Lake Maggiore Isola Madre and Isola Bella Hop-on Hop-off Boat Tour from Stresa
About this activity
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- This option has FREE cancellation: book it without any risk!
Experience Highlights
Cruise Lake Maggiore in a traditional taxi-boat and discover the jewels of the Borromeo archipelago at your own pace: the botanical gardens of Isola Madre and the Baroque palace of Isola Bella. The day pass allows you to hop on and off as many times as you like between Stresa and both islands, with departures every 30-40 minutes from Piazza Marconi.
- Buy once and sail freely all day long.
- Avoid queues: preferential boarding in Stresa and at the docks of each island.
- Enjoy the company of a captain who speaks several languages
What’s included
- Hop-on hop-off daily pass between Stresa, Isola Madre and Isola Bella
- Unlimited shipments
- Certified crew and life jackets on board
- Island landing fee (payable in cash at the first jetty)
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Step by Step
You board at Stresa's central quay, where a sailor in a blue jacket hands you a hop-on hop-off pass valid until the last trip of the afternoon. In a few minutes the wooden hull pulls away from the shore and reveals the alpine mosaic of snow-capped peaks behind the city's liberty roofs.
The first stop, Isola Madre, offers a veritable floating botanical garden: Himalayan cypresses, century-old camellias and white peacocks roaming freely among giant magnolias. The boat docks just in front of the main staircase, so that in two steps you are already under the wisteria-scented pergola.
When you decide to continue, present your pass to the captain and board south. The fifteen-minute ride reveals 19th century mansions and waters so clear they reflect the Swiss Pyrenees. Isola Bella looms like a stone ship: Palazzo Borromeo dominates the prow with its marble façade, while the ten terraced gardens cascade down to the lake. Amidst blooming azaleas and mythological sculptures, the audio guide explains the life of the Borromeo counts and points out viewpoints where the reflection of the building looks like a Canaletto painting.
The ticket is flexible: you can have lunch in the gardens' panoramic café, return to Stresa for an ice cream in the piazza or repeat the journey at sunset, when the façades turn golden and the waters turn pink. A full day to soak up baroque architecture, exotic botany and the most iconic postcards of Lake Maggiore.
