If you have watched "The Gentlemen 2", you may have recognised something familiar in the background: the lake, the villas, the islands, the mountains. Lake Maggiore has recently appeared on an international screen, but this isn't a destination that was created for a film set. These places have been here for centuries. And while seeing them through a Netflix series may be what makes you curious about Lake Maggiore, discovering them in real life is a completely different experience.
Because when you look at a destination as a wedding planner, you don't see only the view. You start noticing how you arrive, how your guests move, what surrounds a venue, what makes one part of the lake different from another — and whether a beautiful place would actually work for the kind of celebration you have in mind.
So, if "The Gentlemen 2" has made you curious about Lake Maggiore, here's a closer look at some of the real places behind the screen.
- VILLA RUSCONI-CLERICI
One of the venues associated with the filming of "The Gentlemen 2" is Villa Rusconi-Clerici, in Verbania. The villa sits directly on the lake, surrounded by a historic garden. And this is exactly the kind of place that explains why Lake Maggiore works so beautifully on screen: you have architecture, greenery, water and mountains within the same view.
But what makes a place interesting for a wedding isn't simply how beautiful it looks in a picture. A historic villa also means understanding the property itself: its spaces, its access, its relationship with the lake, the way suppliers can work there and how guests will experience arriving and spending time in the location: the picture is only the starting point.
- GRAND HOTEL MAJESTIC
Another venue connected to the filming is the Grand Hotel Majestic in Verbania. Set on the western shore of Lake Maggiore, the hotel has the kind of classic atmosphere that has long been associated with this part of Italy. And hotels offer something very different from a private villa.
For a destination wedding, having accommodation and the celebration in the same place can completely change the guest experience: there are fewer transfers to organise, guests can move more easily between different moments of the wedding weekend and the destination becomes more than somewhere they visit for one evening. It becomes somewhere they actually experience.
- STRESA
Then there is Stresa. For many international visitors, Stresa is one of the first places they discover when they start looking at Lake Maggiore: it is elegant, historic and perfectly positioned for exploring the lake. But Stresa is also one of the places that shows why venue within the destination matters.
Being on Lake Maggiore isn't enough information. The experience can be completely different depending on which shore you choose, where your guests stay, how far they need to travel and whether your celebration is centred around a villa, a hotel, an island or the lake itself.
When couples ask me about Lake Maggiore, one of the first things I want to understand is not simply: "What do you like?", but: "How do you want your wedding weekend to feel?". The answer often tells us where they should actually be looking.
- VERBANIA
On the opposite side of the lake, Verbania offers another perspective. The landscape feels different, the relationship between the town, the gardens, the villas and the water creates a different rhythm from what you might experience in Stresa. And this is something I always want couples to understand:
Lake Maggiore isn't one single destination. It is a collection of different places, each with its own atmosphere and possibilities. That's one of the reasons I don't believe in sending couples a long list of venues and asking them to choose.
Without understanding the destination first, more options don't necessarily make the decision easier, sometimes they make it harder.
- THE BORROMEAN ISLANDS
And then there are the Borromean Islands: Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Isola dei Pescatori. They are probably among the most recognisable images of Lake Maggiore But their magic isn't only visual.
You reach them by boat, and that changes everything. For a wedding or wedding weekend, the journey itself can become part of the experience.
Instead of simply arriving at another venue by car, your guests cross the lake, watch the landscape change around them and approach the island from the water. It creates a completely different sense of arrival. And this is one of the things I love most about planning celebrations here: the destination itself can become part of the story.
Watching Lake Maggiore on Netflix is one thing, planning a wedding here is another.
A film production can transform a location into a story through cameras, lighting, editing and a carefully controlled production environment.
A wedding doesn't work that way: your guests arrive from different countries. They need accommodation. Transfers need to work. Suppliers need access. Weather needs to be considered. Timelines need to make sense. And the venue needs to work not only for a photograph, but for the actual people who will spend the day there.
This is why I always encourage couples to look beyond the image when they start searching for their wedding destination. Ask yourself:
- How will we arrive?
- How will our guests experience the place?
- What will the wedding weekend actually feel like?
- Does this venue work for us — not just look beautiful online?
Because the right destination isn't necessarily the one with the most famous view, it is the one that brings together the place, the people and the experience you want to create.
Maybe "The Gentlemen 2" is how you discovered Lake Maggiore.
That's a pretty good beginning. But the lake has much more to show you once you look beyond the screen. There are places to discover, different shores to understand, historic villas to explore and experiences that can't really be captured in a single photograph.
And if you're considering Lake Maggiore for your wedding, that's where I believe local knowledge makes a real difference. Because finding a beautiful place is easy, finding the right one for you is another story.
Thinking about getting married on Lake Maggiore?
Before you start saving hundreds of venues, let's start somewhere more useful: with the lake itself.
Tell me what kind of wedding you are imagining, and I'll help you understand which part of Lake Maggiore — and which kind of venue — could be right for yo