Botanical gardens of Villa Taranto
From March 13 - To November 2 2025
Starting from Stresa Square Marconi “Imbarcadero” (or from other places you have chosen), our company “Borromean Islands Navigation” can accompany you to Villa Taranto, where there are the Botanical Gardens, now famous all over the world.
The gardens can be accessed from the landing stage (Villa Taranto stop). Here, the ticket office, the bookshop, the kiosk for the sale of plants grown in the gardens and the Bar-Restaurant are arranged around a free car park.
Founder of the botanical gardens in Villa Taranto and key figure in its history is the Scottish captain Neil Boyd Watson McEacharn, a British soldier, a great lover and expert of botany and in love with Italy, a country he visited for the first time in his youth. The gardens are divided into various areas such as greenhouses, terraced gardens, flower beds, herbals. The gardens can be visited for a fee. The floral species arrive from various parts of the world. Among the rare species there are: large water lilies, conifers, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, antarctic Dicksonia ferns, Emmenopterys henryi of the Rubiaceae family and the Acer palmatum cap. Mc Eacharn.
These are some of the events you can see when visiting the Botanical Gardens in Villa Taranto.
Spring
TOURIST IN YOUR TOWN
from 16 March
Every first sunday of the month from April to October, the residents in Verbania have the possibility of visiting the gardens for free.
BULBOUS PLANT WEEKS
from 22 March to 20 of April
Every year usually, takes place the traditional “BULBOUS PLANT WEEKS” in the Botanic Gardens of Villa Taranto. Captain Neil McEacharn in 1957 initiated this event, for the first time.
COLORS WITHOUT BORDERS
from the middle of April to the middle of May
The late spring offers a beautiful bloom of azaleas and rhododendrons. The numerous spots of colour without borders will accompany you during the visit.
Do not miss to visit the Rhododendron wood, a floral universe in the shade of towering old trees.
Summer
WATER FLOWERS
from June to September
Let yourself be enchanted by the different species of water lilies you will find in the ponds along the gardens and by the grand pond full of lotus flowers, Nelumbo nucifera, where petals are gleaming in rosy colour shades.
VICTORIA CRUZIANA IN FLOWER
from 16 of June until end of October
It is the queen of water plants and it is native to the areas of the big river basins of South America (Amazon, Paranà). Starting from 1956 it has found its natural habitat inside the hothouse of the Botanical Gardens of Villa Taranto, where during the periods of greater vegetative activity, (June and July), the leaves can reach a diameter of almost two meter.
DAHLIA EXHIBITION
from the last decade of July until late October
The “Dahlia Maze” charms and enchants its visitors with the view of over 1.700 plants in flower, subdivided in over 350 varieties, which create a play of colours, dimensions and forms, which is not comparable with any other floral essence.
Autumn
FALL FOLIAGE
October and November
The Garden has a special charm during this period. The Fall foliage creates a suggestive show dyeing the garden of hundreds of shades of yellow and brown, red and orange but also plum and violet.
| TICKETS | PRICE | |
|---|---|---|
| Adults | € 13,00 | |
| Children (da 6 a 14 years) | € 7,00 | |
| Groups from 21 to 100 persons | each | € 10,00 |
| Groups over 100 persons | each | € 8,00 |
| School groups | each | € 5,50 |
| Season pass | each | € 70,00 |
| 3 months pass | each | € 35,00 |
DOGS
The entrance with dogs is allowed only if kept on lead. They must be always on the path. It is forbidden to go on the grass.
FREE ADMISSIONS
Children from 0 to 5 years old are free
The leader of the group is free
1 teacher every 20 students is free
Free admission for disabled visitors with a companion
Free admission for residents of the Municipality of Verbania on the first Sunday of each month (upon presentation of an ID card)
OPENING HOURS
March: 9:00 - 17:00 (last entry) Closing at 6 p.m
April - September: 9:00 - 18:00 (last entry) Closing at 7 p.m
6th October till 19th October: 9:00 - 17:00 (last entry) Closing at 6 p.m
20st October till 02nd November: 9:00 - 16:00 (last entry) Closing at 5 p.m
TIME REQUIRED FOR THE VISIT
Two itineraries: the shortest is about 1,850 km long and the longest is 2,950 km long. Visiting time vary from 1h 15’ to 2 h.
PARKING AND SERVICES
Free parking for cars and buses. Boat dock and Bus stop at 100 mt from the garden.
In case of dangerous weather conditions our Management reserve the faculty to, partially or totally, close the park.
More informations for events, prices and regulation: www.villataranto.it
We remind you that the flowerings inside the park are subject to weather conditions.
