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Stresa, Piemonte
Coat of arms of Stresa

Piemonte · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola

Stresa

A Lake Maggiore resort town, facing the Borromean Islands and running the Settimane Musicali since 1962.

Picked by Peter Benei

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About the letter

Visiting

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
1 h 11 min from Milan
By train
Station in the comune
Population
4,634

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J10°
  • F12°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M21°
  • J26°
  • J28°
  • A28°
  • S23°
  • O19°
  • N13°
  • D10°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Stresa sits on the western shore of Lake Maggiore, ninety kilometers north of Milano on the line of the Simplon railway. The town first appears in documents in 998, as Strixsya. From the seventeenth century the lake stage here belonged to the Borromeo family: the palazzo on what had been called l'isola inferiore was begun in 1632, the island renamed after its patron's wife.

The other two islands of the group lie 400 meters offshore alongside it, reached by regular ferry from the two town piers, one still inhabited, one given to its park. Villa Pallavicino, established 1855, sits apart from this cluster on the southern edge of town, its own botanical and wildlife ground answering the islands' gardens without belonging to the same estate. The town's other identity, as a resort, dates to 1863 and the lakefront hotel building that opened international tourism here, later drawing the festival that has filled the town each late summer since 1962. What Stresa amounts to is a small lake shore town organized almost entirely around water it faces rather than land it occupies: the islands offshore, the piers that reach them, and a lakefront built for arrival rather than settlement.

How to get there

From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 1 h 38 min by car.

Turin (TRN) is about 1 h 39 min away.

By car from the center of Brescia 2 h 1 min.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Milan, Turin or Genoa?

Coming by train into Milano Centrale? Stresa is about 1 h 11 min away by road.

Every town within reach of Milan Bergamo airport.

First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.

Stresa, Piemonte
Stresa, Piemonte

What to see

  • Isola Bella

    The island sits close to the town piers, its terraced Baroque gardens rising in tiers above the water and the palazzo facing the lakefront directly.

  • Isola Madre

    The largest of the group, given over almost entirely to its park: paths through subtropical planting and glimpses of the villa between the trees.

  • Isola dei Pescatori

    The one island still lived in year-round, its lanes narrow between the houses and the trattorie facing the water where the fishing boats once worked.

  • Parco di Villa Pallavicino

    Set apart from the islands on the southern edge of town, its grounds mix wildlife enclosures with the botanical planting, a quieter counterpart to the island gardens.

  • Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées

    The hotel's facade still dominates the lakefront it opened onto, the setting where Hemingway stayed on convalescent leave in 1918 and later placed part of A Farewell to Arms.

From the guides

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

  • Il VerbanoRistorante

    Il Verbano holds a Gambero Rosso listing and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • CasaBellaRistorante

    CasaBella holds one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100).

  • La BotteRistorante

    A spot in the Michelin Guide, at La Botte.

7 more places the guides name in Stresa

Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.

Living here

Could you live here?

Stresa is at the end of the road.

  • A village of 4,634. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Verbania, is 22 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
  • Verbania, a city of 29,953, is 22 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
  • A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.

The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.

We measured every town in the region on these rules, by its drive to Turin, the city we moved to: Moving to Turin and Piedmont.

How we choose a town, and every town by these rules.

  • Population 4,634, down 5% since 2015
  • Nearest city Verbania, 22 min drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest national health service hospital Verbania, 6 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
  • Homes in the center: €1,800 to €2,500 per m² to buy, €6.00 to €8.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.

More about living here

  • Commuter belt
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Full fibre reaches 47% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
  • Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 49 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
  • Regional capital Turin, 1 h 39 min drive

If you are moving here

Stresa

Who lives here

14% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Peru and Russia, against 9% across Italy. 78 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, Germany and France. There are 375 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 60% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province ranks 61st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.

Health and schools

The nearest emergency room is in Verbania, 6 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Varese, 22 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Varese, 22 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Como, 42 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is European School Varese, 22 km away.

Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.

Taxes

A home that is not your main one pays 0.9% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.

Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.

What it costs

The average household in Piemonte spends about €2,240 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €467 a year for water, on the Piemonte average.

What it costs to live in Italy.

Climate and risk

It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 9% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 30% in a high or medium one. 26% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.

These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.

Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.

Known for

  • BORROMEAN ISLANDS

    Three Borromeo islands offshore: Isola Bella with the Baroque palazzo, Isola Madre with the botanical park, Isola dei Pescatori with the fishing village.

  • GRAND HOTEL ERA

    Lakefront opened to international tourism in 1863 with the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées, host to Hemingway; the Stresa Conference of 1935 met on Isola Bella.

  • SETTIMANE MUSICALI

    Classical music festival held each late summer since 1962, in venues across the town and on Isola Bella.

Common questions

What is Stresa known for?
Stresa is a Lake Maggiore resort town at 200 meters, facing the Borromean Islands and running the Settimane Musicali since 1962.
Where is Stresa?
Stresa is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte.
What is the nearest airport to Stresa?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 49 min by car.
Can you get to Stresa without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Brescia to Stresa?
About 2 h 1 min by car.
When is the best time to visit Stresa?
Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 20 rain days.
Which other towns are like Stresa?
Baveno, Bellano and Laveno-Mombello.
How many people live in Stresa?
4,634 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
Is Stresa a good place to live?
By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Stresa is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Verbania, is 22 min away. The nearest city, Verbania, is 22 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Verbania, 6 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 47% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources

Recognized as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 200 m
  • Population: 4,634
  • Surface area: 35.36 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

The ranked lists

Lists Stresa appears in

All the ranked lists ›

Similar

Towns like Stresa

What all six share with Stresa: lake towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns

The letter

Stresa is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Stresa comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.

The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 177 km away. Read its letter →

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