Stresa: 80km (50 miles) NW of Milan
Anyone who reads Hemingway will know this lake and its forested shores from A Farewell to Arms. That's just the sort of place Lake Maggiore is -- a pleasure ground that's steeped in associations with famous figures (Flaubert, Wagner, Goethe, and many of Europe's other great minds seem to have been inspired by the deep, moody waters, backed by the Alps) and not-so-famous wealthy visitors. Fortunately, you need not be famous or wealthy to enjoy Maggiore, which is on the Swiss border to the east and north of Milan.
