Lake Maggiore, where wonder flourishes | Grandi Giardini Italiani

A trip through the great gardens of Verbano

There is a moment on Lake Maggiore when the boundary between nature and art seems to dissolve. It's when a garden emerges from the water like a stone ship, when a camellia-lined avenue leads to a centuries-old palace, or when a medieval castle overlooks the lake, surrounded by medicinal herbs and ancient flowers. Here, the landscape is not merely a backdrop, but the protagonist of a centuries-long history of botany, architecture, and enlightened visions.

This itinerary explores some of Lake Maggiore's most extraordinary gardens, crossing Italy and Switzerland. From the four sites of the Borromean Islands-Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Parco Pallavicino, and Rocca di Angera-to the celebrated Botanical Gardens of Villa Taranto, and the evocative Brissago Islands, the journey explores the ongoing dialogue between man and nature, between botanical collecting and landscape art.

Day One. Borromeo lands, suspended between land and water.

The journey can only begin in Stresa, an elegant town overlooking the Borromean Gulf. A few minutes' boat ride is all it takes for the lake to reveal one of its most iconic sights: Isola Bella.

Isola Bella, the triumph of the Baroque
More than an island, it resembles a floating palace. Commissioned by the Borromeo family in the 17th century, Isola Bella represents one of the most spectacular expressions of Italian Baroque gardens.
The tour passes through the rooms of Palazzo Borromeo, including state rooms, art collections, precious Flemish tapestries, and surprising grottos lined with pebbles, marble, and shells, designed as refuges from the summer heat.
Outside, however, lies the true masterpiece. The garden unfolds like a spectacular green architecture, dominated by the monumental Teatro Massimo: ten overlapping terraces embellished with statues, obelisks, stairways, and blooms that change with the rhythm of the seasons. Roses, camellias, rhododendrons, citrus trees, and the majestic camphor tree coexist in a surprisingly favorable microclimate, while the pure white peacocks stroll undisturbed among the flowerbeds, contributing to the almost unreal atmosphere.

Isola Madre, the romantic garden
A few minutes by boat, the atmosphere changes completely.
If Isola Bella is a celebration of geometry and baroque magnificence, Isola Madre captivates with the discreet charm of a large English landscape garden.
Here, nature seems to prevail over architecture. Winding paths, lawns, wisteria pergolas, and botanical collections from around the world accompany the visitor on a slow stroll, filled with scents and colors.
Camellias, magnolias, azaleas, and rhododendrons offer a spectacular spring, while summer sees the Bougainvillea, Millettia japonica, and water lilies take center stage. The island's symbol is the monumental Kashmir Cypress, brought back to life after being felled by a tornado: a story that speaks to nature's extraordinary resilience.
The visit continues in the sixteenth-century palace of the Borromeo family, where the elegant trompe-l'oeil paintings, porcelain collections, and the unusual collection of puppet theaters and puppet shows testify to the refined life of the court.

Pallavicino Park, where nature meets animals

Returning to Stresa, the afternoon is dedicated to Pallavicino Park, a place where the historic landscape dialogues with biodiversity.
Its eighteen hectares are home to monumental trees from all over the world: sequoias, Lebanese cedars, tulip trees, magnolias, maples, and centuries-old chestnut trees create a romantic park overlooking the lake.
Alongside the botanical heritage, a rich fauna lives: deer, llamas, sheep, and goats roam freely among the meadows, making the visit particularly enjoyable for families. It's a place that invites you to slow down, listen to the sounds of nature, and experience the lake from a different perspective.

Day Two. The Brissago Islands, a subtropical garden between Italy and Switzerland.

Continuing north, Lake Maggiore leads to its Swiss section, where the Brissago Islands are located, consisting of the Isola Grande (San Pancrazio) and the Isola Piccola (Sant'Apollinare). A landscape, naturalistic, and historical heritage of inestimable value, it is home to one of the most important botanical gardens in Switzerland.

The garden's history begins in the late 19th century with Baroness Antoinette de St. Léger, who transformed the Isola Grande into a refined exotic garden. Max Emden subsequently built the elegant villa that still characterizes the island today. Since 2020, the entire complex has belonged to the Canton of Ticino, which protects and promotes its heritage.

In just 2.5 hectares, the Botanical Garden is home to over 2,000 plant species from the world's subtropical regions. Thanks to Lake Maggiore's mild microclimate, Mediterranean, Asian, Australian, South African, and American plants coexist, offering a surprising botanical journey across continents.

Among palms, camellias, citrus trees, and exotic blooms, with the lake as a backdrop, the visit concludes at Villa Emden, now home to a restaurant and a small hotel, for an experience immersed in nature and beauty.

Day Three. Villa Taranto, the garden that embraces the world

On the Piedmont shore of Lake Maggiore, between Pallanza and Intra, lies one of Europe's most important botanical gardens.
The Botanical Gardens of Villa Taranto are the realized dream of Scottish captain Neil McEacharn, who in the twentieth century transformed a private villa into an international botanical laboratory.
Here, every path tells the story of a different continent. Over one hundred thousand seasonal blooms accompany visitors through ponds, meadows, greenhouses, woods, borders, and panoramic terraces. The continuous succession of environments is made possible by the different microclimates generated by the natural unevenness of the land, which allows the coexistence of tropical, subtropical, alpine, and Mediterranean species.
The collection includes thousands of plants from five continents, many introduced to Italy for the first time thanks to McEacharn's research. Villa Taranto is more than just a garden to be admired: it is a place of botanical study, conservation, and experimentation, where beauty and science coexist in perfect balance.

Day Four: Rocca di Angera, the Middle Ages overlooking the lake.

The final stage leads to the Lombard shore, where the Rocca di Angera (Angera, VA) dominates Lake Maggiore from atop its hill.
The perfectly preserved fortress recounts nearly a thousand years of history through towers, frescoed rooms, and rooms that retain their medieval charm intact.
Next to the famous Museo della Bambola e del Giocattolo, the Medieval Garden surprises, reconstructed based on ancient manuscripts and historical documents. Medicinal herbs, aromatic plants, fruit trees, and flowers still follow the rhythm of the seasons, offering a rare example of a historical garden recreated according to philological criteria.
From the Rocca's lookout point, the view opens up over the entire southern basin of Lake Maggiore: a panorama that perfectly sums up the meaning of this journey, where landscape, culture, and nature blend into a single experience.

Grandi Giardini Italiani Srl

Grandi Giardini Italiani Srl