Stresa

South of the western shore, facing the Borromean Islands, Stresa is an elegant town with its villas, luxury hotels, parks and gardens. It is the main seaside resort, frequented by wealthy tourists, with restaurants and chic boutiques.
Its shoreline is enhanced by beautiful “romantic” promenades with views of the islands, but the municipality also extends up the slopes overlooking the lake, accessible by rather steep winding roads.
Trails also allow you to walk along the shore overlooking the lake, such as the Chestnut Trail linking Stresa to Belgirate.
In Stresa, many events are held such as the Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore Festival in summer, the National Choral Singing Competition, the Midsummer Jazz Concerts, etc.

Besides the Borromean Islands, in Stresa you can also see the Villa Ducale, built in 1770 at the wish of the Bolongaro family, or the Pietro Canonica Museum Room. You can also take a boat to the other shore to reach, for example, the Rocca d’Angera.

What to do in Stresa and its surroundings

• Borromean Islands  
  This archipelago of lake islands known for their flora is formed by Isola Bella, with the 17th-century Borromeo Palace and its superb scenic gardens ; Isola Madre, which is the largest and quietest with a splendid botanical garden, rich in rare plants and less exuberant than that of Isola Bella ; Isola dei Pescatori, which is the only inhabited island ; as well as the islet of San Giovanni and the rock of Marghera.
  Isola Madre and Isola Bella can be visited every day, from late March to late October, via the Navigazione Lago Maggiore ferries (read the page on the Borromean Islands).

• The Villa Pallavicino is one of the most beautiful villas on the lake with its English garden and a park of 18 hectares with rich fauna and flora, with on the one hand its botanical aspect, where magnolias, sequoias or a large cedar of Lebanon grow, as well as greenhouses. On the other hand, you can see many birds such as flamingos, swans or parrots, and on the large animal side, fallow deer, zebras and llamas.

• The Stresa shoreline has a beautiful flowered pedestrian promenade, which passes in front of the Liberty-style villas and a few cafés.

• Stresa-Mottarone Cable Car . A beautiful “excursion” allows you to reach the summit of Mottarone – preferably by the Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone cable car (which departs from the Lido station in Stresa) – located at 1,491 metres altitude, with a magnificent view over Lake Maggiore, the mountains, the Po plain to the south, and on the other side the Mont Rosa, Lake Orta and the other small lakes.

• Alpinia Botanical Garden. Located in Alpino above Stresa at 800 metres altitude, the Alpinia Botanical Garden, from which the view over Lake Maggiore is panoramic, houses more than 100 different species of plants, mostly alpine mountain species but also originating from the Caucasus, China and Japan.

• The Villa Ducale is the oldest seigneurial palace of the town, on the edge of the lake, dating back to the 18th century. It was the favourite holiday residence of Princess Elisabeth of Saxony, wife of Ferdinand Duke of Genoa. You can visit the park, the museum and the room of Antonio Rosmini.

• Hikes : chestnut trail between Stresa and Belgirate, etc

• Reach the other shore by boat, to see for example the Rocca d’Angera and the Hermitage of Saint Catherine.

Map

Information

• Chestnut trail from Stresa to Belgirate : https://www.illagomaggiore.it/it_IT/21877,Itineraries.html, www.distrettolaghi.it

• en.wikipedia.org

• https://www.stresaturismo.it/it/cosa-fare/

• https://www.lelacmajeur.com/fr_FR/home/destinations/lac-maggiore-et-mergozzo/stresa