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THE TRADITION OF A GROOM GIVING his bride a wedding present was taken over the top by Carlo III Borromeo. In 1632, he decided to transform one of his family’s Lake Maggiore islands from a barren rock into a baroque-a-palooza wonderland and dedicate it to his wife-to-be. Fisherman living there at the time were none too happy when they were pushed aside as Carlo burst in with architects, loads of dirt, and exotic plants to begin his project, but wife Isabella must have been pleased. Especially when Carlo named the island Isola Isabella in her honor. The name was later changed to the easier-on-the-tongue Isola Bella.

Carlo’s project took generations to complete, but by 1700 there stood an opulent villa above a pyramid of ten terraced gardens.

Getting to Isola Bella by ferry from the town of Stresa is half the fun of this garden visit. On misty days the island rises from the water like a pearl on the lake. Nearby are the Borromeo-owned Isola Bella and Isola Madre and the fisherman’s island, Isola dei Pescatori, which is great for lunch. It’s best to do Isola Bella on one day, with lunch on the fisherman’s island, and save Isola Madre, where you’ll find botanical gardens and a villa with an antique doll collection and puppet theater, for another day.

Among Villa Isola Bella’s many elegant, art-filled rooms is the Sala di Napoleone, named in memory of the general who found this place perfect for romantic encounters. He stayed in this room with his first wife, Josephine, back in 1797.

Napoleon and Josephine had married the year before in Paris. She was a thirty-three-year-old widow with two children, described as “the voluptuous Creole” from Martinique, whose husband had been beheaded in the French Revolution. Napoleon, twenty-seven, was just beginning to gain fame. Three days after their wedding he had to head to war in Italy, and Josephine stayed behind in Paris.

Napoleon wrote Josephine passionate love letters (often two a day), with lines like “You are the eternal object of my thoughts. My imagination exhausts itself wondering what you are doing.” Meanwhile Josephine was having quite the gay Paris time, celebrating hubby’s victories with handsome escorts. She barely responded to his letters, which drove Napoleon absolutely insane. He finally convinced her to come meet him in Italy, and since they’d been apart practically a year, a rollicking time was had in this villa and gardens. Check out the etching of the couple’s visit with their entourage, where the caption recounts how the local help complained that the French party gang practically trashed the place, they were having so much fun.

The most unique feature of the villa is its downstairs grottoes, done up floor to ceiling in elaborate black-and-white pebble and seashell mosaics—a fantasy of an underwater cave.

The grand finale is the gardens, which hit you like an Alice in Wonderland-vision come to life, with stretches of dazzling green lawns bordered by vibrant rose bushes, gushing fountains, fish ponds, and a spectacular curved stone theatrical backdrop with sculptures of gods and goddesses, crowned by a unicorn, the Borromeo family symbol. White peacocks strut about freely, opening their tails to punch up the experience.

Next, ferry to Isola dei Pescatori, a folksy fishing village, where you can wander the cobblestoned streets, and enjoy lunch or a drink at one of the many caffes or bars.

In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway wrote about rowing to Isola dei Pescatori, and stopping in at a caffè for a Vermouth. It’s toward the end of the book when he’s deserted the army and goes to Stresa to hook back up with the British nurse he’s crazy about, who’s pregnant with their child.

“I kissed her neck and shoulders. I felt faint with loving her so much,” Hemingway writes in a scene that takes place at their Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees room in Stresa. It seems like even Papa Hemingway, not typically a romantic guy, allowed passion to overtake him in this extraordinary place.

Gardens of the Isole Borromee: Open mid-March through mid-October, 9-5:30, www.isoleborromee.it.

Golden Day: From Stresa, take a ferry to Isola Bella (www.navigazionelaghi.it), and enjoy at least two hours there, then have lunch on Isola dei Pescatori at Ristorante Belvedere (0323 32292, www.belvedere-isolapescatori.it), to enjoy delicious lake fish on their terrace. Back in Stresa, a sunset aperitivo on the rooftop Sky Bar of Hotel La Palma (www.hlapalma.it) is a must. For a splurge, like Hemingway, stay at Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees (www.borromees.it).

TIP: If you are with a group of four or more, rather than take the ferry, it’s less expensive and more convenient to bargain with a boatman near the ferry station for a private round-trip ride.