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This trio of islets off Stresa – two clad in gardens and palaces, the third with a fishing village – rank among the top 10 sights in the whole region (see Lake Maggiore’s Isole Borromee).

The façade and interior of this church perched just above the water are covered with decaying frescoes dating from the hermitage’s foundation in the 13th century to its suppression by the Austrians in the 19th; the Dominicans returned in 1986. Be warned: there are many steps down from the car park, and the ferries servicing the ancient dock are infrequent. Look out on the loggia for a winch assembly once used with a basket to raise the daily shopping – and the occasional frail monk – from the boat decks.

This 8th-century Lombard fortress dominates Angera’s headland. Expanded in the late 13th century by the Visconti of Milan, it later became the seat of its own county, and in 1449 passed to the Borromeo clan. Today the glowering fortress preserves delicate medieval frescoes and a Doll Museum.

Perhaps the loveliest town on any of the lakes has it all: a harbourside arcade of cafés, sumptuous gardens surrounding stately villas, steep medieval alleys, and hotels and shops in all price ranges. The Romanesque church of San Giacomo has a 12th-century pulpit with reliefs of the Evangelists (see Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio and Bellagio).

A steep lane in picturesque Bellagio

The exterior of Como’s cathedral, begun in the late 14th century, is a festival of statues and basreliefs. Inside are Renaissance altar-pieces and tapestries (see Duomo, Como).

Owing its beauty and fame to three owners, the villa itself was begun in 1643 for Giorgio Clerici. In 1801 it passed to lawyer Gian Battista Sommariva, and he filled it with Neo-Classical sculptures and Romantic paintings. The former include Palamede by Canova and Cupid and Psyche by his student Tadolini; the latter a famed Last Kiss of Romeo and Juliet by Francesco Hayez, master of stolen-kiss scenes. In 1847 it passed to the Prussian Princess Carlotta, who lent it her name while her husband, Prince Giorgio di Sassonia-Meiningen, furnished it in Empire style. He also created the magnificent botanical gardens (see Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo).

Varenna is less touristy than Bellagio and almost as rewarding. It has a waterfront promenade, two small churches with medieval frescoes on the main square, two villas-with-gardens to wander, and the half-ruined Castello di Vezio high above town. Just south of Varenna, the Fiumelatte gushes from the cliff face down about 250 m (800 ft) into the lake, making it the shortest river in Italy. Oddly, it flows only from March to October (see Villa Monastero, Varenna, Villa Cipressi, Varenna and Varenna).

An over-the-top Art Nouveau overhaul of this villa owned by the flamboyant poet, adventurer and national hero Gabriele d’Annunzio was financed by none other than Mussolini himself – basically as a bribe to silence d’Annunzio’s criticism of the fascist government (see Il Vittoriale, Gardone Riviera).

Jutting into the lake from the southern shore is a skinny peninsula. At its tip sits the postcard-perfect town of Sirmione, guarded by a striking castle complete with moat and drawbridge. It’s a popular resort, with plenty of hotels and shopping, but also some fine little churches and the ruins of a Roman villa at the promontory’s very tip (see Grotte di Catullo, Sirmione and Sirmione).

Arturo Hruska, Swiss dentist to Europe’s royalty in the early and mid-20th century, laid out these sumptuous botanical gardens between 1940 and 1971 (see Giardino Botanico Hruska, Gardone Riviera).