Villa Vista

Many small towns and villages surround Lake Maggiore and it’s worthwhile exploring as many as you can. It is recommend that you spend the mornings on the west side with the afternoons on the east side of the lake, that way you will always stay in the sun.

Steamers, hydrofoils (corse rapide), car ferries (traghetti) and buses serve all the main towns on Lake Maggiore. The best views of many of the attractions along the shore of Lake Maggiore are from the water, so you'll want to take at least one trip by boat. A ferry around the heart of Lake Maggiore is a must. The most popular of the stops remains the The Borromean Islands.

The Borromean Islands lie off Stresa, where boats leave regularly for all three islands, stopping first at Isola Bella, where between 1650 and 1671, Count Vitaliano Borromeo built up terraces and created a splendid summer palace. For most visitors, the most impressive part of Isola Bella is the Italian-style garden, rising in ten terraces to a height of 32 meters and covered with luxuriant southern vegetation. On a Lake Maggiore Isola Bella Hop-On Hop-Off Ferry Tour from Stresa, you can leave Stresa and return on your own schedule, spending as much time exploring the palace and gardens as you like.

Like Isola Bella, Isola Madre belongs to the Borromeo family. The island has beautiful English-style grounds surpassing even Isola Bella in the variety and luxuriance of their plants, although by the nature of a landscape garden, they are less flamboyant and more designed for strolling and appreciating the lake views at leisure.

Unlike the other two Borromean Islands, Isola dei Pescatori has no grand palace, villa, or gardens. Instead, it is a simple fishing village of homes built along its highest point, their doorways facing inward along a narrow street so spring and autumn high lake waters won't flood them. About 50 year-round residents come and go by boat, and some families still make their living by fishing. It's a pleasant and atmospheric place to wander, and its few restaurants specialize in lake fish. Be there for lunch or ask which of these provides free boat service from the mainland if you'd like to return in the evening to dine on the terrace by sunset.

Enjoy the lovely park of the Villa Taranto, created after the Second World War by a retired Scottish army officer, a botanist who collected plants from around the world to grow in this English landscape-style garden park. More than 20,000 plant varieties - flowers, trees, shrubs, and water plants - native to this region and to places as distant as the Amazon rain forests thrive in this beautiful setting overlooking lake views, making Villa Taranto one of the most popular places to visit on Lake Maggiore.

Monte Mottarone Cable Car: Although you can drive to the top of Monte Mottarone (1,491 meters) on a toll road, it's far more fun - and the views are better - taking the cable car from the shore of Lake Maggiore in Stresa. At the end of the cable car ride, a chairlift (free with a cable car ticket) takes you to the very top for views down onto Lake Orta and of a chain of Alps from Monte Viso to Ortles, with Monte Rosa to the west (the light is particularly beautiful in the morning). As you ascend the mountain, you can enjoy excellent views of Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands below.

Rocca d'Angera, the Borromeo castle overlooking the lake at Angera, is a medieval fortified stronghold whose structure has been preserved almost intact. It is a fine medieval building with stunning views from its tower and an exceptional collection of dolls, toys and games in the Doll Museum. Wheelchair access

Santa Caterina del Sasso is a hermitage clinging to the rocks above Lake Maggiore and is a unique place to visit.

The Laveno Bucket Lift is an alternative way to see Lake Maggiore. As you ascend the slopes of Mount Sasso del Ferro there are panoramic views of Lake Maggiore and the Alps.

Stresa: On the west side of Lake Maggiore, south of its western arm, the chic little town of Stresa looks onto the Borromean Islands. Stresa is the largest resort town on the Italian part of the lake and tends to cater to a moneyed crowd with its smart shops, upscale restaurants, and posh hotels. The lakeside promenade, where much of tourist life centers, offers beautiful views across to the islands. If you're looking for the best places to go shopping in Stresa, look in the streets off Piazza Giocomo Matteotti, near the tourist information office.

Villa Pallavicino is just a 10 minute stroll along the lakefront from Stresa. From its dramatic entrance view of cypress trees carved into a row of arches, Villa Pallavicino is filled with surprises. A combination of botanical garden and zoo, the park is beautifully landscaped into a natural amphitheater surrounding a villa. Magnolia trees, sequoia, an impressive Lebanon cedar, and manicured lawns bordered by rhododendrons, camellias, and azaleas cover the grounds. Greenhouses hold more exotic species. In the natural environment, animals appear to be roaming free, and you can encounter llamas, zebra, Tibetan goats, flamingos, swans, and colorful parrots - more than 40 different species - as you wander through the park.

On the west shore of Lake Maggiore, almost to the Swiss border, Cannobio sits on a small plateau at the mouth of the Valle Cannobina. Its old town has picturesque narrow streets and a Palazzo della Ragione (town hall) built in 1291. Near the landing-stage for lake excursion boats is the Santuario della Pietà, a Renaissance church that houses a small picture with a number of miracles attributed to it.

Just south of Cannobio is one of the prettiest towns on Lake Maggiore, Cannero Riviera, sitting amid orchards and olive-groves. The climate here is the mildest on the lake, and lemon and orange trees can survive the winter outdoors. There is a beautiful beach, rare on the lake, and a pleasant promenade along the lakefront. Just offshore, on rocky islets in the lake, are the ruins of the two Castelli di Cannero, castles built by Lodovico Borromeo in 1519 replacing earlier castles, which had been held by lake pirates. This is a quiet, peaceful choice for a base while exploring the lake, with a few small hotels, outdoor cafés, and great restaurants.

On the west side of Monte Mottarone, little Lake Orta is overlooked by most tourists visiting the Italian lakes region, which only increases its appeal. It is considered the most romantic among the Italian lakes. The picture-perfect medieval town of Orta San Giulio tumbles down the steep wooded shore to Piazza Motta, where you can (and should) take a boat to the tiny island of Isola San Giulio in the lake's center.
Lake Orta has always been a haven for poets and other creative people. Nietzsche spent the years 1883 to 1885 in retreat at Lake d'Orta to write "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." Other 19th-century writers enchanted by its quiet beauty include the French novelist Honoré de Balzac, who wrote  and Robert Browning.

The Sacro Monte of Orta, included on the UNESCO world heritage list, is maybe the most remarkable sacred site. Set up in a botanical garden on a hill overlooking the lake, it is dedicated to the life of Saint Francis, with 21 chapels, built between the 15th and the 17th century, richly decorated with frescoes and terracotta statues by famous artists. 

Browse the local markets: As with all Italian markets, the ones around Lake Maggiore are bursting with local cheese and cold meats, fruit and vegetables and olives as well as clothes, shoes and handbags! Treat yourself to a new bag or pick up the ingredients for a picnic. We love the weekly market in Stresa but bigger markets are held in Cannobio on a Sunday morning and Luino on a Wednesday.

Then of course there is Milan. Milan is a short train-ride away for those in search of some city life. 

Lake Maggiore is close to the Swiss border and from Lake Lugano. Cross the border into Switzerland and visit Foxtown Factory Stores, a temple of luxury and elegance with 3 km of shop windows, where 160 stores.

Lake Maggiore boasts some of the very finest Italian cuisine, and is home to a number of world-class restaurants. Check out the back streets and old lakeside towns to find some of the less well known but excellent restaurants.

Outdoor Activities: biking, mountain biking, hiking, boating, paragliding and windsurfing.
There are numerous hikes and walking trails in and around Lake Maggiore. Around the lake, through the woodlands and up through the hills and mountains offer an enormous variety of hiking possibilities, from easy walks for families to the more difficult for skilled hikers.
For water sports lovers it is possible to spend entire days sailing or kayaking, windsurfing and motor boating, water skiing and canoeing, wakeboarding and kitesurfing.
Enjoy a paragliding flight for two people together with a professional coach.
Lake Maggiore can also be dicovered by bicycle. Scenic roads, and alternative routes to those followed by the main traffic and some real cycle paths offer the visitor an alternative way of visiting various parts of the lake.
Lake Maggiore has also several golf courses which can be easily reached by car.

Enjoy music and concerts during summer time: Stresa Music Festval, Baveno Festival Giordano, Nights Of Notes - the musical feast which for years has enlivened summer evenings in Verbania and neighboring towns, Moon and Stars Locarno, Jazz Cat Club Ascona.

Zermatt and the Matterhorn: Europe's most widely recognized mountain is the Matterhorn, whose distinctive profile provides the stunning backdrop for the Swiss town of Zermatt. You might think this is too far to travel from Lake Maggiore, but it's actually only about 2.5 to 3 hours away by road or train. An easy way to get here (and for about the same price or less than driving or taking the train) is on a Zermatt and Matterhorn Day Trip from Stresa. An air-conditioned coach will take you through the Ossola Valley and high into the mountains as you cross the scenic Simplon Pass. After a photo stop at the Belvedere panoramic viewpoint, you descend from the pass and travel through the Swiss Alps to the village of Taesch, where a rack and pinion railway climbs the rest of the way into Zermatt. Here, you have an entire afternoon to ride one of the mountain tramways for closer views of the Matterhorn or visit the attractions of picture-perfect Zermatt before returning to Stresa.