From Stresa, the choice is between the scheduled government-run boats of Navigazione Laghi and licensed motorboat operators that shuttle visitors between the islands. The first gives you a formal timetable and useful connections to other Lake Maggiore towns; the second can make a two- or three-island day much more flexible. For 2027, Borromean Islands ferry tickets should not be chosen from old timetable screenshots: as of September 2026, the official 2027 schedules and fares have not yet been published.
The systems are separate. They can have different ticket offices, boarding points, boats, fares and final return times. A ticket bought from one company normally does not let you board another company’s boat.
The quick choice: public boat or private island hopper?
| Choose | Best for | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Navigazione Laghi public boats | Travelers who want official scheduled services, transparent fares or connections beyond the islands to Baveno, Pallanza, Intra, Laveno and other lake towns | You must work around published departure times, and some island connections can involve longer waits |
| Shared private motorboats | A focused island-hopping day from Stresa, especially when you want frequent transfers between two or three islands | The ticket is operator-specific, boarding points vary, and the last boat back can be earlier than you expect |
| Exclusive water taxi or charter | Families, larger groups, mobility needs or travelers who want agreed transfer times | Costs considerably more than buying seats on a shared service |
One source of confusion is the word private. Many of the small motorboats around Stresa are not private charters reserved for one couple or family. Stresa officially categorizes licensed operators as servizio pubblico non di linea, meaning public passenger transport that does not operate as the regular scheduled line service. You may simply be buying a seat on a shared motorboat that circulates between the islands.
What changes for 2027
Do not build a 2027 itinerary around the exact 2026 departure times. Navigazione Laghi’s published 2026 summer timetable ran from 29 March to 4 October, while the Borromeo palaces and gardens had a longer visitor season, from 12 March to 8 November. Those dates illustrate an important point: the attraction season and the main summer boat timetable are not the same thing.
For a 2027 trip, check the official Lake Maggiore timetable once the schedule covering your travel date is released. Travelers visiting in March, late October or November should be particularly careful. An open palace does not guarantee the same convenient three-island boat frequency found in midsummer.
The same warning applies to private services. A major Stresa motorboat consortium currently advertises frequent March-to-October transfers, but its 2026 operating window and return times should not be treated as guaranteed 2027 information.
How the Navigazione Laghi public option works
Navigazione Laghi is the government-operated scheduled service. In Stresa, the central public ferry landing is the imbarcadero on the lakefront at Piazza Marconi. The tourist office at Piazza Marconi 16 is immediately beside the boat departure area.
The public timetable uses individual scheduled corse, or sailings. You choose a boat serving the correct island, get off, visit, then return to the pier for a later service. The boat normally stops only long enough for passengers to disembark and board, so this is not a sightseeing cruise that waits while everyone visits together.
For reference, Navigazione Laghi offered a Stresa three-island libera circolazione ticket in 2026 covering Stresa, the Borromean Islands and the return journey. Its published adult fare was €19.50, with a reduced €9.80 fare for children from age 4 until their 12th birthday. The operator also offered a special two-island Stresa ticket for Isola Superiore and Isola Bella at €11 adult and €5.50 child. These are useful benchmarks only. Check the 2027 fare table before budgeting.
There is also a purchasing detail that is easy to miss. Although Navigazione Laghi sells many journeys online, its 2026 pages stated that the special Stresa island excursion tickets were sold exclusively at its ticket offices. Do not assume the equivalent 2027 day ticket will appear in the normal online journey search.
Arrive before the departure time, not at it
Navigazione Laghi currently recommends reaching the ticket office about 20 minutes before departure. That buffer matters more on summer weekends and Italian public holidays, when ticket-office queues can form even though the crossing itself is short.
Once you have the ticket, read the destination display and listen to staff rather than boarding whichever boat happens to be beside the pier. Several vessels can be moving through a busy landing within a short period.
How the shared private island hoppers work
The licensed motorboat companies operate differently. Instead of designing your day around a handful of specific scheduled sailings, many sell a one-, two- or three-island transport package and circulate boats between the stops at frequent intervals.
One of the established Stresa consortia currently states that individual passengers can travel without a reservation, with departures approximately every half hour during its operating day. Its three-island trip takes roughly five to six hours when visitors also see the palaces and gardens. That is the useful model to understand, but exact 2027 frequency and final returns must be confirmed with the company you actually book.
The flexibility is particularly useful at Isola dei Pescatori. Instead of deciding in the morning that lunch must finish at exactly 14:42 because of the next public boat, a frequent shared shuttle can give you several possible departures.
Private operators and licensed consortia can be checked through the Stresa tourist office transport information. This is preferable to assuming that every person selling an island excursion near the waterfront belongs to the same company.
Do not go to the wrong Stresa pier
This is probably the most avoidable mistake of the day.
Stresa on the Navigazione Laghi timetable normally means the central lakefront landing beside Piazza Marconi. Carciano is a different public stop farther north along the Stresa waterfront.
Private boats add another layer. Some licensed operators depart around Piazza Marconi, while others use Piazzale Lido, also described by operators as Piazzale Funivia, in the Carciano/Lido area. A ticket for a motorboat leaving from Stresa Lido is not an instruction to queue at the main Navigazione Laghi pier in Piazza Marconi.
Before leaving your hotel, look for four things on the booking confirmation:
- the operator’s name;
- the exact boarding location;
- the first departure window;
- the last permitted return from the islands.
If the ticket says Piazzale Lido, Lido di Stresa or piazzale Funivia, follow that wording rather than simply searching for “Stresa ferry terminal.”
Island names on timetables are not always the names tourists use
The public timetable may call the fishing island Isola Superiore. That is Isola dei Pescatori, not a fourth island you somehow missed.
- Isola Bella: palace, formal gardens and a small public village area.
- Isola Superiore or Isola dei Pescatori: the inhabited fishing village with restaurants and lanes.
- Isola Madre: palace and botanical garden.
Useful words around the piers include imbarco for boarding, sbarco for disembarking, biglietteria for ticket office, scalo for a boat stop and battello for a passenger boat. On timetables, feriale normally refers to working-day service and festivo to Sundays or public holidays. Always follow the notes printed on the timetable rather than applying those terms mechanically to every sailing.
Your boat ticket does not include the palaces and gardens
Transport and attraction admission are separate purchases. This applies to both the government boats and the shared motorboat services.
Isola Bella and Isola Madre contain the paid Borromeo palaces and gardens. Their admission is managed by Terre Borromeo, not by the ferry company. Check the official Terre Borromeo site for the 2027 opening calendar and ticket prices.
In 2026, the combined adult admission for Isola Bella and Isola Madre was listed from €40, with prices varying according to date and purchase channel. That expense was completely separate from lake transport. Anyone budgeting only for the boat fare can therefore underestimate the real cost of a three-island day by quite a margin.
For a closer look at what the paid visit actually includes, see the Italy on Foot guide to Isola Bella, Palazzo Borromeo and the gardens.
Remember the landing charge
Stresa also applies a municipal contributo di sbarco, or landing contribution, for the islands. The 2026 amount was €0.50 per passenger per island, with Navigazione Laghi’s current excursion information applying it to passengers over six.
Private operators may collect the charge separately from the advertised transport fare. One major Stresa consortium currently instructs passengers to pay it in cash at departure. Because this is a municipal charge that is set by local decision, check the amount and exemptions again for 2027.
Which order should you visit the islands?
With public boats, the best order is the one that works with the actual timetable on your date. Navigazione Laghi’s 2026 suggested Stresa circuit went to Isola Bella first, then Isola Superiore, then Isola Madre, but the operator explicitly described that as an itinerary that could be rearranged according to available sailings.
A shared hopper may impose its own sensible circulation order. Do not buy tickets to timed attractions first and only later discover that your boat company visits the islands in the reverse sequence.
For a full three-island day, protecting Isola Bella and Isola Madre opening hours matters more than maximizing lunch flexibility. Isola dei Pescatori is the easiest place to shorten or extend a stop because the main activity is exploring the village and eating rather than entering a palace at a fixed last-admission time.
If the islands are one part of a larger trip, you can organize the rest of your Italy route around the lake day rather than squeezing a train connection immediately against the final boat.
Two islands can be better than three
Three islands fit into one day, but that does not automatically make three the right ticket.
Choose Isola Bella plus Isola dei Pescatori if you are starting after lunch, want a relaxed meal or do not care about the botanical collections on Isola Madre. Private operators specifically warn that their full three-island circuit needs an earlier start, while a two-island visit can begin later.
Choose all three when you can start in the morning and want to visit both paid Borromeo properties. Allow enough time for the attractions rather than treating each island as a 30-minute photo stop.
Choose Isola Bella only if your Lake Maggiore stop is short. A focused palace-and-garden visit is usually more satisfying than purchasing a three-island ticket and spending the afternoon watching the clock.
What to do with luggage
The public boats have formal luggage rules. Under the 2026 tariff, each passenger could carry one bag free if its longest side did not exceed 60 cm, its volume did not exceed 40 dm³ and its weight did not exceed 20 kg. Larger or additional accompanied luggage could incur a charge, and rapid services have stricter restrictions.
Baby strollers were carried free under those rules.
Shared motorboats use smaller craft, so do not assume a large suitcase is automatically accepted simply because you can physically carry it to the pier. Ask the operator before buying if you are moving hotels with luggage.
There is another reason to travel light. At Isola Bella, bulky bags and backpacks must be left in the palace cloakroom before entering the exhibition areas. An island-hopping day is much easier with a day bag than with a week’s luggage.
Children, strollers and reduced mobility
Families should compare the age brackets rather than assuming every operator defines a child ticket identically. Navigazione Laghi’s 2026 island excursion fares used a reduced category from age 4 to under 12, while Terre Borromeo attraction tickets use different age bands. A transport discount therefore tells you nothing about the price of palace admission.
Travelers with reduced mobility should contact the chosen boat company in advance. Boarding conditions depend on the vessel, lake level and landing. Terre Borromeo also warns that the geography of the islands and historic gardens can make some routes difficult for people with mobility disabilities, although Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella has a lift for access to its internal first-floor rooms.
A smaller motorboat is not automatically more accessible than a larger public vessel. Ask about the exact boat and boarding arrangement rather than choosing by company type.
Late arrivals and the last boat back
Never treat the final return as approximate.
With Navigazione Laghi, identify the last usable scheduled sailing back to your actual destination before getting off for the final island. Do not merely look for the last boat departing the island. It may be going to Baveno, Pallanza or another stop rather than Stresa.
With a shared motorboat ticket, ask what ultimo rientro, the last return, applies to your ticket. A current Stresa operator advertises a final return around 18:00 during its main operating period, but that is not a promise for every company or every 2027 date.
If you miss the final boat belonging to your operator, your ticket does not become valid on Navigazione Laghi or another private consortium. Ask dock staff or a restaurant to help contact a licensed water taxi. Availability is not guaranteed, and an unscheduled transfer can cost substantially more than the original seat ticket.
Bad weather can stop both systems
Navigazione Laghi warns that sailings may be suspended in bad weather or strong wave conditions. Smaller private motorboats are not a weather-proof backup. If conditions make navigation unsafe, they can also restrict or suspend service.
If a cancellation affects your day, first establish which islands are still reachable and, more importantly, how you will return. Do not respond to a disrupted morning boat by buying palace admission with a fixed time before confirming that transport is operating.
The buying sequence that avoids most mistakes
- Check the official 2027 palace and garden opening dates for your travel day.
- Check the corresponding Navigazione Laghi timetable, including the final return.
- Compare that timetable with one or more licensed shared motorboat services.
- Choose two or three islands before buying transport.
- Confirm the boarding point. Piazza Marconi and Piazzale Lido are not interchangeable.
- Check whether the landing charge is already included or collected separately.
- Only then buy any dated or timed palace admission.
- Save a screenshot or note of the operator name and final return instructions, not just the QR code.
The public service is usually the cleaner choice when the island visit is part of a longer journey around Lake Maggiore. A licensed shared motorboat often makes more sense when the whole day is simply Stresa, two or three islands, then Stresa again. The important part for 2027 is not choosing one system in advance. It is waiting for the actual year’s timetable, then comparing the complete trip rather than the price printed on the first ticket board you see.