2 February 2024

Terre Borromeo: museums, parks and gardens reopen on 16th March

The new tourist season of the Terre Borromeo destinations on Lago Maggiore resumes today, Saturday 16 March. Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Parco Pallavicino and Parco del Mottarone on the Piedmontese side and Rocca di Angera on the Lombard side await visitors for a regenerating trip with culture, beauty and nature as the watchwords.

Until 3 November it will be possible to experience the extraordinary made-to-measure activities offered by Terre Borromeo’s attractions: Isola Bella with its heritage of culture and Baroque art, on display in the rooms of the Palazzo and in the architectures of the garden, which is to undergo a major conservative restoration intervention this spring. The work will involve the statues and the stone artefacts. The first stage envisages an intervention on the central part of the amphitheatre, with particular attention to be devoted to the unicorn group and the statues of the Teatro Massimo, all in accordance with the guidelines agreed with the Region’s Archaeological Fine Arts and Landscape Service.

Isola Bella is dazzling with its colours and contrasts in the sunlit hours, but at nighttime it is transformed into a silent little corner of heaven, cradled by the gentle lapping waters of the lake. Delightful accommodation is available a few yards from Palazzo Borromeo, to enable you to fully enjoy this experience. Formerly fishermen’s dwellings, the spacious and welcoming Isola Bella Apartments offer various solutions to satisfy every requirement.

For those looking for an even more exclusive service, a different alternative is offered by the two suites on the second floor of the Ristorante Delfino. These are modern environments in spaces that retain the memory of the location in former times, with period details and original materials from the mid-18th century, also offering unique views across the Golfo Borromeo. From this year the Delfino is increasingly defining itself as the island’s gourmet hub, with an offer of cuisine in the bistro version on the ground floor and more sophisticated dishes on the ample terrace and in the rooms inside. The ideal place for a more relaxing and tempting lunch or an aperitif is the Fornello Bottega con Cucina, located in Vicolo del Fornello, where there are a number of boutiques of well known brands for you to enjoy shopping after visiting the museums.

A realm of botany, with collections from all over the world, Isola Madre is an Eden where you can lose yourself among the rare botanical species and exotic plants, admiring spectacular curiosities that nature has designed to amaze us. Here too the Palazzo merits a visit, to get to know the customs and traditions of yesteryear. In the ancient Torrione della Noria, the La Piratera restaurant offers dishes of traditional Italian cuisine, particularly those of the lake area. If you book in advance it is possible to moor your boat at one of the eight buoys beside the wharf and spend a few hours in complete relaxation.

Dates for your diary: on 1 April, Easter Monday, the much anticipated Botanical Treasure Hunt returns, organized with the Grandi Giardini Italiani network in the Parco Pallavicino and at the Rocca di Angera, a fun and educational quiz for all the family to enjoy. Scheduled for 4 and 5 May is the Vibram Trail Mottarone, for running enthusiasts; this is a charming experience with views alternating between the panorama of the mountains and that of the seven surrounding lakes. Alternatively, on 9 August you can race up and down the Mottarone beneath the falling stars, with the Motty on the Moon initiative, which sets off from the Bar Stazione down in the valley. On 19 May it’s the turn of the traditional Family Run in the Parco Pallavicino, an exciting day for young and old in the setting of the natural oasis that is a “stronghold” of biodiversity, care for animals and activities to safeguard fauna. While the Mottarone Sport Day is in the programme on Saturday 1 June; in the event of rain, it will be postponed to 15 June.

To visit its tourism destinations, Terre Borromeo offers special concessions for those who purchase their tickets online. Reductions are also envisaged for young people aged 15 or less and when you buy combined tickets for more than one museum site. When you book via the www.isoleborromee.it web portal you can also add transport by motorboat or an aperitif in the cafeterias of the gardens. Among the additional services, there is the Terreborromeo.app, which includes three tours with audioguide, for Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Rocca di Angera, a descriptive tour of Parco Pallavicino and information materials on Parco del Mottarone and the Castles of Cannero. And there’s also a kids’ itinerary reserved for the little ones, to make the visit even more captivating.