Our final visit in the Italian lakes region was a stay in the town of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore. This beautiful truly Italian style lake straddles both Switzerland and Italy and is the second largest lake in Italy. Lake Maggiore was a resort area for wealthy Italians in the 19th Century and remains today as a spot visited by mostly Italians. We chose to stay in the lakeside town of Stresa. The town of Stresa is known for its easy access to the Borromean Islands, beautiful turn of the century hotels, quaint shops and cafe’s and many music festivals during the summer. Stresa had a very local holiday feel, more so than the other Italian lakes we visited, with many sailboats and power boating dotting the lake.
We stayed at the Hotel Royal, a 15 minute walk to the main portion of Stresa. We had a lovely room with many wall to ceiling windows, a very large bathroom with tub/shower combination, a desk and chair, large armoire and a large queen size bed. The bonus of our room was our own private terrace with table and chairs overlooking the lake. The Hotel Royal, full of mostly Italians and Brits, had a very old world holiday feel with a wonderful roof terrace with a view spanning most of Lake Maggiore.
Stresa is an excellent base to tour the Borromean Islands, and the Hotel Royal was aptly situated up a hill from the ferry terminal. We had a little confusion getting on the right ferry, but corrected ourselves and made the short trip across to the island of Isola Bella. The island was packed with tour groups! We ran into many American exchange student groups, I would suspect studying in Milan. Isola Bella is comprised of a massive and ornate Italian villa and incredibly beautiful gardens, all over looking the lake. The Baroque style villa is known for its collection of artwork and ornate rooms. There is even a grotto filled with rooms lined solely in black and white sea shells! The lovely gardens are full of large stone statues, beautiful flower plantings and the local inhabitants, white peacocks. I was expecting more peacocks but only saw a handful.
Later we took another ferry to the island of Isola Superiore, also know as Pescatori. This smaller island is an old fishing village mostly full of restaurants, shops and tourists! The island is lined with cafes in peaceful settings with views back to Stresa. Not much else to do on Pescatori other than eat and shop!
Based next to the ferry terminal is the gondola station which brings you to the top of Mount Mattarone. Two different gondolas and a chairlift are required to reach the top, along with a change in cars. Somewhere along the ride from the first gondola to entering the second, our tickets were lost. Trying to get assistance from non English speaking Italians was difficult, but we made it to the top. At 1500 meters, the views back over Lake Maggiore are incredible. Along with the fantastic views, the top holds a mountain top toboggan ride which rims the top of Mount Mattarone. There was a very long line for tickets, but we made the toboggan run like a pair of old Americans! But having done a similar ride in Appenzell, Switzerland, this pair of old Americans were pros!
Since Lake Maggiore’s shores also encompass Switzerland, we made a day trip drive to the Swiss lakeside town of Ascona. The lakeside road from Stresa to Ascona is full of villages filled with terracotta rooves, church spires and charming osterias. We passed over the swiss boarder with very little fanfare and arrived in Ascona in time for lunch. The village of Ascona is resort town with a strong artist community. The village is stunning with pastel colored Swiss buildings filled with flower boxes and rimmed by the Alps!
Stresa is filled with wonderful ceramic shops who will wrap and ship home anything you would like. The restaurants with pasta and limoncello warmly welcome visitors with a smile. The many piazzas full of outdoor cafes make Stresa a perfect base to watch Italian life go by on the shores of the stunning Lake Maggiore.
