Lake Maggiore Gardens: Spring is in full bloom

Spring has arrived in Stresa! I love this time of year as the season begins, tables appear outside cafés in the piazza, hotels open their doors again and the gardens around Lake Maggiore start to bloom! It’s camellia time at the moment and everywhere you look there are huge camellia bushes/trees covered in white, pink and scarlet flowers.

Isola Bella

So, I though I would share my favourite gardens with you and take you on a virtual tour of Lake Maggiore in bloom.

Stresa Lakefront Gardens

Probably overlooked by a lot of visitors as they hurry along to catch the ferry to the BorromeanIslands, the lakefront gardens and promenade are one of my favourite parts of Stresa. I never get tired of a passeggiata along the promenade and it is different as the season goes on.

Right now the trees are covered in candy pink blossom and the camellias are at their best. Later it will be rhododendrons and azaleas. Don’t forget to glance up at the hotels as well – from May to October they are adorned with thousands of window boxes of bright red and pink geraniums.

Isola Bella

For most visitors to Stresa, Isola Bella is the first of the Borromean Islands they will visit. It is the most famous and certainly the most impressive! Once you have visited the splendid palace you will emerge into the gardens.

Arranged on ten terraces with an incredibly ornate amphitheatre, they are quite unlike any other gardens I’ve visited. Take a walk to the top to get great views across the lake and then wander around the terraces, plants, flowers and statues. Look out for the white peacocks as you might be lucky to see their show!

Isola Madre

Isola Madre is completely different to Isola Bella. To me it feels more homely – even if it is homely on a grand scale! The Villa is idyllic and I defy you not to imagine yourself living there.

The gardens are more like a park, not as ornamental as those on Isola Bella but equally beautiful. Shaded avenues, lush green lawns, colourful borders and the amazing Kashmir Cypress which is the biggest in Europe. Our tip: head to Isola Madre in the morning. Most tours and groups head to Isola Bella first, so you’ll have the gardens virtually to yourselves.

Villa Taranto

I never get tired of visiting Villa Taranto and we go every year. The vast area of park and woodland, with terraced pools and winding footpaths contains 20,000 species of trees, shrubs, plants and flowers.

The gardens are amazing at any time of year, but our favourite time to visit is for the tulip week which for 2014 is usually between 13-27 April. They plant 80,000 bulbs so you can imagine the display of colour!

Alpine Gardens

The Alpine Gardens are very different to the splendour of the lakeside gardens. A pleasant interlude on your ride on the cable car to Mottarone, the offer fabulous views down over the lake. They are alpine gardens and only cost a few euro to enter so should not be compared to Isola Bella.

Instead, they are an incredibly beautiful and tranquil spot high above the lake. There are pretty rockeries and flower beds filled with alpine flowers, a short woodland walk, an amazing viewpoint and a large meadow. They are also a welcome escape from the hot weather in the summer!

Have you been to these Lake Maggiore gardens? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

Author’s Bio: Viaggi Tomassucci (Stresa Travel) has been run by the Gemelli family since 1976 and provides a full range of travel services for visitors to Stresa and Lake Maggiore. They also sell tickets for the ferries, Borromean Islands or Lake Maggiore Express. Follow them on Twitter at @StresaTravel.