Grandi Giardini Italiani Srl

c/o Villa Erba
Largo Luchino Visconti, 4
22012 Cernobbio (COMO)
Italy

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

© Courtesy Terre Borromeo

Piemonte

Isola Madre

Stresa, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola

Giardino botanico
Buy tickets
Coffee house & Restaurant
In the Name of the Rose

How to reach

By car
Autostrada dei Laghi, direction Gravellona Toce, exit Carpugnino. Follow the indications for Stresa.

By boat
You can reach Isola Bella and Isola Madre from Stresa, Arona, Pallanza, Locarno, Laverno… Using the boats of the Navigazione Lago Maggiore. For further information call number 800 551801, or visit www.navigazionelaghi.it.
On the lake are available many navigation societies offering the possibility to move at every time, for every destination.

By train
Ferrovie dello Stato, line Milano-Sempione, stop: Stresa, connection with the boat. Ferrovie Nord, line Milano-Laverno, stop: Laverno. Many meters away you will find the embarkment by boat or hydroplane.

History

''Isola Madre (Mother Island) is the most sensuous place I have ever seen in the world”.
(G. Flaubert, 1845)

The luxuriant garden makes this magic Island unique, brimming with rare and exotic plants from every latitude, proof of the Borromeo family's interest in botany over the centuries. Originally it was a fruit orchard, then an olive grove followed by a citrus orchard. The Mother Island took on its present aspect of romantic English park in the early nineteenth century. Expert gardeners and botanists, assisted by the perfect mild climate, knowledgeably integrated the collections over time with new species, flowering continuously and exuberantly for visitors.

Not to be missed amongst these is the spring blooming of rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and magnolias, followed by the summer show of Bougainvillea and the Millettia japonica. There is no shortage of multi-coloured carpeting, wisteria pergolas and waterlilies.
The symbol of the Island is the magnificent, secular specimen of Kashmir Cypress, uprooted by a whirlwind in 2006 and now fully revived, one of nature's miracles.
Since 2002 the garden - together with the Isola Bella one - is a member of the prestigious network of the Royal Horticultural Society.
The sixteenth century Palace stands beside the Kashmir loggia, pre- serving important furnishings from the Borromeo household. It is an elegantly sober country dwelling, where the visitor can admire trompe-l'śil on the walls, porcelain collections, valuable furniture and the unusual presence of miniature theaters and puppets for the entertainment and amusement of family members and their friends.
An extraordinary collection of theatrical apparatus, equipment and scripts, all in excellent condition, witnesses the heritage and testimony of the family's important joint ventures, such as with Alessandro Sanquirico, set designer for the Scala Theatre who worked until 1832 for the Borromeo house and his successor Carlo Fontana who in the following decade expressed his naturalistic and romantic vein.
Information
Opening hours
Season 2024: 16 March - 3 November
Palace and Gardens are open as follows:
  • 16 March - 26 October: daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    (last entrance)
    Palace closing time: 5:30 p.m. - Gardens closing time: 6 p.m.
  • 27 October - 3 November: daily from 10:00 to 16:00 (last admission)
    Palace closing time: 4.30 p.m. - Gardens closing time: 5 p.m.

Special closure on Wednesday 3 July
Entrance
Free visit Palace and Gardens
Adults: € 19,00
Children (6 - 15 y.o.): € 11,00
Contact us
28838 Stresa (VB) Italia
T. +39 0323 933478

www.isoleborromee.it
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Isola Madre