Piedmont · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Stresa
A Lake Maggiore resort townfacing the Borromean Islands, grand-hotel waterfront and home of the Settimane Musicali since 1962.
63 km / 39 mi
Nearest hub (Novara)
4,599
Population
Apr–Oct
Best time to visit
Why come
Stresa sitson the western shore of Lake Maggiore, ninety kilometers north of Milano on the line of the Simplon railway. The town first appears in documents in 998 as Strixsya. From the seventeenth century onwards it was the Borromeo lake stage: in 1632 Carlo III began the palazzo on the rocky island then known as l'isola inferiore, renaming it Isola Bella after his wife Isabella d'Adda. Isola Madre and Isola dei Pescatori complete the Borromean group 400 meters offshore, reached by regular ferry from the two town piers. The grand-hotel era opened in 1863 with the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées on the lakefront, where Hemingway convalesced in 1918 and set part of A Farewell to Arms. Villa Pallavicino, established 1855, holds 18 hectares of botanical park and wildlife enclosures on the southern edge of town. The Settimane Musicali di Stresa, the lake's major classical festival, has run each late summer since 1962.
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Gallery
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Known for
Isola Bella
Borromean island 400 meters offshore, with the Borromeo palazzo and Baroque terraced gardens begun in 1632 by Carlo III for his wife Isabella d'Adda.
Isola Madre
Largest of the Borromean islands, with the Borromeo villa and an 8-hectare botanical park of subtropical plants, the oldest English-style garden in Italy.
Isola dei Pescatori
Only continuously inhabited Borromean island, a fishing village of narrow lanes and lakefront trattorie, reached by the same ferry circuit.
Parco di Villa Pallavicino
18-hectare botanical park and wildlife enclosure on the southern edge of town, opened to the public in 1956, now part of the Borromean estate.
Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées
Lakefront grand hotel opened 1863, where Hemingway convalesced after the First World War and set part of A Farewell to Arms in 1918.
Funivia Stresa-Mottarone
Cableway up to the 1,491-meter summit of the Mottarone, with views over the lake, the Borromean group and the Monte Rosa massif to the west.
When to visit
Best months · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
April through June is the green window on Lake Maggiore: Isola Bella's terraced gardens in flower, the ferries running full timetable, and the lakefront promenade open without the August press. July and August are warm and crowded; the centro empties between two and four in the afternoon heat, and the islands fill on day trips from Milano. The Settimane Musicali run from late August into September, the busiest cultural weeks of the year. September and October are the second peak, with clearer light on the Borromean group and the camellias on Isola Madre still in flower. November through March is quiet, occasionally foggy; many lakefront hotels close, the ferries reduce schedule, and the islands shift to winter visiting hours.
How to get there
From Novara, Stresa is roughly 63 km by road. Allow about 54–76 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).
Drive time to the nearest gateway airports
- Milan1h 38m
- Turin1h 39m
- Genoa2h 15m
Elevation 200 m
Reachable by train
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