It’s a very Italian dilemma. Monica Vitti or Monica Bellucci? Ferrari or Maserati? Lake Como or Lake Maggiore? I know, it’s a tough call, but the answer has to be... Maggiore. Or Verbano, as it is sometimes called.

Don’t get me wrong. I fully respect those who trumpet Como as one of the most gorgeous places in Europe, and it is certainly voluptuous. It’s just that I find Maggiore less self-consciously glitzy, less formal and somehow a more rounded package.

Also, on Maggiore, you can find the odd bar and restaurant that doesn’t come with a grinning picture of the owner with George Clooney.

Let’s get the physical side of this relationship out of the way first. Maggiore is a serpentine stretch of water that forms the boundary between Piedmont and Lombardy, but also noses north into Switzerland. As with all the Italian lakes, its coddling blanket of mountains gives it a microclimate that makes for the lush gardens of magnolias, camellias, parakeets and palm trees you expect from any self-respecting lago. You’ll not be wanting for breathtaking mountain backdrops, either, with the star turn being the 10-peaked massif known as Monte Rosa, rising to more than 15,000ft.

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This was the first of the lakes really to be colonised by the 20th-century tourists, after the opening of the Simplon tunnel in 1905, but it was hardly terra incognita: Byron, Stendahl, Dickens and Wordsworth all wrote in fulsome terms of its beauty, as, later, did Hemingway, invalided here during the first world war. Hilaire Belloc found it so perfect that he suspected sorcery. There is no witchcraft, but much of what we come to admire today is the result of cunning alchemy by the Borromeo dynasty, which turned fish into gold.

The Borromeos are a Milanese family who happen to own all the fishing rights on the lake, a useful addition to the coffers since the 16th century. They used their bounty to create the gilded, frescoed and Muranoed palace on Isola Bella, which features astonishing, cascading terraced gardens filled with rare and exotic plants, as well as haughty peacocks and pheasants. Some find the whole confection excessive, and it is certainly self-regarding; but I love itsL k very over-the-topness. Watch out forM hidden unicorns: the family symbol.

You can find more horticultural exotica on Isola Madre, which is totally given over to gardens, apart from a marionette- and doll-filled villa (when the Borromeos collect, boy, do they collect). It is also used for concerts during Stresa’s summer music festival (Settimane Musicali; July to September). The final island, Pescatori, was where they banished the fishermen to do all the work. There are a number of fish restaurants, which are good for a simple lunch – although too crowded and offhand in peak season – or bring a picnic and revel in the scenery of the lake shore and mountains.

For a real feast of a view, visit Mount Mottarone, accessible from Stresa by cable car. From the terminus, at close to 5,000ft, you can see not only wave after wave of ice-tipped Alps, but the Lombardy plain with all of the limpid lakes perfectly laid out below. It is one of the best views in all Italy, from its finest stretch of water.

The smart guide

What’s the strategy? The transport hub for boats to the islands and ferries around the lake is Stresa, the grandest resort, with the highest and haughtiest hotels. It also tends to be the most crowded; those looking for a quieter time in high season should consider Baveno, Pallanza, Cannobio or, my favourite, Cannero Riviera. The eastern, Lombardy shore is surprisingly neglected; try sleepy Ranco, which until relatively recently was not even on the ferry timetable.

The best lodging: flashiest address is Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées, which was where poor Hemingway had to rough it. It’s opulent and well appointed, with swimming and diving pools, and a good, if pricey, restaurant. Citalia (0871 664 0253, www.citalia.com) has three nights, B&B, with one complimentary dinner, for £572pp, including flights from Heathrow. Extra nights cost £115pp.

Inghams (020 8780 4444, www.inghams.co.uk) has a week at the comfortable Villa Aminta, in Stresa, which has a pool and a private beach, from £744pp, half-board, including flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester or Edinburgh. Families might consider the larger apartments in Inghams’s Carl & Do Residence, near the “beach” in Baveno, which have kitchenettes and sleep 4-5 (from £384pp, self-catering, including flights). For independent travellers, the Hotel Cannero (00 39 0323 788046, www.hotelcannero.com), in Cannero Riviera, has doubles from £55pp with breakfast and is right opposite the ferry pier. Lovely owners, too.

If you want something altogether grander, the belle-époque Grand Hotel Majestic (0323 509711, www.slh.com), down the road at Pallanza, sits on a promontory overlooking the lake and prides itself on old-school service. It has a private beach, tennis, an indoor pool and a spa. Doubles start at £140, B&B.

Getting there: if you are driving, the closest airport to Lake Maggiore is Milan Malpensa, just a dozen miles from the lake or 50 miles from Cannero Riviera. It is served by Flybe (0871 700 2000, www.flybe.com), from Birmingham and Manchester; British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), from Heathrow and London City; and EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), from Gatwick and Bristol. Other options include Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com), to Bergamo; or BA or EasyJet, to Milan Linate. If you don’t want to drive, there’s an hourly train service from Milan’s Central station to Stresa (www.italiarail.co.uk; from £7, one-way. Inclusive car hire starts at £19 per day with Holiday Autos (0870 400 0010, www.holidayautos.co.uk); or try www.carrentals.co.uk.

Getting around: the lakeside road can get horribly clogged, so it’s far better to use public transport unless going far afield. You don’t need a car for getting around Maggiore – that’s what the lake steamers are for – and from Stresa you can take pleasure boats, ferries, trains and cable cars. Boats cost £5 for two islands or £8.20 for three, plus Pallanza and the gardens of Villa Taranto. The cable car to Monte Mattarone costs £9.75 return. For timetables for the regular ferries, visit www.navigazionelaghi.it. A book of 10 tickets for lake travel costs £16.

The best beaches: you can swim safely in much of the lake, for example, from the small stretches of shoreline at Cannero Riviera, Baveno and Cannobio. But, all along the shoreline, it isn’t hard to find a little stretch of shingle with families splashing around.

... and après-beach/walk/ferry: this isn’t a bar-culture kind of place, so nightlife revolves around restaurants and the universal gelati. There is a lovely courtyard at the Piemontese (Via Mazzini 25; 00 39-0323 30235), in the centre of Stresa, which does unfussy things with the Borromeo’s lake fish. About £30 should see you well fed and watered.

Il Sole di Ranco (Piazza Venezia 5; 0331 976507, www.ilsolediranco.it) is an accomplished Relais & Châteaux restaurant with 14 rooms that has been in the same family since 1850. A tasting menu of dishes such as scampi carpaccio in bisque sauce, sturgeon cooked in ginger and ginseng or roasted rabbit costs about £70, excluding drinks.

If you are on Pescatori, the fishermen’s island, try Casabella (0323 30758, www.isola-pescatori.it), which has great views, good fish and far less accordion-playing than the others; £35 a head, including boat transfer to the mainland after dinner. In Intra, Osteria del Castello (Piazza Castello 9; 0323 516579) has 400 Italian wines to choose from, to go with its plates of Piedmont meats, cheese, risottos and tiny lake fish, eaten under the trellis on the terrace; from £16pp. More formal is Lo Scalo, in Cannobio (Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 32; 0323 71480, www.loscalo.com), which offers a weekly changing menu of local specialities in an intimate dining room; from £35pp.

Smart thinking: the Maggiore Express tour combines lake, mountains, trains and the Swiss side of the water. It takes you by rail from Stresa or Verbania to the mountain village of Domodossola, where you switch to narrow-gauge electric train for the ride into Switzerland. It’s a stunning trip, the little carriages hugging the mountainside, crossing deep gorges scored into the granite by meltwater, above indigo-blue lakes and alpine meadows, before reaching Locarno. From there, you catch a steamer back to one of the lake towns or have lunch and return to Italy on the train.

Visit www.lagomaggioreexpress.com for details; prices start at £20 for a round trip on train and steamer, with children under 14 going half-price. And don’t forget your passport.

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