Home
Excursions
I
Excursions
II
Excursions
III
Map
Information
Home
Excursions
I
Excursions
II
Park of Villa Pallavicino in Stresa
This huge natural looking garden is
situated on the southern part of Stresa.
It has a considerable arboreal patrimony: oaks, beeches, fir-trees, planes, maples, ginkgoes and a group of
Californian redwoods. In a part of the park there is an Italian garden with fish-ponds,
hothouses and a very nice rose-garden.
There is also a little zoo with
animals from all over the world. You can enter the llama pen where also fallow deer and
goats live to caress these animals.
***
The
parasol and umbrella Museum in Gignese
It is the only Museum in the world dedicated to
the parasol and the umbrella. Beginning from the 18th century
Gignese and the neighbouring villages became land of umbrella-menders and
umbrella-sellers.
The visit allows to admire around 150 of the over 1000 pieces kept in the
Museum and to follow the progress of the fashion of parasols, umbrellas,
walking sticks and handles from the beginning of the 19th
century up to today.
There are also the reconstruction of a parasol-mender’s shop and of the
kitchen of a house with old workshop tools and kitchen utensils.
***
The
Landscape Museum of Verbania-Pallanza
It is situated in a mansion of the 17th-18th
century, a few steps from the lake-front of Pallanza, sunny town on the
Gulf Borromeo
In the second half of the 19th century several artists of the
Lombard landscape School drew inspiration for their works from lake
Maggiore and the surrounding mountains.
The Museum is made up by several sections: the painting section includes
frescoes of the 15th and 16th century and paintings
from the 15th to the20th century. Most of the works were
realised by Lombard-Piedmontese artist from the second half of the 19th
century to the first half of the 20th century: Eugenio Gignous,
Achille Tominetti, Daniele Ranzoni, Carlo Fornara, Mario Tozzi; the
sculpture section has rooms dedicated to the sculptors Paolo Troubetzkoy,
Giulio Branca and Arturo Martini.
In the archaeological
section there are finds coming from the Gallic-Roman necropolis (end of
the 2nd century B.C. – end of the 1st century
A.D.) discovered at the mouth of Ossola Valley
***
Cable-car to Mount Mottarone
You
can reach the top of this 1491 metres high mountain in 20 minutes from Stresa. It separates Lake Maggiore from Lake
Orta.
If the weather allows it, you can enjoy a breath-taking view: Mount Rosa in its magnificence, seven lakes, the Islands Borromeo, the
Valley of the Po and Milan.
You can also stop at the intermediate station to visit the botanical
garden Alpinia, dedicated to the flora of the Alps and to the
officinal herbs. Among other things it offers a balcony to the Islands Borromeo.
***
Cruises on Lake Maggiore
Thanks to taxi-boats (or liners for
bigger groups) you can live the lake.
You can make a small cruise in the Gulf Borromeo sailing round the islands where it is
possible to berth for a visit and you can pass in front of the shore of Stresa, Baveno and
Pallanza to admire the fronts of the villas and the parks with secular trees.
You can push on to the Hermitage of Saint Catherine or even to the southern part of Lake
Maggiore, towards Arona and Angera.
***
Lake Maggiore Express(Full day excursion)
This is an excursion where you do not
need a coach! You can leave by train from Stresa (or Arona, or Baveno) and reach
Domodossola. From Domodossola to Locarno you will travel by a white and blue panoramic train along Vigezzo Valley. From Locarno, which lies in the Italian
Switzerland, you can go back to Stresa by liner.
You can also travel the other way round or reach Domodossola or Locarno by coach and then
travel by train.
***
The area around Lake Maggiore offers a
simple but very tasty cooking.
Lake fish (trout, perch, whitefish), the cookies of Stresa: "Margheritine".
The tasty dishes of Ossola Valley: gnocchi made with chestnut flour, goat ham, polenta.
Lake Orta offers liver mortadella and the bread of St. Julius.
The hills of Novara are renowned because of DOC red wines.
Around Novara are rice-fields: paniscia (it is the typical risotto of Novara, with bacon, vegetables, beans and wine), blood-sausages and gorgonzola cheese.
It is possible to taste local specialities in restaurants or in wine shops.
#You can devote a whole afternoon to the tasting or include it in the daily excursion, booking a typical restaurant. On request you can have a selection of menues. #