Isola Bella Palace or Villa Balbianello
 

We only have 3 days in the Lakes area and are staying in Bellagio. We have a day trip to Maggiore planned and from what I'm reading we should see Lake Orta as well. We want to do a bit of hiking so I am thinking we don't need to do both Isola Bella and Villa Balbianello tours, although they are scheduled for us at this point. Any thoughts?

There is no way I would miss any of the Borromean islands - they deserve a whole day. But there is no way I am hiking anywhere.

I loved the Borromean Islands but Villa Balbianello is one of the most beautiful places/settings I have ever visited. We always return there every time we visit Bellagio. We take the ferry to Lenno and a water taxi to the Villa B; it will take half a day at most.I wouldn't drop either from your itinerary. Where ae you planning to hike?
We weren't enchanted with Lake Orta like many on this board, perhaps drive up there for lunch one day from Lake Maggiore, take boat out to the to the island in the center of the lake.

Is it a two hour each way trip to Maggiore?

We returned this week from a trip to Italy that included 4 nights in Stresa on Lake Maggiore and 4 nights in Bellagio. Here are my thoughts after our visit ;;)

On our Wednesday in May, the traffic between the two lakes was very heavy and it took us over 2 hours to make the drive. Is your day trip to Maggiore a bus tour or were you doing a self drive? For the quickest way to get to Maggiore from Bellagio you take the car ferry, which runs every half hour and then have to drive along the lake which can be very congested, then our gps had us going in and out of Switzerland which was time consuming with congention at the border points.

If you want to hike there are places around Lake Como and for a gentle walk there is "The Greenway" a 10km path linking Colonno with Cadenabbia.

We visited Villa Carlotta because Villa del Balbianello has limited days it is open. Hopefully your weather will be better than our recent visit when it was cold enough that we saw overnight snow on the mountain tops around Bellagio on the 25th of May!! Deborah

I misunderstood. I thought you were also staying on Lake Maggiore. We drove on back roads between the two lakes years ago and it did take quite a while. If you're flying in or out of Milan Malpensa, Lake Maggiore is very close so perhaps you could fit it into your itinerary around your arrival or departure.

Okay thanks everyone. We actually have a driver and car, but I was more concerned about the time it would take to get to Maggiore, and the fact that the tours might be so similar it isn't necessary to do both (boat ride, garden visits). We will be hiking above Lake Como and will get more hiking in when we visit the Dolomites, so we may still do them both...