Borromeo Islands

Of the five Borromeo islands that make up that small group in Lake Maggiore, three have ferry service to them, one is uninhabitable, but has a beach you can visit, and the other, not far off the coast near Pallanza, is small and not frequented by visitors.

CMA Ship Ticket – Tickets For Two – Three Island Tour – Stresa, Italy

CMA Boat Service to the islands – Stresa, Italy

One should note, at least for our CMA ferry service, the islands are visited in an order, as presented below. Altering this order is impossible, if not very difficult, so plan accordingly.

Isola Bella

Isola Bella is probably the most frequented of the three. It has an ostensibly renowned italianate garden, which you have to purchase tickets for of course, but they do include access to the palazzo and the other gardens on Isola Madre.

Isola Madre from Isola Bella – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

The Palazzo

The entrance to the gardens is via the palazzo, you cannot just walk into them. We walked through the old fishing town thinking there were multiple entrances to the gardens, there are not. There is only one, through the palazzo and after the ticket counter.

Palazzo Borromea – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Entrance to the palazzo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

A walk-through of the palazzo is provided in the below slideshow.

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The gardens are accessed from the palazzo through what is called Diana’s Atrium, a small sub-garden with stairways to the garden. There is not much to see here and it is probably meant more as a meeting place, than any important adjunct to the gardens, so we ascended to the gardens almost immediately.

Garden Entrance – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

The Gardens

The gardens do contain some interesting species, especially the old Camphor tree that was planted there in 1819 by Vitaliano IX Borromeo. It also houses a peacock and peahen, which will provide the necessary background noise in the gardens for any videos you wish to make.

Camphor Tree on Camphor Terrace – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Garden walkway – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Stairs to another level – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Peacock and Peahen – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Stresa – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Gardino d’Amore – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Gardens – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

The Gardens – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Apparently the pride of the gardens is the Massimo Theater. A rather odd assemblage of opulent statues and finished by Carlo IV, it probably points to the decedent past these properties enjoyed.

Massimo Theater – Palazzo Borromeo – Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Isola dei Pescatori

Even though its proper name of Isola Superiore belies its size, Isola dei Pescatori is the smallest of the three islands. Its main attraction is the small fishing town that stretches from three quarters of its shoreline.

Small town streets – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Narrow alleys – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Jolly Roger – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Hydrangea – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

There is only enough room here for restaurants, cafes, shops, boat docks and the odd park on the northwest side of the island. So, casually walking its streets and narrow alleyways is, more or less, the only thing to do here, aside from eating of course.

Rocky beach on the island – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Park at the end of island – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Isola Madre

Isola Madre is the largest of the three and for the most part is an island with a garden and palazzo on it. The garden is entered first, after turning right off the boat and taking the a long garden path walk around a third of the island.

Entrance to gardens – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Old Palm tree – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Coast – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Patti in gardens – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

View of Pallanza and Laveno – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Pallanza – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Once you pass the entrance, where a person will scan your tickets, the garden begins.

Entrance statue – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

The Garden

I found this garden quieter, more casual and more enjoyable overall. It has a few different sections, including a jungle environment which is very wet and grows ferns and other jungle type plants.

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The Palazzo

Immediately outside the entrance to the palazzo is a huge Cashmir Cypress tree, that was once blown over by a tornado on the island and later saved. It is indeed a magnificent specimen.

The Cashmir Cypress – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

The interior of the palazzo is very interesting and a bit disturbing as well. It contains a lot of desiderata, so the displays can often appear disjointed and not themed well. However, taken as the idiosyncrasies of its creators and owners, it is perhaps more understandable. I found it enjoyable though confused at times, in its own way.

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We thoroughly enjoyed our day visiting all three islands. Though it is a lot to see in one day, it took us about five hours, it is manageable. It might be more difficult if it is hot outside, since all of the gardens are outside and the palazzos do not appears to have any air-conditioning in them. However, there are plenty of places to buy water on each of the islands, so staying hydrated should not be an issue.

Patti by Small pond – Palazzo dell’Isola Madre – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Our CMA ferry – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Leaving the island – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

The island from our ferry – Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Restaurants

Though there are restaurants and cafes on all the islands, we ate on the island of Pescatori because it was in the middle of our day boat trip to all of the islands, and at around half past one, it broke the trip up just about right.

Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcodero

The Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcodero is on the small island of Pescatori. In fact, most of the good restaurants of the three islands are probably here. It has a wide variety of Italian dishes that one can choose from the menu. For lunch, we kept it simple, since we were both not feeling one hundred percent and already had a substantial breakfast at the hotel.

From the boat – Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcadero – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcadero – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Spaghetti with tomatoes and lentils – Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcadero – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Spaghetti in simple tomato sauce – Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcadero – Isola Pescatori, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Stresa

Stresa is a small lake-side tourist attraction on Lake Maggiore, Italy. It is frequented by Italians, Brits, French, Germans, Asians and the odd American. It is only a tiny strip of about a few kilometers, where there are a dozen or so hotels. It is not very busy, unlike the Mediterranean coast, so it is very laid back and relaxing – a quiet retreat.

The area is know for its three Borromean islands, Isola Bella, Isola dei Pescatori (also known as Isola Superiore) and Isola Madre. More on these later.

The town is rather simple, but it has ample restaurants and other types of shopping. There is also an amazing AgriGelateria at Corso Umberto I, which has excellent gelato with all natural and authentic flavors, a must stop, especially when it is really hot outside.

Lungolago di Stresa

Stresa also has a wonderful boardwalk area stretching from Stresa along the lake front and becoming the Passeggiata del lago di Carciano, which is directly across from Isola Bella. It’s a bit over a kilometer and will take about a quarter to half of an hour to walk, depending on your pace.

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Hotel Regina Palace

In its heyday, this four star hotel must have been a place to see and enjoy. However, aside from its opulent structure, this hotel is a solid three-star hotel than what it’s advertised.

The issues we had while here for our short five day star were as follows:

- Our room was not vacuumed for our entire stay.
- There was no Hair Conditioner nor Body Lotion in the bathroom.
- The plumbing is old, requires repairs and updating, some things leak continuously.
- The walls in the rooms are paper-thin and the painting is dated.
- Room service does not fill everything you would expect, e.g. tissues.
- In the dining area – they do not replace things unless you request and even then you might not get it, e.g. syrup for your pancakes.
- In the dining area – you may have to seat yourself, the concierge is not very attentive. I know it’s Italy, but most of the time half of the staff is standing around doing nothing.

The hotel is in a very strategic position along the coast, it is both very close to the islands and the town, this was one of the reasons we selected it. So, if you visit this hotel, be aware of the aforementioned issues and go in with your eyes wide shut.