Villa Taranto, Verbania - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

A visit to the 20-hectare park of Villa Taranto, also easily reached by boat, is a must for every visitor to the Lake Maggiore region.


Visitors are captivated by this extensive park, laid out largely in the English style, with trees and plants that are rare in Europe, above all from Asia. In striking contrast are the Italian-style sections, with a unique abundance of flowers and blossom.


From 1931 onwards, the wealthy Scotsman Neil McEacharn transformed the grounds of an 1875 villa built in the Napoleon III style into a botanical garden for all to enjoy. McEacharn's aim was to combine botanical variety with aesthetic beauty.

In 1938 McEacharn donated the park to the Italian state on condition that the botanical garden be preserved and further perfected.


More than 20,000 plant species grow in the park, including over 500 species of rhododendron and over 300 of dahlia.

All year round visitors find a lavishly flowering garden, with tulips, magnolias, lotus flowers, camellias, azaleas, dahlias and many others taking turns. In autumn the colours of the turning leaves are added to the display.

There is also a wealth of tropical plants unique in Europe, with fountains, water cascades and flower-fringed pools of water lilies in every colour.




The lotus pond with its flowering lotus plants is especially captivating.








A particular highlight is the greenhouse of the "Victoria cruziana" (Victoria water lily), a water lily from the Amazon region with pan-like leaves about 1 to 2 m across, which must be kept in pools heated to a constant 30 degrees.

McEacharn, who died in 1964, is buried in a mausoleum in the middle of his park.

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