Travelogue

Day 1 - Swim/Beach on Lake Maggiore and Explore Feriolo

Campground beach on Lake MaggioreAfter Cinque Terre, we almost headed to another U.S. tour favorite - Lake Como, but after learning that it's a place where the rich and famous like to hang out, we thought that we, and our humble little camper, would feel more at home on Lake Maggiore, another beautiful lake in the Italian Lakes District.

My trip planning is usually very heavily activity based, meaning that I pick stops based on things to do - like hikes, or bike rides. I hadn’t really researched Lake Maggiore at all, but we do like beautiful lakes, so we looked on Yelp for highly rated lakeside campgrounds. At the least, we could swim and enjoy the scenery.

We came up with Camping Conca d’Oro on the western shore of the lake near the little village of Feriolo. It had nice grassy sites and a sandy beach right on the lake.

While Herb was checking in, I walked over to the information desk to find out about things to do in the area. The brochure that grabbed my eye was the boat tour to the Borromean Islands, complete with palaces and gardens. Wanting to find out more about this, I asked if anyone spoke English. One poor girl got volunteered, but her English wasn’t much better than my Italian. I think I eventually conveyed my desire to take this tour tomorrow and asked how I could get to the Baveno boat ferry, which was about 3 miles away. She nodded a lot and eventually handed me a bus schedule.

Village of FerioloMeanwhile, Herb was able to get the last available campsite in the section near the lake. It was a nice grassy site less than 50 yards from the beach.

The European heat wave still hadn’t let up, so after settling in, we immediately headed to the beach. Unlike the pebbly campground beach on the Gardasee, this one was sandy with trees to provide some shade. The water was refreshing and delightful.

After a few hours of reading and swimming, we decided to take a walk into the nearby village of Feriolo, about a mile away. It had a picturesque waterfront with several dining patios alongside the lake and rows of brightly colored houses (this is Italy after all).

We continued our stroll along the waterfront around the bend to the marina, where we had a great view back at the village with the mountains of Val Grande National Park as a backdrop. So far, I hadn’t met an Italian village I didn’t like.

Day 2 - Boat to Borromean Islands

Cruising Borromean BayToday we would explore the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore, which Trip Advisor rated as the top Thing to Do in the area.

The islands get their name from the Borromeo family, a noble family from Milan that has owned these islands since the 17th century. The Borromeos were art lovers and botanists and hired the best architects and gardeners of their time to build their grand residences and elaborate gardens.

Three of these islands - Isola Madre, Isola Bella, and Isolo dei Pescatori -- are open to the public and reached via a hop-on-hop-off ferry. The closest ferry dock for us was in the town of Baveno, which according to the girl I spoke to at the campground tour desk yesterday could be reached by bus.

So, bus schedule in hand, we set off on the mile walk to the village of Feriolo to catch the 9:28 bus to Baveno. We were the only ones at the bus stop, so we rechecked the schedule to make sure we had the right time and place. We did. Perhaps it was so quiet because it was a Saturday. 9:28 soon came and went, then 9:38 - still no bus.

Isola Madre White PeacocksI looked at the schedule again and noticed the word “Feriale” at the top of the column for 9:28 (and most of the other times that morning). Not knowing Italian, I keyed it into my phone translator. The result was not good - “Weekday.” There would be no bus today.

Not wanting to give up on our plans to visit the islands, we walked the 3 miles to Baveno.

Down at the docks, there were a few different options for boat tours, some more official than others. One was just about to pull out as we got there, so we quickly hopped on and paid the 13 euro (each) fare.

We were dropped off first at Isola Madre, the largest of the Borromean Islands, where we followed the crowd to the ticket booth to purchase tickets to visit the palace and the gardens. We decided to buy a combo ticket for 21 euro each, which would also cover the admission to the palaces and gardens on Isola Bella.

Isola Madre Puppet TheaterBefore touring the villa, we wandered through the beautiful English-style botanical gardens that this island is famous for -- the lifework of Count Vitaliano IX Borromea, a passionate botanist who spent his life collecting rare trees and exotic plants from around the world. However, what was stealing the show were two totally white peacocks strutting freely around the grounds as if they owned the place.

After the gardens, we toured the 16th century villa, which was the residence of one branch of the Borromeo family - residences by other members of the family were scattered throughout the Borromean Bay. The home was warm and charming, a lot less ostentatious than many of the palaces we had seen on our trip so far. However, this one did have something the others hadn’t - a puppet theater and marionette collection for entertaining their guests.

Behind the villa there is a small piazza with a modest family chapel and a colorful waterlily pond.

Time for the next island, so we walked back to the dock and didn’t have to wait long for our trusty captain to show up and deliver us to our next stop - Isola Bella.

Isola Bella Grotto - Reclining VenusIt didn’t take us long to figure out that Isola Bella was where the more flamboyant branch of the Borromeos had once lived. The island is dominated by a huge, sumptuous, four-storey Baroque palace with 30 richly furnished rooms to tour - nothing like the relatively simple, yet charming, abode of the Madre Borromeos. Some of the more memorable rooms in the palace included the Hall of Honor, the Tapestry Hall, the Neoclassical ballroom, and the room where Napoleon once slept.

However, by far the most intriguing part of the palace is in the basement where there are six underground natural grottos, decorated with dark and light-colored shells and pebbles depicting various nautical themes. I lost Herb for awhile in front of the “Reclining Venus” statue, which had caused quite a stir back in the day, when one of the Borromeo’s guests found its sensuality shocking. I’m glad the Borromeos stood their ground and kept it, because it really was quite lovely.

Isola Bella Garden AmphitheaterJust as the residence on Isola Bella was much more ostentatious than that on Isola Madre, the gardens were equally over the top in comparison. The gardens were laid out on ten terraces ornamented with exotic plants, spectacular flowers, topiary, ponds, fountains, obelisks, reliefs, and statues. At the end, there is an amphitheater, on three levels, decorated with statues representing the triumphs of the Borromeo family, dominated by a huge statue of a Unicorn, the heraldic emblem of the Borromeos, flanked by statues representing Nature and Art. From the 120-foot high upper terrace, there is a breathtaking view of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was pretty spectacular.

Oh, and of course they too had their own white peacocks strutting around, a little bit more pompously, I thought, than those on Isola Madre.

The third, and last, island on the tour that day was Isola dei Pescatori, a very different experience from the previous two. This island has no lavish palaces or gardens, and there wasn’t even a fancy peacock in sight. Rather, as its names suggests, it is a quaint fishing village, with narrow Medieval lanes, hardworking inhabitants, and simple two-storey fishermen’s homes, complete with long balconies for drying fish. In contrast to Isola Madre and Isola Bella, this was an island of everyday hardworking people, and had been so for centuries.

Lovely Lake MaggioreThat was the end of our island tour, which had been truly fascinating and lots of fun - a very worthwhile activity, which I highly recommend.

Once back to the dock in Baveno, we probably could have found a bus that ran on weekends back to Feriolo, but we decided to just walk the 3 miles instead.

It had been quite a full day and we were exhausted, so we spent what was left of it enjoying the campground beach on the lake.

Description

Feriolo on Lake MaggioreLake Maggiore, meaning “greatest lake,” is one of several beautiful lakes in the Italian Lake District, which stretches across Northern Italy. It is Italy’s longest lake, stretching for 43 miles, 8 of which extend into Switzerland.

The jewels of Lake Maggiore are the Borromean Islands, which lie in a bay surrounded by mountains on the western side of the lake, between Stresa and Verbania. The three major islands can be reach via a hop-on-hop-off ferry service from Stresa, Verbania, or Baveno.

The islands get their name from the Borromeo family, a noble family from Milan that has owned these islands since the 17th century. The Borromeos were art lovers and botanists and hired the best architects and gardeners of their time to build their grand residences and elaborate gardens.

Ticket prices to visit the palaces on the island can be found here: http://www.isoleborromee.it/eng/info.html

Isola Madre
Isola Madre Chapel SquareIsola Madre is the largest of the Borromean islands. Once a medieval defense, it is now dominated by an English-style botanical garden with rare trees, exotic flowers, azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, and ancient wisteria. Count Vitaliano IX Borromea was a passionate botanist who spent his life collecting valuable plants from around the world. Like on Isola Bella, white peacocks wander the grounds as if they own the place.

The villa on the island was built in the late 16th century and served as a residence for members of the Borromeo family. Visitors can tour the home, including the Dolls’ Room, the Room of the Seasons, and the Puppet Theaters.

Behind the villa there is a small piazza with a modest family chapel built in 1858 and a colorful waterlily pond.

Isola Bella (“Beautiful Island”)
Isola Bella GardemsIsola Bella is dominated by its sumptuous four-storey Baroque palace, along with a luxuriant Italian-style garden. Visitors can tour 30 of the richly furnished rooms of the palace, including the Hall of Honor, Tapestry Hall, music room, Neoclassical ballroom, room where Napoleon slept, etc. However, the most intriguing part of the palace is the six underground natural grottos, decorated with dark and light-colored shells and pebbles reflecting nautical themes.

Equally impressive are the formal gardens, laid out on ten terraces ornamented with exotic plants, spectacular flowers, topiary, ponds, fountains, obelisks, reliefs, and statues. There are also two white peacocks that freely wander the grounds. At the end, there is an amphitheater, on three levels, decorated with statues representing the triumphs of the Borromeo family. The upper terrace, which is 120-feet high, has a breathtaking view of the lake and its surrounding mountains.

Isola dei Pescatori (Fishermen’s Island)
Isola dei Pescatori is the only one of the three islands that is inhabited, and as its name suggests, most of those inhabitants are fishermen, generations of whom have been living there for centuries. Unlike the lavish palaces and gardens of the first two islands, this is a quaint fishing village with narrow Medieval lanes and simple two-storey fishermen’s homes, with long balconies for drying fish. The island’s many fine fish restaurants, where you can eat freshly caught fish, make it a popular destination.