Stresa
With its grandiose Liberty-style facade dominating the southwest shore of Lake Maggiore, the Borromeo is more of a palace than a hotel. One look inside its ostentatious hallways and you’ll realise how this splendid mansion could eat a huge chunk out of anyone’s holiday budget – even Ernest Hemingway’s.
The convalescing writer stayed here in the dying days of WWI and referenced it in A Farewell to Arms. For a princely sum you can chase his legacy in the 240-sq-metre Hemingway suite.
Santuario della Madonna del Sasso
23.54 MILES
Overlooking the town, this sanctuary was built after the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared in a vision to a monk, Bartolomeo d’Ivrea, in 1480. There’s a…
27.01 MILES
Como’s awesome marble-clad cathedral is one of the most important buildings on the lake, incorporating a variety of styles – Romanesque, Renaissance and…
27.33 MILES
This elegant 18th-century villa on the banks of Lake Como was once home to composer Vincenzo Bellini is now an award-winning luxury hotel.
0.78 MILES
The Borromean Gulf forms Lake Maggiore's most beautiful corner, sheltering the Borromean Islands and their spectacular, privately owned palaces. Closest…
8.71 MILES
In the unassuming town of Casalzuigno, about 9km east of Laveno, generations of nobles have swanned about the magnificent gardens of Villa della Porta…
23.1 MILES
Named after the Visconti clan that long ruled Milan, this fortified 15th-century castle’s nucleus was raised around the 10th century. It now houses a…
Parco Archeologico di Castelseprio
19.11 MILES
Spread out in peaceful woods about 1.5km outside the village of Castelseprio, around 20km south of Varese, is the ancient archaeological site of Sibrium,…
0.75 MILES
Presiding over 10 tiers of spectacular terraced gardens roamed by peacocks, this baroque palace is arguably Lake Maggiore's finest building. Wandering the…
0.1 MILES
For the best passeggiata (afternoon stroll) on Lake Maggiore head for Stresa, where a 2km-long lakeside promenade meanders through florid gardens and past…
0.75 MILES
Presiding over 10 tiers of spectacular terraced gardens roamed by peacocks, this baroque palace is arguably Lake Maggiore's finest building. Wandering the…
0.78 MILES
The Borromean Gulf forms Lake Maggiore's most beautiful corner, sheltering the Borromean Islands and their spectacular, privately owned palaces. Closest…
4. Parco della Villa Pallavicino
0.84 MILES
An easy 1km walk southeast of central Stresa along the SS33 main road, the Pallavicino is a 19th-century neoclassical villa set in banked lakeside grounds…
1.12 MILES
This tiny church on equally tiny Isola Superiore generally gets more tourists than congregation, except on 14 August when its saintly figurine – the…
1.63 MILES
More than 1000 alpine and subalpine species flourish in this 4-hectare botanical garden set partway up Monte Mottarone. It was founded in 1934 and…
1.72 MILES
The closest of the three islands to Verbania, Isola Madre is entirely taken up by the Palazzo Madre and the lovely gardens that surround it. The 16th- to…
8. Museo dell’Ombrello e del Parasole
2.05 MILES
Those driving to Mottarone or Orta San Giulio (for Lake Orta) from Stresa could stop in Gignese (8km from Stresa) for the intriguing Museo dell’Ombrello e…