Lake Maggiore Half-Day Trip from Milan

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Lake Maggiore and Isola Bella Lake Maggiore is beautiful and the boat ride was wonderful. My favorite part of the trip was to see Isola Bella and take a tour of the beautiful Borromean Palace and gardens. It was amazing. I would like to go back some day to see the palace and the gardens. We stopped on Isola Pescatori for a short time. The tour from Milan was only for a half day. Our tour guide said that it used to be a whole day tour. I wish we could have spent more time on Isola Bella and Isola Pescatori.

To get out to the islands and see the beautiful gardens was amazing! Definitely worth the trip!

I am very angry at the false advertisement and dishonest practice by this tour provider. One of the big attractions for Lake Maggiore is Isola Bella which houses the Borromeo palace and a famous stepped garden. And I have been looking forward to visiting the island and the famous marionette collection and the palace's fantastic Baroque decoration. It did NOT happen. Because the Isola Bella closed its season on Sunday Oct. 22 and our tour was on Monday Oct. 23. Instead, we were redirected to a botanic garden in the area which Rick Steves a source I trust labeled as underwhelming. Because the local tourist industry tie its schedule to the Isola Bella season closely, most of the shops in the town Stresa were closed and the lovely town was half dead. On top of that, we were only told the bait- and -switch scheme when the bus left the city and we were all trapped on board. After the tour, I did some research. The Isola Bella schedule is posted a year ahead on its website so the tour group should have known that and I just could not believe they never bothered to tell the customers who booked the trip for Monday Oct. 23. 90 of the description of the trip detail is false. And I will make complaint to the customer service group at Viator as well. I have nothing against our guide, Salvatore. He was unfairly put into a tough/unethical situation and it could not easy. He had difficulty meeting my eyes when I made my dissatisfaction known to him. FYI, Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Rocca Borromeo will be open every day from 23rd March to 21st October 2018.

I loved this trip, right group size, the guide was great and the driver, the lake and the visits to the islands and palace were lovely, I think it was a hard act to follow with the last part of the trip in Strasa, by the time you get to walk around it it's lost its sparkle. But it was still great and I'd go again.

A well planned day in a gorgeous area of the world. A most enjoyable tour without too many people in the group.

OMG You have to do this. Isola Bella is stunning and Isola Pescatore for lunch is a treat. totally worth it.

The day trip to Lake Maggiore was wonderful! Antonella, our tour guide, was great. She was very pleasant and knowledgable. She was very organized and kept the tour running smoothly. We had an absolutely wonderful day. I would definitely book another tour with Viator.

Had a stellar day - best tour guide of our entire week. We lucked out with beautiful weather and a small group less than 20 in mid-April. Stresa is beautiful. We loved seeing all the hotels from the art deco period. I think Stresa is better than Como, but that is just me. Boat ride was perfect, castle tour and gardens were lovely, lunch was scrumptious go with the guide's waterfront suggestion if you can. There are a lot of cheaper, smaller spots as well where you can just get a slice of pizza and find a nice lakeside bench, too. The return drive took a different route so you got to see more of the lake and beautiful mansions on the lakeside. This tour was the best value for the price of everything we did - felt very first class.

Enjoyed the trip to the Palazzo Borromeo Isola Bella!!!

The landscape and views of lake maggiore is truly stunning, the gardens were beyond my expectation. I give the destination a 5/5. The day trip was efficient but I would prefer more time on Isola bella and less time in the streets of Stressa, which was quaint shopping. Palace guide was excellent.