Lake Maggiore questions

As far as a guided tour --- I am not a fan of guided tours . I do all my own homework and generally find , when eavesdropping on one , that they rarely extend past elementary boilerplate . There is an exception -- Some sites do not permit unescorted visits ( two examples of those would be The Municipal House in Prague and the Glasgow School of Art , among others ) Now , I realize that some visitors find these beneficial , and , as you say it is personal . I had no issues surrounding The Borromeo Palace when I visited , a general knowledge of the time frame in history as well as specifics of a site in advance , prevents it from being abstract . The Lake ferry that will take you to Isola Bella is a fairly large vessel that circumnavigates the lake so I doubt that you need advance tickets , but be aware that there are private water taxis at the quay that will try to hustle you aboard for a stiff price , don't confuse them with the public lake boat . As far as advance tickets to the palace , we visited in early October and walked right in , July might be more crowded . Have a look at this ! http://youtu.be/zCztktfWAIw

I didn't use a guide.

Also be sure to go across the lake to the gardens at Villa Tarantolla, quite lovely!

My experience echos what has been said so far. No lines (in May) for the ferry or for the Borromeo sites. I don't think a guide would add much to what the explanatory labels and visitor brochures tell you. One of the big attractions is the garden. Don't need a guide for that.

1. It's up to you. The isola Bella is mainly beautiful gardens. I think it can be done on your own. Isola dei Pescatori is just a quaint village with restaurants, so no guided tours there.

2. You don't need reservations. In addition to the Ferries, there are also a myriad of private boat operators that take groups across. I disagree that it's a stiff price. Fares are regulated by local authorities, and if I'm not mistaken (I was there in July last year) it's about the same price as the public ferries. That's what I took and I think it was about 7-10 euro per person. Maybe if you take a personal water taxi it might be more.

EDIT:
I found the site for the consortium of private boaters. The prices for round trip combinations (depending on how many of the 3 islands you include) range from 4.50 to 10.50 euro for groups (the latter would include hopping on and off in all 3 islands). As you can see the fares are set, therefore no risk of being gauged by the private operators. I think my wife and I decided it was actually cheaper with the private operators than with the regular ferries if you travel to all 3 islands and have to buy separate fares for each island.
http://www.isoleborromee.com/index.php

If you are going to be in Stresa for at least a full day, a much more interesting trip is to take the local bus to Orta San Giulio, a town on Lake Orta. We went there three years ago and it was a fantastic self-directed tour. Now, Rick stops there on his Village Italy Tour!
The local bus (about 2.5 Euros each way) leaves the downtown boat dock area about 10:00 AM and then takes you up over the mountains - providing great Kodak moments of Lake Maggiore - stopping in little towns, then descending to Lake Orta. Once you get off the bus you walk down into the town and along cobbled streets through neighborhoods. There is a good chance that you will not meet another American tourist the whole day (unless they are from Rick's Tour!) Several restaurants and small shops on the main square, a short boat trip out to a small island with a monastery on it.
From the market square we walked (hiked) up a VERY long stone staircase toward the top of the hill, where the Capuchin monks have built about 50 small chapels. It's a truly amazing experience, with great views - but one @#*&# of a hike up the steps even for this 70+ year old guy! The alternative is to go up the hill toward these chapels when you get off the bus, then walk down a long sloping road into town, past some magnificent villas. Skip the steps! I would probably do that if I went again!

The local bus returns to Stresa about 2:00 PM and again at 4:00, giving you plenty of time for exploration, relaxation and lunch or a gelato! During our 11 day tour (by another tour company) this was the most relaxing and interesting day we had in Italy!

If you have some time in Stresa and need some refreshments, head over to the Hotel La Palma and have a drink and a bite to eat at their rooftop 'Sky Bar' - fantastic view of the lake and islands! You don't have to be a guest to go there. Another fun thing to do was to take the Mattarone cable car to the top of the mountain, where there is also a cool "bobcoaster" ride (bobsled on a roller coaster track).