Borromean Islands Canoe Tour from Stresa or Baveno

A different way to visit the Borromean Islands

If you are planning to visit the Borromean Islands from Stresa or Baveno, you will probably find ferries, tourist boats and regular island-hopping tours. We do something different: we get into Canadian canoes and paddle there.

The canoe is not simply a way of reaching the islands. The journey itself becomes part of the experience. We leave the shore behind, enter the Borromean Gulf and watch the islands gradually come closer as the landscape changes around us.

See Isola Bella from the water

Isola Bella is one of the most famous sights on Lake Maggiore, but approaching it slowly at water level offers a completely different perspective. From the canoe, you can take in the island, its architecture and its gardens while moving quietly across the lake instead of simply passing by on a ferry.

We take the time to paddle, stop and look around before going ashore for a walk. If you would like to explore the gardens, a visit can be added as an optional extra.

Paddle between the islands, not just towards them

The experience is not only about arriving. It is about being out on Lake Maggiore, with Stresa and Baveno behind you, the mountains all around and Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori rising from the water ahead.

We paddle between the islands and see them from changing angles, close to the surface of the lake and far from the rush of the shore. A stretch of water that is usually treated as a simple transfer becomes something worth exploring in its own right.

Go ashore on Fishermen's Island

After experiencing the islands from the water, we continue on foot. On Isola dei Pescatori, also known as Fishermen's Island, we explore the historic village, its narrow lanes, lakefront houses and small corners that reveal the island's long connection with Lake Maggiore.

The experience includes a visit to the Fishing Museum and the old kilns, offering a closer look at the history and everyday life of an island shaped for generations by fishing and life on the lake.

Two and a half hours, or a day built around you

The standard tour lasts approximately two and a half hours, but the experience can become much more. Stop for coffee, aperitivo or lunch on Fishermen's Island, spend more time exploring the islands or create a personalised itinerary around your plans.

Like all Pollo Lake Experience activities, this tour can be adapted to the time you have and the kind of experience you want to create.

One of the most unusual ways to experience Lake Maggiore

This is not simply a canoe trip, and it is not a standard Borromean Islands tour. It is a guided experience for travellers who want to visit Isola Bella and Fishermen's Island in a slower, more active and more personal way.

Instead of watching the islands from the deck of a tourist boat, you paddle towards them, see them from water level, move through the Borromean Gulf and then go ashore to explore their villages, lanes and hidden corners.

Start from Stresa or Baveno and discover one of the most famous places on Lake Maggiore from a completely different perspective.