To the tourist, who for the first time arrives in Stresa, is offered a breathless sight. At the beginning a superb window of the lake front, delineated with lines of palm trees, with flourishing gardens and facades of majestic hotels. Then, turning to look at the lake, enchanted, as if emerged from the same waters the spectacular Borromean Islands (Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Isola dei Pescatori). It is enough the splendour of these visions to make one understand how Stresa has been able to become one of the maximum meetings of international tourism. The town, already at the middle half of the 19th century was the most elegant place to stay, the most visited by the international upper middle class.