Isole Borromee: a season, not a year

The Borromean islands on Lake Maggiore open on March 12 and close on November 8 in 2026, and from mid-November to early March there is nothing to visit at all.

A season with a start date and an end date

The 2026 season runs March 12 to November 8. Outside those dates the palaces and gardens are closed, and the islands are lived-in rock with a boat service and a couple of restaurants.

Last entry is 5:00 pm up to October 24 and 4:00 pm from October 25 to the end of the season (17:00 and 16:00 on Italian signs). Work backwards from that when you pick a sailing, because the last admission and the last boat are two different clocks.

This is the fact that guidebooks tend to leave out. A November trip to Stresa that was planned around the gardens is a trip with an empty afternoon.

€27 for one island, €40 for two

Isola Bella is €27 for adults and €18 for ages 6 to 15 (2026). Isola Bella together with Isola Madre is €40, and the combination that adds the Parco Pallavicino on the mainland is €55.

Under 3s are free everywhere, and 3 to 5 year olds are free on the single tickets. Prices on this page are in euros.

Two islands at €40 is the version most people want. Isola Bella is the baroque terraces and the palace; Isola Madre is the botanical one, older planting and far fewer people on the same afternoon.

The ferry is a separate purchase

None of the garden tickets includes the boat. On the Italian basin of the lake, with prices in force from April 1, 2026, a direct single with no intermediate stops runs from €2.50 to €11.50³ depending on section, the same trip with stops from €3.50 to €18.50³, and a day pass from €7.00 to €34.50³.

The day pass is the one that suits the islands, because the useful trip is three or four hops, not one crossing. Stresa to Isola Madre falls in the €5 band as a single.

Public boats are run by Gestione Navigazione Laghi, the state operator; private launches also work the same piers at their own prices, and they are not the same service.

The lake underneath the day out

Lake Maggiore covers 212.5² square kilometers, reaches 370² meters at its deepest and averages 176² meters, holding 37.5² cubic kilometers of water. That makes it the second largest Italian lake by surface and by volume.

Its level is controlled by the Miorina dam at Sesto Calende, at the southern end. The Ticino and the Toce feed it and the Ticino drains it, which is why the water is colder than the palm trees on the terraces suggest.

The lake has its own page at Lago Maggiore, the devotional hills above the western shore are at Sacri Monti, and the region is Piemonte.

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