The Beautiful Island, a terraced pyramid of gardens around a whimsical little pleasure palace packed with paintings, tapestries, elaborately decorated rooms, and World War II memories.

The largest of the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiore, Isola Bella is a popular boat trip from Stresa. Sculpted to look like a ship, named after a countess and planted with towering terraces, the island was transformed in the 17th century into a monumental Baroque palace and gardens. The house is full of treasures but it`s the gardens which are the main appeal, a towering pyramid of fountains and walkways, topiary and color that constantly delight.

The Mother Island is filled with lovely botanic gardens strutting with peacocks and other exotic birds around a historic villa with quirky collections. Isola Madre features exotics such as carob trees, a colony of parrots and the largest Kashmir cypress in Europe, over 200 years old. You have to pay for admission: a ticket for both islands costs about €15/£10.30 - roughly $20 USD.

The Isle of the Fishermen, the lived-in island has a pair of hotels (Hotel Verbano is the best) and some restaurants and souvenir shops.

The park at villa Pallavicino, near Stresa, has large botanical and zoological gardens with many plant and animal species. It`s open daily from late spring through October 31.

The botanical gardens are in the small town of Verbania, near the Swiss glaciers.

The park in the hills outside Arona near the small town of Mercurago is a good place for hiking and mountain biking (closed to motor vehicles). In the park are many animals, birds, and plants and a few small lakes.

You can take a cable car from Stresa Lido or drive up the panoramic Borromea road from Stresa through the hills above the lake. From the top is a 360-degree view of the lake district and the Alps. In summer it`s a good place for hiking or painting and in winter there`s skiing.

The Rocca di Arona sits on the cliffs above Arona and has good lake views. The fortress was the scene of many battles but the remains are now a public park with ducks and peacocks.

A modest but picture-perfect Borromeo castle in a spectacular setting.

A small town dominated literally by St. Charles Borromeo in the form of a 76-foot-tall statue of the saint in bronze that you can climb.

This 19th-century villa in Verbania on the western shore has the most extensive gardens on all of Lake Maggiore.

This monastery clinging to the cliffside was built in thanks for surviving a raging storm in the 13th century and still contain a ruinous riot of frescoes inside.

A set of tiny islet castles off the shores of a sleepy lakeside town became the homebase for a clan of bloody 15th century pirates marauding across the higher lakes.