Photo spot in Lake Maggiore & the Borromean Islands
The Stresa lakefront and Piazza Marconi
A flat promenade of plane trees and grand-hotel façades looking straight across at both Borromean islands.
About The Stresa lakefront and Piazza Marconi
Get directionsStresa was built for people arriving by steamer, and the lakefront still shows it: a level walk of clipped plane trees, iron railings and belle-époque hotel fronts running from the public gardens to the pier at Piazza Marconi. Nothing on it is more than a few minutes from anything else.
The view is the point. Isola Bella sits almost dead ahead, Isola dei Pescatori slightly left, and the mountains close the lake behind them, which means a subject with their back to the water gets the entire postcard behind them without anyone climbing anywhere.
Light runs east to west across the lake, so mornings give you clean side light onto the promenade and the hotel façades, and the last hour turns the water into a sheet of gold with the islands as silhouettes. Midday is flat and busy.
The promenade is fully paved and level all the way, which makes it the one spot in the Borromean gulf that works with a pram, a wheelchair, or grandparents who are not going to walk garden terraces.
Best time to shoot
First light for the flat lake, or the last hour for gold water and island silhouettes
Tips
Walk south from Piazza Marconi towards the public gardens: the promenade widens, the crowd thins, and the island line-up stays in frame the whole way.
Photographers who shoot at The Stresa lakefront and Piazza Marconi
Hand-picked professionals working in Lake Maggiore & the Borromean Islands
Real reviews from Lake Maggiore & the Borromean Islands photoshoots
Ann-Marie T.
My husband Ted and I started planning our elopement at the end of 2020. Planning a wedding, no matter how big or how small, still requires a lot of decisions and meticulous organisation. In our case it also took complete trust in our…
Stefano C.
Photographer
Martina E.
A heartfelt thank you for capturing our Venice dream. I can't believe it was August 21st and here we are still floating on air, and much of that magic is because of you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of our…
Stefano C.
Photographer
Other spots in Lake Maggiore & the Borromean Islands
Isola Bella — the terraces and the citrus wall
A baroque palace with ten stone terraces stacked behind it, and a low wall of potted citrus trees looking straight down the lake.
Isola dei Pescatori — the lane and the quay
The only island on the lake that people still live on: one lane wide, no cars, nets and washing lines, and a stone quay at either end.
Villa Taranto, Pallanza
A hillside botanical garden above the lake: imported trees, terraced beds, tulips in April and dahlias into September.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The Stresa lakefront and Piazza Marconi — free of charge.
