Isola Bella is a small located on Lago Maggiore in Piedmont, in Northern Italy. It's part fo the three group islands of the Isole Borromee.

On the island you can find the beautiful Palazzo Borromeo with its gorgeous botanical garden. There are also some houses, shops and a few restaurants.

If you're planning to visit Isola Bella, the ticket to enter the villa and the garden is €23. I'd recommend buying a combined ticket with Isola Madre (total for both is €36), as they could both be easily visited on the same day (I'll tell you more about this on the dedicated 'Isola Borromee' pin).

Isola Bella, meaning 'Beautiful island', it's the most stunning of the 3 islands. The villa alone will take you hours to explore. With its marvelous rooms, paintings and the incredible grottos, it's one of the most beautiful villas I've ever seen in Italy.

You'll discover the history of this place and how it was visited by many important historical figures like Napoleon, which stayed in the villa for 2 days.

The garden is my favourite part though, the lake views are incredible and all is created so beautifully that will leave you in awe.

Isola Bella is still owned by the Borromeo family, as well as Isola Madre, that's why the islands are known as Isole Borromeo.

When to visit? The island is open from March to November. I visited in March, but ideally the best time is mid/late April up to August/September. So all the trees will be green and in my opinion the overall place will look more beautiful.

Visiting in March/April and early May has it's advantages as it's still early season and it won't be that crowded. I visited on a week day and it was way more crowded than I expected.

Is it popular? I noticed these islands are extremely popular among French and Germans, a lot of things are written in their languages as well. I mostly heard French or German throughout the day actually.

It's popular among Italians as well, as it's a perfect day trip destination.

For more details on how to reach the island take a look at the Isole Borromee pin.

Find the link of the official website to book the tickets for the island, as mentioned before, I recommend purchasing the 'Isola Bella + Isola Madre' ticket (price €36).