Baveno is a town and “comune” (i.e. municipality) in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, part of Piedmont, northern Italy, near the Swiss border, ca. 100 km North-West of Milano. It is on the west shore of Lago Maggiore.
The adjacent town of Stresa has a comprehensive description of available transport on their website, which we summarize here.
It is worth pointing out that in the areas around Baveno, driving is often not the best option (congestion, parking, fuel price…) whereas public transports (train, busses, etc) are safe and reliable.
By train:
Stresa station is < 4 km from the conference venue. It is served by frequent regional trains (about one each hour) of the Domodossola – Milano line (trains to Stresa depart from two stations in Milano: Milano Centrale and Milano Porta Garibaldi, it would be wise to double check on which line you are before going to the station !). In addition, there are also a few daily direct connections to Switzerland (Geneva or Basel via Brig).
Some trains of the Porta Garibaldi line even stop in Baveno, practically opposite Hotel Dino. Depending on your accomodation, Stresa or Baveno station may be more convenient.
By plane:
The main airport in Milano is Malpensa (MXP), conveniently located to the NW of Milano and ca. 45 km from Baveno. MXP is one of Italy’s main hubs, and is served by many major international airlines. There is a train station in the airport, but MXP is not on the Domodossola line – you need to change train (in Busto Arsizio RFI, note that there are no less than three stations on different lines in Busto Arsizio – make sure you use the right one !). There is a bus shuttle from MXP to Baveno, running every 2 to 3 hours. According to our information (please check with the company, this is purely indicative !), Malpensa to Baveno busses depart at 9.00, 11.30, 14.00, 16.00, 18.30 and 21.30 and Baveno to Malpensa at 6.20, 9.20, 11.20, 13.20, 16.20 and 19.20.
Milano Linate (LIN) is a smaller airport on the Eastern side of Milano (i.e. the opposite side from Baveno), primarily serving domestic/European routes. It lacks a train station, and is probably much less convenient. However, from Linate is possible to reach the main train station (Milano Centrale) using public transports (30 minutes) or the bus shuttle service (20 minutes).
The airport in “Milano” Bergamo (BGY) is actually in Bergamo, 45 km north-East of Milano (130 km from Baveno). It is mostly used by low-cost airlines and has no train link.
By boat:
Both touristic boats and regular lines operate on Lago Maggiore, and connect Stresa/Baveno to other lakeside towns. It’s probably a more valuable option for tourism before/after the conference than for travel proper…
By car:
Driving in Northern Italy is actually not as intimidating as outsiders tend to think, especially outside of the main cities. The A26 motorway connects Baveno to the Milano-Torino A4 motorway. To the North, the A26 goes to the Simplon Pass and Brig in Switzerland. Driving time 50 mn from MXP, 1h15 (+ traffic) from Milano, 2 hours from Torino, 4 hours from Genève, Bern or Zürich (Switzerland), 5 hours from Lyon (France), 5h30 from München (Germany) – coming from France, Germany or Switzerland, you’ll be driving spectacular roads (or very long and very expensive tunnels !) through the Alps.
As is always the case in Europe, driving and parking in the core of towns and villages is not recommended: there is only very limited public parking at or near Dino, most of it restricted to 2 hours max.
Conference shuttle
We are organizing a (private) a bus shuttle from Milano airport to Baveno (ca. 40 €). If you are interested, please tick the relevant box during registration, or be in touch directly with Alessandro Deleo (alessandro.deleo AT unimi.it) who will organize the shuttle schedule.
Update April 2023: A new private company recently started operating and is offering a considerably cheaper service (but less tailored for the conference, obviously). We are busy finding out ways to bring the price of “our” shuttle down, and/or offer a better service or some compensation if you paid already.
Field trips
The pre-conference field trips all include transport to Baveno. Thus you need to make your own way to the meeting point at the start of the trip, but not to Baveno at the end.
The Adamello trip meets in MXP and can pickup participants in Bergamo.
The External Crystalline Massif trip meets in Grenoble (which is well connected to major cities in France, and to Lyon LYS airport).
The Massif Central trip can pick-up participants in Lyon airport (LYS), Lyon Part-Dieu station, Montpellier (MPL) airport or station(s).
In contrast, participants to the post-conference field trips need to make their own way from Baveno to the starting location of their respective trips: Pisa (Elba) or Lamezia Terme (Calabria). The trips are scheduled in such a way that participants will have time for the transfer. The post-conference trips also end in different locations (resp. Pisa and Reggio Calabria), from which participants will make their own arrangements.
Venue
The conference is held in Hotel Dino, in Baveno. The hotel offers luxury, but rather expensive rooms: participants may elect to stay there, or find their own accomodation in Baveno (or nearby): this is a touristic area and there is plenty of choice in all price ranges. You know how to use booking.com as well as we do. Be aware that whereas September is not peak season, it is still quite busy so it is advisable to make early arrangments.
