Lago Maggiore is one of the northern Italian lakes (the other big ones are Lago di Como and Lago di Garda); the lakes are long and narrow, and run roughly north-south from the Po plain to the foothills of the Alps. As a result all of the lakes are spectacularly picturesque. Lago Maggiore is extra-picturesque because the Borromeo family, bigwigs in Milan for centuries, built enchanting palaces and gardens on the lake islands. The main photographic interest is the scenery and the gardens.
Lago Maggiore is only 60km from Milan on the rail line to the Simplon pass, and in the 19th century the towns along it were popular holiday resorts for wealthy Milanese. We stayed in Stresa, the biggest town on the western side of the lake. It is, like many 19th century holiday towns, slightly down-at-heel, but it has several grand hotels from its glory days, and in the off-season they can be remarkably cheap. There are boats to ride, spectacular train trips and excellent walking. There are also some excellent restaurants nearby (three Michelin 2-stars and three 1-stars, not including Milan), which are also less expensive than such places usually are.
This is the view from Stresa, with the Isola Bella on the left (Nikon 1 V1, 6.7-13mm at 13mm, four image panorama stitched in Photoshop Elements).
