Sleeping on an Island

  
September 21-24, 2015: From Lake Como I moved on to Lake Maggiore, notable for the three Borromeo islands and two islets, named for the prominent banking family that acquired them in the 16th century, and still own Isola Bella and Isola Madre. The first town I visited in Italy, back in 2004, was Stresa, on Lake Maggiore. I wanted to revisit the lake, but I had discovered that I could sleep on one of the islands, Isola Superiore (or dei Pescatori), which I thought might be both more peaceful and more fun. I booked a room with a partial lake view at the Belvedere, which got me a large plain room, a large square terrace, and a fine view, although very little sun as the terrace faced north and east and was shaded by buildings. However, the no-view rooms looked out on a narrow alley, so the upgrade was definitely worthwhile.
I had also upgraded, I forget why, part of the train journey from Varenna to Stresa. I had to change in Milan Centrale, a station I would rather avoid, but I left Milan in Tourist Preferente class, which somehow managed to fit four large-feeling seats into the same width carriage as regular tourist class. I sank gratefully into my seat in the almost empty carriage, having had to tow my case all around the station in search of toilets and food, and then the full length of the platform to reach my carriage. The trek from Stresa’s train station to the ferry took a while, but at least it was downhill.
  
Sleeping on Isola Superiore turned out to be a good news/bad news deal, with the tilt towards bad. The views were lovely, and the island was quiet at night. However, it was tourist central during the day, especially at lunch time. At night, most of the cafes shut down, leaving a few expensive restaurants and a couple of lakeside places hosting tour groups who arrived on chartered boats. I got a 10% discount at the Belvedere’s restaurant, and had one good meal, but one not so good meal, there.
Besides Isola Superiore, you can visit Isola Bella – baroque palace and formal gardens – and Isola Madre – older palace and extensive, wilder gardens. There’s a combo ticket that gets you into both palaces for a reduced price, but you have to visit both on the same day. I had three full days and no need to rush so instead I arrived early two days running on the two different islands. This worked for avoiding crowds on Isola Madre, but not for Isola Bella, where there were plenty of tour groups. I only visited Isola Madre on my last trip, and having now seen both it is the one I would choose to go back to, even though it is obvious that any available funds are spent on Isola Bella. 

  
  
The palace on Isola Bella is infinitely grander, built and decorated to impress, but I preferred the family retreat feel of the palace on Isola Madre, where you can wander at will. In fact, in order to dodge the one tour group there, I went round twice. The shell grottoes in the basement of Isola Madre left me cold, in both senses of the word, while there is a beautifully frescoed sitting room with garden views on Isola Bella I would love to spend time. I also loved the more extensive, wilder grounds on Isola Bella, with its wandering peacocks. Unfortunately, my camera battery gave out shortly after I arrived there, and I wasn’t carrying the spare.

  
Besides the islands, tourists are encouraged to take a three-cornered trip to Switzerland – a couple of trains to Locarno, and the boat back. I had taken that trip in 2004, and the Centovalli train through the mountains from Domodossola had been scenic, although very crowded, and I had enjoyed Locarno and its historic castle, but I really felt no need to repeat the excursion. I did wander again along the waterfront at Stresa, past the grand hotels left over from the turn of the 20th century.

I enjoyed two beautiful days before the weather turned bad on me again.