The Villa Taranto is one of the highlights of visiting Lake Maggiore. The Duke of Taranto, after whom the villa is named, was one of Napoleons generals, an ancestor of a Scotsman who created a fabulous garden here in the early 20th Century. Covering 50 acres, it is criss-crossed by over 5 miles of pathways. Visit in Tulip Week, when the garden blooms with almost 80,000 tulips. The villa itself is used by the government and is not open to the public, but the gardens more than make up for it.
