maitaitom

So I don't have to "stressa" about the boat ride from Stresa (where we will visit one day from Orta San Giulio) to the three Borromean Islands, is there a certain order of which islands to visit. Would you recommend all three? And how much time would you allow to visit all three islands? We also like to ride the Mottarone Cable Car that day. Thanks.

thursdaysd

You can skip Isola Superiore. My favorite is Isola Madre, but you should be able to see Bella and Madre on the same day - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...-on-an-island/

Ferry timetables are here but of course not the summer ones yet:

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/m_orari.asp

maitaitom

Thanks so much (love the website). I think we'll just do those two. It will be part of our last two days in Italy so I'm sure the crew will already be in mutiny mode by then with my insane schedule.

thursdaysd

Glad you like my blog! Maybe take picnic supplies for Isola Bella and let the troops have a rest?

nytraveler

What happened to Isola de Pescatori - is that what you are calling Superior? We loved the former and had a lovely lunch there.

thursdaysd

Yes, same island. I slept on it. It was absolutely overrun during the day, especially at lunch, and dead at night.

Dayle

My BFF and I also stayed on Isola dei Pescatori back when Hotel Verbano was the only lodging on the tiny island. It worked out great for us because we were just getting over jet lag. Stayed there the first two nights of the trip. We were gone seeing the other islands during the day and came back to a nice quite island and dinner in the hotels restaurant. We loved it!

Also really liked the tour of the palace on Isola Bella. Very Interesting and unique place, but talk about crawling with tourists! And this was back in 2000.

massimop

I suggest that if it's not cloudy you take the cable car ride first and then see if you want to go to the islands. There is a nice little informal restaurant at the foot of the cable car, L'Idrovolante, where you can get homemade pastas for lunch and decide if you want to bother with the islands tour. Eating there will be simpler than hoofing it back to town where the food is underwhelming and it might not be easy to put together a picnic.

Isola Madre is pleasant and gets the fewest tourists because it is the furthest out and the smallest to tour. plus Its villa has some quirky features. But the villa on Isola Bella is particularly lovely if you like historic interiors. Otherwise the island is insufferably touristy, thick with kitschy souvenir shops and the garden is the actual definition of "grotesque" (which maybe you'll want to see being such a fan of wordplay).

For what it's worth I ate what to this day is one of the worst meals I've ever eaten in Italy at Hotel Verbano in Isola dei Pescatori, but there was a wedding that evening, which may have overwhelmed the kitchen. However, you might want to check recent reviews.

Another option if you are driving is to go to Baveno, which is much less touristy in general than Stresa and has an historic core with better restaurants. The islands ferry docks there, which will also take you to the cable car entrance.

But if you are curious to see the chandeliered-lobbies off the grand hotels, those are only in Stresa.

massimop

sorry -- meant to say Isola Bella is the largest tour (and therefore gets the fewest tourists)

massimop

okay -- I'lll try this one more time and then make some coffee: Isola Madre is the largest island, furthest out, gets least tourists. Isola Bella much smaller, very close in to Stresa.

Dayle

For us, the visit to Isola Madre was nice because we were almost the only ones there. Us and the peacocks, pheasants and more. The botanical gardens were several acres and quite informal. We did a tour of the villa which at that time was empty of furnishings.

We also took the ferry up to Villa Taranto botanical gardens. We had missed the azalea bloom, but the gardens were gorgeous and the hot houses quite impressive. There were lots of visitors, but because its such a large park, it was very pleasant.

neckervd

http://www.stresa-mottarone.it/

StCirq

We are in Stresa now. We went to Isola Pescatori (also known as Isola Superiore) today. Isola Madre and Isola Bella are open to wander around now, but the palazzi and attractions are closed for the season. From what I gleaned on the signs outside the boat landing, normally the boats make a circuit among the three islands and you can get on and off as you like (they will give you a detailed schedule for all the departures and landings and you plan accordingly,plus there is a billboard outside the landing with the imminent departures chalked on it).

From Stresa the usual circuit is Isola Bella, Isola Pescatori, then Isola Madre and back to Stresa. They are all lovely. I would recommend eating at The Belvedere on Isola Pescatori, though there are decent restaurants on all three islands and in Stresa, where it is also very easy to put together a great picnic, even now in the very low season. In some ways, Isola Pescatori is the most interesting of the three islands, as there are only 50 permanent residents, only two fishing families left, and it's small enougn to see in under an hour.

To visit all three islands plus take a trip to Mattarone would IMO take a full day. I cannot imagine not visiting the islands, despite massimop's usual grumpy warnings.

PalenQ

did so long ago details are hazy about each island but did in a day all three from Stresa and glad to have seen all three - each different and totally enjoyable - easy to do all IME. Maybe leave what appears to be least interesting till last in case you get so enamored with others time runs out?

StCirq

<<Maybe leave what appears to be least interesting till last in case you get so enamored with others time runs out?>>

Well, maybe, but then you'd have to waste time going outside the usual circuit and doubling back, which would not make sense if you were worried about time running out. You could take private water taxis instead of the usual ferries, though.

massimop

St Cirq's typical lack of imagination will keep you on the usual tourist route. I can imagine a group wanting to make their own decisions as the day progresses, especially if they are coming from another lake with island excursions but not with cable car rides + views 7 grand historic hotels. Nothing grumpy about that. I think St Cirq is having another bad bout of mistaking a mirror for a window, thinking that sourpuss she's mesmerized by is somebody else.

kelsey22

thanks for this information. Going to use it.