The 'Isole Borromeo' (Borromean Islands) is a set of 3 islands located in Lake Maggiore on the Piedmont side, in Northern Italy. They are Lake Maggiore's most popular attraction and a beloved destination for Italians that want to spend a day at the lake. It's also highly popular among French and Germans, and you'll find many of them exploring these beautiful islands.

The islands are privately owned by the Borromeo family since the 16th century (this explains the name). While Isola Superiore (or dei Pescatori) is visitable all year round, as people actually live here, the other 2 islands, Isola Bella and Isola Madre are only open from March to November.

Plan your visit to the Isole Borromeo: They can easily be visited on a day trip, so if you're coming for example to Milan and want to visit another area you can consider to visit Isole Borromeo.

How to reach them: Take the train the town of Stresa, once you arrive at the train station head to Piazza Marconi, where the ferry port is. (Find the exact location pinned)

You can purchase a day ticket for a taxi boat which will bring you to the 3 islands and then back to Stresa. It costs €15 + €1.50 total to disembark on the islands.

How long does it take? I'm generally pretty slow when I travel as I take a lot of photos and videos. I took all the time possible to visit the islands and this is how much it took me:

• Isola Bella: I stayed here around 3 hours. It's the most beautiful island in my opinion, and it's stunning palace and gardens took me a lot of time.

• Isola Superiore: I stayed here around 1 hour. If you want to eat at a restaurant it will likely that a bit more time.

• Isola Madre: I stayed here around 2 hours. It takes some time to visit the palace and the botanical garden is quite big.

I recommend to take the first boat in the morning, which is at 10 am. The palaces open at 10 am, so you have all the time to visit the islands without rushing.

It will likely take the whole day to explore the islands, but if you are (and it's likely) faster than what it took me, you can also consider to visit the Pallavicino Park in Stresa.

Tickets: Make sure to purchase tickets online, so you can skip the queue and enter in the palace right away. Which ticket to buy:

• Isola Madre + Isola Bella ticket: you'll get access to both palaces and gardens. For Isola Superiore you don't need a ticket as it's a small town. The price of this ticket is €36, but it will save you €7. (Isola Madre only ticket is €20 and Isola Bella ticket only is €23).

When to buy your ticket? It depends on when you visit. I visited in late March, so not high-season and bought my ticket when I was waiting for the taxi boat to depart to the island. If you visit in high-season and especially on a weekend, I'd buy it a few days in advance.

Ideal itinerary: You can visit the islands in the order that you like, but I'd follow this itinerary:

• Start with Isola Bella, which is also the closest island to Stresa. It takes about 10 minutes to reach. Here there's a lot to visit and do, and the earlier you go the better.

• Take the boat to Isola Superiore, which is just 5 minutes from Isola Bella. Here you'll likely arrive around lunchtime. You can try the local cuisine (almost entirely based on fish) or eat your packed lunch while enjoying some lake views.

• Take the boat to Isola Madre and enjoy its beautiful palace and botanical garden.

• The last taxi boat, at least when I visited and the company I used was at 5:15 pm. I took the boat back to Stresa at 4:15 pm. It takes about 20 minutes.

Why visit Isole Borromeo: I wanted to visit these islands in so long, and I was super excited to visit them. They are quite popular to visit, but they're not extremely popular like other parts of Italy. You'll likely find tons of tourists here as well, but it's nowhere near Lake Como, Venice or Rome standards. And if you visit in low-season it's even less crowded.

If you love to explore beautiful palaces, have an interest in history and love beautiful lake views, I think they are the perfect place to visit for you.

It's easy to do as a day trip as well!

Lake Maggiore: They could also be included on a wider tour of Lake Maggiore, which is a beautiful lake with many small lovely small towns. Near Lake Maggiore, you can also find Lake d'Orta, which is an even more niche lache