If you enjoy getting away from the crowds and exploring genuine, unspoilt villages or small towns off the beaten track, the possibilities are endless in the Stresa/Lake Maggiore area.

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So many fit the bill that this is simply a selection of our personal favourites.

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Many of the settlements in this list have essentially been immune to the passage of time over the centuries, reflecting their residents' intense respect for the traditional lifestyle.

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Aside from the many semi-abandoned, seasonal Alpine villages which may only be inhabited during the summer or at weekends, there are a couple of viable, almost permanently inhabited mountain villages in the Lago Maggiore area which have not yet been linked to the road network and which can therefore only be reached either by cable car or on foot: Rasa just over the border in Switzerland and Monteviasco in Italy.

As a consequence of their isolation and due to the cost and complication of transporting building materials, both villages, perched on mountainsides, are still perfectly preserved in a mediaeval time warp.

We have also included what we like to think of as ghost villages: Marone  with its railway station but no inhabitants, Pogallo, an estwhile hightech powerhouse and Agaro, now underwater.