This "small strip of land" (which is in fact recorded as strixia in a document dated 998) is generally indicated as "the pearl of Verbano" [as the locals call Lake Maggiore], i. e. the most prestigious, charming and well-known tourist resort on Lake Maggiore.

Stresa was able to develop from the original rural settlement into an exclusive holiday resort, used at first by aristocratic families and later by the wealthy middle-class related to Lombard industry. Thanks to the studies of Lake Historian De Vit, we know that during the 13th and 14th centuries, under the domain of the feudatories of Intra-Pallanza, the Barbavara family, there was a castle in the old town centre. Now the only traces of the castle are a few remains of the walls, which can be seen in the upper part of Villa Pallavicino park.

The town then became the property of the Visconti and Borromeo families up to the time when, in 1748, after some decades of Austrian domain, the congress of Aachen assigned Stresa and all the west bank of Verbano to the Savoy family.

The Napoleonic road dating back to the early 19th century, the Simplon tunnel and the railway line were certainly important for the town's tourist boom, but we must remember that its fame spread also thanks to the enthusiastic descriptions of illustrious travellers such as Stendhal, Chateaubriand, Dumas, Dickens and Lord Byron.

Now Stresa hosts meetings and events of international interest; some of them, such as the prestigious concerts of the "Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore" [The Musical Weeks of Stresa and of Lake Maggiore], take place in the modern structure of the Palazzo dei Congressi.
Rather than Piazza Cadorna (a delightful place with fine shops, restaurants and coffee bars), the real heart of the town is certainly the pleasant lakeside.

The walk along the elegant avenue, which crosses luxuriant gardens and colourful flowerbeds, enjoys the exceptional panorama offered by the Borromeo Gulf on one side and the rich scene of 19th-century villas and grand hotels on the other. The luxuriant slopes of Mottarone, Stresa's gentle and "aristocratic" mountain, also offer countless excursion opportunities.

There is an interesting story concerning the inhabitants of Stresa, who are known as "Falcitt": in 1914 the town of Stresa decided to have an emblem of its own and chose to insert a small silver sickle ("falcett") on a blue and red shield. The sickle, normally used in the fields for pruning, was probably chosen to stress the link with the original rural tradition of the place.