Trip not what it seems states an English guide no guide if this had been clearedr would have booked a different trip the islands are very pretty

The 3 Islands were great - beautiful gardens, palace and fantastic weather on the day I visited. The hop on/off boat transport to the 3 islands was great and well worth the price which is a bargain. The only suggestion to travelers who don't speak Italian is to get to the Stresa dock a little early so you can find this particular service - there are more than one. And once you got dropped off on one of the islands, make sure you know you know which one of the little ports is your return port. There are plenty of english speaking folks working in the restaurants near the docks that will point it out to you..

An interesting short boat trip on the lake, lasting about 1 hour Humerous pilot pointed out all the points of interest and history. We had a quick look at the 'Prosecco' large lakeside villa Definitely a worthwhile sortie Cannesdid .... surfingsyd

Easy way to visit the Borromean Islands - which is a must if visiting Lake Maggiore! The smaller boats are a lot quicker to move around the islands than the larger ferries so recommend taking one of these. Your really need 2 hours at each island so make sure you catch the earliest boat at 10.30am. Isola Madre and Isola Bella have stunning palaces and gardens to walk round. The gardens at Isola Bella are like nothing I've seen before, truly beautiful. You need to buy separate entrance tickets for Isola Madre and Isola Bella, but you can buy a combi ticket. Isola Madre is just the property and gardens, so no point visiting if you aren't buying an entrance ticket - but highly recommend. The gardens on Isola Bella are grand and spectacular, whereas Isola Madre gardens feels more natural and has a larger selection of plants from all over. The Isola Superiore dei Pescatori has some lovely restaurants for lunch and also a mini market down the back cobbled streets full of cute shops great for gifts.

We had prepaid tickets on the Headout app, with QR codes, and arrived before the scheduled time to the parking lot of Stresa deck. There, we showed our tickets and got a paper handwritten ticket for the 3 islands. The boat arrived 15 minutes late and got really full, so they called another boat. Everybody got down on Isola Bella. The boats were scheduled to arrive to each island every 30 minutes but we never had to wait that long. Hop on-hop off is a good alternative if you prefer to travel at your own pace. We spent a lot of time in Isola Bella, had lunch in Pescatori (as everybody suggests, because there are much more options there) and stayed shortly at Isola Madre, where the palace is just a Villa and the gardens are more wild and natural.

Disappointed by staff attitude at checking in, finding where we should go, getting on off the boat etc really unfriendly and not helpful at all. Views from boat were lovely

Great way to see the Borromean Islands. Private boat was fantastic and easy. Fabian our Captain was wonderful. We had a fabulous day.

We thought Lake Maggiore was the loveliest of the 3 lakes we visited - old world charm, less tourist crowds and the island tours were really enjoyable.

The boat was always on time and the employees were really nice and helpful! We had a wonderful time and we made amazing pictures of the view.

THE must do excursion when in Stresa. Take the whole day to take in all the Islands & saunter at your leisure through the gardens houses whilst absorbing the views about you

When visiting scenic Lake Maggiore a good day tour is to take the sight seeing island tour of Isola Madre, Isola Superiore & Isola Bella...each island has special attractions & sights - plus good shopping & restaurants. Definitely worth taking a full day to plan for and experience.

Amazing views from the boat, both of the lake and islands on it. The scenery was as beautiful as it was stunning.

The most magical day out - could not fault it - the food the people, everything about it was perfect,

Great day out visiting 3 islands all with great things to do on them, from historic buildings to markets and great restaurants

They disgues themselves as "the official" service, literally hooking you up when you are in the parking lot or in line to get the ticket from the official one. Instead they are nothing more than a private taxi company and, as usually happens in Italy for the taxies, it's a fraude. NO RECEIPT whatsoever, and when I asked to pay with credit card( I refused to pay off the books) the rate for the children ( she is 10 years old) that he offered me before, was suddenly only avalaible for infants only, so I had to pay the adult rate. SECURITY: The service, from a safety and security point of view it's an HAZARD and totally UNSAFE, as they don't secure themselves when getting at the hairbours with ANYTHING, they just mantain the boat in line with the engine on. Their attitude, when mentioning any of the above has been extremely arrogant, disgraceful and rude. DON'T TAKE IT, go for the OFFICIAL SERVICE instead