Lake Maggiore is the second largest lake in Italy, running about 65 kilometres north from the Po plain into the Alps, and the first thing to know is that it is not entirely Italian. The northern fifth, including Locarno and Ascona, is in SWITZERLAND. Both countries are in Schengen so there is no passport control for most travellers, but you are leaving the EU customs area, prices change sharply, and the currency becomes the Swiss franc. This post covers the Italian lake, which is where almost all of the sightseeing is.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The west shore is in Piedmont and holds Stresa, Baveno, Verbania and Arona; the east shore is in Lombardy and is quieter, with Laveno, Luino and Angera. The mountains rise directly out of the water at the northern end and the lake sits low enough, around 193 metres, to have a mild microclimate: camellias, azaleas and citrus grow on these shores in gardens that would not survive a few kilometres inland.
The destination within the destination is the Borromean Islands, three small islands off Stresa and Baveno that the Borromeo family has owned since the sixteenth century. Isola Bella is almost entirely occupied by a palace and ten terraces of Baroque garden. Isola Madre is a botanical garden with white peacocks wandering it. Isola dei Pescatori is a working fishing village of narrow lanes, still inhabited, with no entry ticket at all.
The practical heart of a Maggiore trip is the ferry, not the gardens, because how you buy your tickets determines what the day costs and how much of the lake you see.
What you pack is set by a mild humid lake climate, a lot of boat travel, and gardens on terraces.
The Islands, Stresa and the Gardens
Three islands, a Belle Epoque promenade, and two of the best gardens in Italy.
Start with the ferry. Navigazione Lago Maggiore runs the public boats and a day pass covering the Stresa, Baveno and islands zone is far better value than single tickets, which mount up quickly across three islands. Private motorboat operators tout along the Stresa waterfront at higher prices for more flexibility. Check the timetable before planning, because the service thins considerably outside summer.
Isola Bella takes about two hours. The Palazzo Borromeo interior runs through state rooms, a remarkable set of six grottoes lined with pebbles and shells, and Flemish tapestries; the garden climbs in ten terraces to an obelisk with topiary and white peacocks. It is unashamedly theatrical and it is the most visited thing on the lake.
Isola Madre is quieter and better for anyone who prefers plants to palaces: a botanical garden of camellias, magnolias, citrus and an enormous Kashmir cypress, with a modest villa. Isola dei Pescatori needs no ticket and is a twenty minute wander plus lunch, and it is the one that feels like a place rather than an attraction.
Stresa itself is a Belle Epoque resort with a long lakefront promenade and grand hotels, one of which Hemingway used in A Farewell to Arms and later stayed in. The town is small and pleasant and the waterfront is the point.
Across at Pallanza, Villa Taranto is a thirty-hectare botanical garden laid out by a Scottish captain in the 1930s, with dahlias, lotus pools and terraced beds, and it is the serious horticultural visit on the lake. The Mottarone, the mountain behind Stresa, has a cable car and a view over seven lakes; check its current operating status before planning a day around it rather than assuming.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Shores, the Alps and Switzerland
A cliff monastery, a castle with a doll museum, and the Swiss end.
Santa Caterina del Sasso is the best thing on the Lombardy shore: a thirteenth century monastery built onto a cliff face directly above the water, reached by ferry and then a staircase, or from above by a lift cut into the rock. It is small, extraordinary and often missed.
Angera, on the same shore, has the Rocca Borromea on a crag above the lake, with frescoed halls and a large doll and toy museum inside, and the view back across to Arona. Arona itself has a colossal seventeenth century copper statue of San Carlo Borromeo that you can climb inside, up to the head, looking out through the eyes.
North, the lake narrows and the mountains close in. Cannobio and Cannero are the prettiest Italian towns at that end, Cannero with two ruined castles on islets offshore. The Val Grande national park behind them is the largest wilderness area in Italy and genuinely wild walking.
Switzerland begins past Cannobio. Locarno and Ascona are forty minutes from Cannobio by road and both are worth a day, Locarno for the Piazza Grande and the Madonna del Sasso sanctuary above it. Carry a passport or ID card, expect Swiss prices, and note that the Centovalli railway from Domodossola to Locarno is one of the great small train journeys in the Alps.
Getting around: the ferries are the backbone and the best way to move along the lake, and they are public transport rather than tours. Trains run down the Piedmont shore from Domodossola through Stresa to Arona and Milan, and down the Lombardy shore from Luino to Varese. Buses fill the gaps. Milan Malpensa airport is only about forty minutes from Stresa, which makes this lake the most easily reached of the Italian lakes. A car is useful for the quieter shore and the hills and is a liability in Stresa in August.
When to Go
April to June and September, with the gardens best in spring.
The lake moderates the climate and keeps it mild: daytime highs from about 6C in January to 28C in July, with high humidity, substantial rainfall spread through the year and more of it than most of Italy. The mountains at the north end attract cloud.
Spring, April to June, is the best season and the reason is the gardens: camellias from March, azaleas and rhododendrons in April and May, and the terraces at their fullest. The lake is cold for swimming until well into summer.
July and August are warm, humid and busy, with Stresa and Isola Bella crowded and ferry queues at peak times. Thunderstorms build over the mountains in the afternoons.
September is excellent: warm water, thinner crowds, and the dahlias at Villa Taranto still going. October is quieter still with autumn colour on the slopes, and the ferry timetable starts to thin.
Winter is mild at the water, around 6C, and the lake does not freeze, but most garden and island attractions CLOSE from late October to late March, the ferries run a reduced service and Stresa is very quiet. That is worth knowing before booking a winter trip, because the islands are the destination and they are shut.
Is Lake Maggiore Safe for Women Travelers
The lake is prosperous, well policed and very easy to travel alone.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Italy. Its guidance concentrates on petty theft in crowded tourist areas and on the ZTL, the limited traffic zones in historic centres that catch drivers out with automatic fines months after the trip.
Here the theft risk is the ordinary tourist-destination kind: the Stresa waterfront in season, the ferry queues and the island paths, where dense slow crowds suit pickpockets. A closed bag worn in front handles it. Car break-ins happen at trailhead and lakeside parking. Italian police require an in-person report, the denuncia, for the document an insurer will want.
Day to day this is comfortable and straightforward. Stresa and the lakeside towns are busy into the evening in season, eating alone is unremarkable in a place with this much tourism, and the promenades are lit and populated. Out of season the towns are quiet early and much is closed. English is widely spoken, German commonly, and the whole area is used to international visitors.
Italy is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as an Italian resident. That means the same ticket, the co-payment Italians make, rather than nothing, and it does not cover repatriation, so travel insurance sits on top of it. Italian public hospitals are good and the emergency department, the pronto soccorso, treats anyone who arrives. Pharmacies, farmacie, are marked with a green cross, are staffed by pharmacists who can advise and dispense for minor problems, and post a rota for nights and Sundays on the door. Tap water is drinkable across the country, including from the public fountains that are common in Italian towns.
The real cautions are water and weather. The lake is deep, cold below the surface layer even in August, and large enough to get rough quickly when wind funnels down from the Alps, which matters if you take a small private boat rather than a ferry; swimming far out is unwise and there is no lifeguarding on most of the shore. Afternoon thunderstorms over the mountains are common in summer and arrive fast. On the islands and at the gardens the hazard is underfoot: terraced steps, wet stone and gravel on slopes, with no step-free route around Isola Bella's terraces or up to Santa Caterina del Sasso, which makes those hard going for anyone with limited mobility. The Val Grande behind the lake is genuine wilderness with poor phone coverage and should not be walked casually. Dial 112.
The Lake Maggiore Packing List
A light waterproof, because this lake is wetter than you expect
A packable rain jacket for women. Maggiore gets more rain than most of Italy, the mountains at the north end make their own weather, and ferry decks, island terraces and garden paths have no shelter. This is a daily item here rather than a seasonal one.
Base layers, for humidity and a cold boat
The pattern here is warm humid air on land and a noticeably cooler, breezier deck on the water, repeated across a day of island hopping. Merino at 160gsm takes the edge off a ferry crossing without overheating you in a garden, and keeps working in humidity where cotton holds damp against you. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron with no synthetic blend. A long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the layer to bring in any month.
A warm mid layer, most of the year
A fleece mid layer from October to May, and worth having on a boat or the Mottarone in any season, because it is always colder on the water and higher up than on the promenade.
Shoes for terraces and wet stone
Walking shoes with grip, flat. Isola Bella is ten terraces of steps, Santa Caterina is a long staircase on a cliff, and garden gravel on a slope after rain is slippery. Merino wool socks, which keep working damp.
Sun protection, which the haze disguises
A wide brim sun hat and sunscreen. Open water reflects strongly, ferry decks and island terraces have little shade, and the humid haze over this lake hides how much sun you are getting.
Insect repellent in summer
Insect repellent. Mosquitoes are a nuisance near the water and in the gardens at dusk from June to September, as they are on all the Italian lakes.
Something to swim in
A swimsuit from June to September. There are lidos at Stresa, Baveno and along both shores, and the water is clean, but it is cold below the top metre and there is no lifeguarding on most of the shore.
The small things
Cash in euros for the islands and small places. An Italian two-pin adapter. A ferry day pass rather than single tickets, which is the single best piece of value on this lake. A passport or ID card if the Swiss end is in the plan, plus Swiss francs or a card. A refillable bottle; tap water is drinkable. And a check of the island, garden and ferry opening dates if you travel between late October and late March, because the islands close.
Essential Resources for Women on Lake Maggiore
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
Non-emergency police: dial 112 for any emergency, which in Italy reaches police, ambulance and fire, and 113 for the Polizia di Stato. A theft needs an in-person report, the denuncia, to produce the document an insurer requires. English and German are widely spoken around the lake. NOTE that the Swiss shore has its own emergency numbers, though 112 works there too.
Main hospital or clinic: the Ospedale Castelli at Verbania has an emergency department for the Piedmont shore, with hospitals at Gravellona Toce and Domodossola, and Varese serves the Lombardy side. Dial 112 for an ambulance. A farmacia, marked with a green cross, posts the duty rota.
Official health authority: the Ministero della Salute, the Italian health ministry. Italy is in the EU, so a UK GHIC or EU EHIC gives you state-provided care on the same terms as an Italian resident, which means the same co-payment rather than nothing. IMPORTANT ON THIS LAKE: Switzerland is NOT in the EU, so an EHIC gives limited cover there and a UK GHIC gives none at all, and Swiss medical costs are high. If you cross to Locarno or Ascona, your travel insurance is what covers you
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Rome. Rome, with a consulate general in Milan about an hour and a half from Stresa, which is the relevant one
Official tourism authority: ENIT, the Italian national tourist board. With the Stresa and Lake Maggiore tourist offices for the ferry timetables and the island and garden opening dates, which close from late October to late March, and for the current status of the Mottarone cable car
The lake is in two countries: the northern end is Swiss. Schengen means no routine passport check, but you leave the EU customs area, prices rise sharply, and a UK GHIC does not cover you there.
Winter closures: the Borromean islands and the gardens, which are the destination, close from late October to late March and the ferries run a reduced service.
The water: deep, cold below the surface, and quick to get rough when wind funnels off the Alps. No lifeguarding on most of the shore.
US State Department travel advisory: the Italy advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Solo women safety assessment: Lake Maggiore is prosperous, well policed and very easy to travel alone. Stresa and the lakeside towns are busy into the evening in season, eating alone is completely unremarkable in a place this used to international visitors, the promenades are lit and populated, and English and German are widely spoken. Out of season the towns go quiet early and much is shut. The theft risk is the ordinary tourist-destination kind: the Stresa waterfront in season, the ferry queues and the island paths, where dense slow crowds suit pickpockets, plus car break-ins at lakeside and trailhead parking; a closed bag worn in front is the answer, and a theft needs the in-person denuncia for an insurer. The genuine risks are the water and the weather rather than people. The lake is deep, cold below its surface layer even in August, and large enough to turn rough quickly when wind funnels down from the Alps, which matters more in a small private boat than on a ferry, and there is no lifeguarding along most of the shore. Afternoon thunderstorms build over the mountains in summer and arrive fast. On the islands and in the gardens the hazard is underfoot: Isola Bella is ten terraces of steps and Santa Caterina del Sasso is a cliff staircase, with no step-free route around either, which also makes them hard going for anyone with limited mobility. And one piece of admin rather than danger: if you cross to the Swiss end, a UK GHIC does not cover you and Swiss medical costs are high.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Italy travel guide for women. For why fine wool suits a humid shore and a cold ferry deck in the same hour, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
