo il Piazzo is the old upper town of Biella, still linked to the plain below by steep lanes and a funicular. Ride up, head for Piazza Cisterna with its porticoes and terracotta decoration, and look up at the tall octagonal tower of Palazzo La Marmora. Next, on to Rosazza.

Rosazza is a mountain village that a senator remade as a fantasy of neo-medieval buildings full of Masonic symbols. Look for the castle with its mock ruins, the Chiesa-Tempio with its starry ceiling and the town hall's battlements. Then on to Rassa.

Rassa is a little mountain village at the meeting of two streams in the upper Valsesia. Cross the medieval bridge and walk among houses that keep their traditional form. Stay the night here; in August, the bilberry festival fills the village.

Orta San Giulio occupies the end of a headland on Lake Orta, and no cars come into the town. Take the boat from Piazza Motta across to San Giulio island and its Romanesque basilica, then climb the Sacro Monte with its chapels. Next, on to Vogogna.

Vogogna once governed Lower Ossola, and it still keeps a Visconti castle and the arcaded Palazzo Pretorio. Walk up to the castle, then follow a trail into the national park of Val Grande. Stay the night here, with gnocchi all'ossolana for supper.

Your last stop is Maccagno Imperiale, on Lake Maggiore's eastern shore. Visit the Museo Parisi-Valle, the bridge-like building over the Giona, then climb to the sanctuary of the Madonna della Punta for the lake views. Then the road runs on to Milan Malpensa Airport.