Things to Do at Lake Maggiore

It depends on what you want to see. Isola Bella has the baroque palace and its terraced gardens, Isola Madre is a botanical garden, and Isola dei Pescatori is a fishing village. Palace and gardens are ticketed; a boat ticket and an entry ticket are often separate products, so read what each offer includes before you book.

In the offers we compare, Stresa is by far the most common starting point; a few leave from Baveno or Verbania. Several hop-on hop-off offers let you get on and off between islands, which is worth knowing if you want more time on one of them.

Yes, and many people do. This page lists only tours that start at the lake itself; day trips that begin in Milan are left out on purpose, because they spend part of the day on the road. From Malpensa airport to Stresa it is roughly 50 km by road, so a transfer or a rental car is a realistic option if you arrive by air.

Only a little. The lake is shared between Piedmont, Lombardy and the Swiss canton of Ticino, but the bookable offers cluster around Stresa and the Borromean Gulf. A few offers touch Locarno, Ascona or the Ticino valleys. Carry a valid passport or ID card if you plan to cross the border.

Yes, but be realistic: most of the bookable inventory is boats and island tickets. Beyond that you will find cooking classes and wine tastings, walking tours around Lake Orta, the Centovalli train from Domodossola and a handful of private cruises. Many of the lake’s other highlights can be visited on your own without a tour.