VERBANIA

Verbania is actually formed by two historic districts — Pallanza and Intra — each with its own character. Pallanza is the quieter, more elegant side, with a lakeside promenade lined with cafés and a view across to the Borromean Islands. Intra is more commercial, with a ferry crossing to the Lombardy shore and a market that draws the whole lake on Saturday mornings. Together they create a town with more variety and depth than its modest fame suggests.

The botanical context here is extraordinary. The climate created by the lake — warmer and more humid than the surrounding Alps — allows plants to grow that have no business being in northern Italy: camellias, rhododendrons, palms, banana trees. Villa Taranto contains over 20,000 plant species. In spring, when the azaleas bloom along the lakeside, the effect is close to surreal.

The Alps are immediately present: the Mottarone mountain rises directly behind Verbania, with hiking and cycling in summer and skiing in winter. The Swiss border is 30 kilometres north, and Lugano is under an hour by car. Milan's Malpensa airport is about an hour. For anyone working between northern Italy and Switzerland — or simply looking for a lakeside base with serious mountain access — Verbania is genuinely hard to improve on.