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Isola Bella,
the Beautiful Island in the Lake Maggiore
Narrow streets lead from one nice restaurant to the other. Until you can’t
go on, where the gardens of the Palace of Borromeo begin.
Beautiful Island
Isola Bella is the ‘beautiful island’ of the Borremean Islands, that are
situated some hundred meters from the lakeside of Stresa, on the Lago
Maggiore.
Fishing
village
 The Island is about 320 meters long and 180 meters across. Until the 17th
century Isola Bella was a rocky island with only a tiny fishing village on
it. In 1632 Carlo III Borromeo, who governed over the Duchy of Milan,
commissioned the building of a palace in honour of his wife Isabella d’Adda.
The Borromeo Palace
Nowadays the palace is open to the public and has become a popular tourist
attraction. In the rooms tapestries and other works of art are shown. The
gardens are in Italian style. The caverns beneath the palace house pre-historic remnants.
Napoleon and the
Conference of Stresa
Important historical figures stayed in the Palazzo Borromeo, among whom
Napoleon Bonaparte and Caroline of Brunswick, the princess of Wales. In 1935
the Conference of Stresa took place in the palace, during which Mussolini,
Laval and McDonald spoke about Nazi Germany.
 Shops,
restaurants and bars
Even if you don’t have time to see the palace, Isola Bella is worth a
visit. In one hour you can walk around the island, see the many tourist
shops and stalls or have a drink with a great view on the Lake Maggiore,
the other small Borromean Islands (you can visit them all) and the Alps.
Lake Maggiore is at 60 km (37 mi.) from Milan. By train it takes 1
hour to get from Milan to Stresa. From Stresa you can reach Isola Bella
by boat in 10 minutes.
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