Islands with baroque palaces, lush gardens, and botanical wonders
28838 Stresa, Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy Get directions
"A tiny archipelago on Lago Maggiore long owned by the House of Borromeo, framed by sapphire waters and Alpine peaks and renowned for lush gardens and baroque palaces. As Gustave Flaubert wrote, “nature charms you with a thousand strange seductions.” Highlights include a nearly 20-acre botanical garden with more than 2,000 plant species and snow-white peacocks on Isola Madre, the baroque fantasia of Isola Bella with dining and historic apartments, and the red-shingled fishermen's houses and small hotel-restaurant scene of Isola dei Pescatori; hop-on-hop-off boat services run from Stresa, though many operators pause between November and mid-March." - Elizabeth Heath Elizabeth Heath Elizabeth Heath is a writer and editor living on a hill in Umbria, from where she writes about travel in Italy, the rest of Europe, and farther afield. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"A group of islands in Lake Maggiore known for outstanding palaces and gardens, owned by the Borromeo family." - Elizabeth Heath Elizabeth Heath Elizabeth Heath is a writer and editor living on a hill in Umbria, from where she writes about travel in Italy, the rest of Europe, and farther afield. Travel + Leisure Editorial Gui
"I found the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore—Isola Bella, Isola Madre, and Isola Superiore—to be elegant destinations in the hands of the Borromeo family since the 1600s, with Isola Bella’s opulent Baroque palace and terraced Italian gardens (complete with roaming peacocks) and Isola Madre’s sprawling English-style gardens and exotic plants." - Sarah James, Lucrezia Worthington
Amelia Bly
Bruna Fernandes
Graham F
Isa Maz
Marina Šango
Samy Guerra
Giuseppe Baldassarri
Keith bates
