Stresa is a town and comune of about 5,000 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, about 90 kilometers (56 mi) northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Simplon Pass.

Main sights include:

• Villa Ducale, commissioned by Giacomo Filippo Bolongaro and dating from about 1770. In 1848 the villa passed to the Italian philosopher Antonio Rosmini-Serbati and today it houses the International Center for Rosminian Studies.
• Villa Dell'Orto, built in 1900. It was commissioned by the painter Liberto Dell'Orto and designed by Boffi.
• The large Villa Pallavicino, between Stresa and Belgirate . It was the inspiration of Ruggero Bonghi in the 1850s and now is the site of a zoological park.
• The church of S. Ambrogio (restored in Neoclassical style by Giuseppe Zanoia in 1790)