Stresa and Piedmont advice

I don't think that 4 nights in Stresa is "too much", but I would spend more time in Piedmont than in Stresa. When you say "about the same time" in Piedmont, did you mean 4 nights as well?
If so, I would reallocate the nights: 3 in Stresa, 5 in Piedmont.
If you already had 5 nights in Piedmont, then 4 in Stresa is OK.
As for the car: I would have one for the whole trip. The drive from Malpensa to Stresa is short enough to be OK after an overnight flight, in my opinion. It takes about 1 hr.
There is nothing particularly intimidating about driving in those parts, provided that (I) you follow speed limits and (II) you read about and avoid "ZTL" (camera-enforced restricted traffic areas) in every town and village you plan to visit.

From my experience there are a couple of extra issues to be aware of in the Stresa area with a car. I've visited Stresa by car when I was staying just up the lake at Baveno. My recollection of the lakeside road is that it is ok, but gets windy as you head up beyond Verbania towards Locarno, in fact it was completely closed for several days for repair. Also the ride down the hill (or up) towards Domodossola can be quite steep and with a number of trucks which use the route towards Switzerland.

There are a couple of barrier-less toll roads around the bottom of the lake. You really need to be aware of these because other than a couple of billboard sized signs there isn't much else to let you know that you owe money. Cars are photographed as they enter the highway and along it and when you leave it. The app and website will then tell you how much you owe - much easier to register beforehand - and if you have been speeding you will owe extra. You have, I think, 3 days to pay, but I get confused by all of them and it may be 24 hours. Easy to do on the webpage - I didn't use the app for payment.

The car ferries on the lake are helpful but not much cheaper than paying the toll on the toll road.

Hmmm...I really thought Stresa would be the bigger must do than Piedmont. It looks just so beautiful. Maybe we could do four nights then. But we loved Tuscany so are very curious about Piedmont.We live in the outskirts of Toronto so are used to lots of traffic but I don't think we will be at all travelling the narrow, hilly winding roads around the lake. And we are getting a little older :-(
When you stay in Piedmont where is your base?

For my own self - I spend all my time on the lake. I never have explored Piedmont. One day maybe.

Hi - we have never stayed in Stresa so I can't speak to how much time there. We have stayed in the Piedmont region in the town of Alba. We really enjoyed the town of Alba and the proximity to Barolo and Barbaresco. We found it easy to drive to these villages and to the wineries. We also arranged a truffle hunt with a dog. We were there four nights and are returning this Fall for another three nights. Enjoy!

If you have driven a car in Italy then this area will easy for you to navigate. I feel like three nights in Stresa is plenty. You can visit the islands and walk around town. I personally think four nights would be too much. I would allocate that time to Piedmont wine country. Either stay in Alba the whole time and day trip, or split it up with Alba and then an agriturismo or smaller town. You will LOVE Anna and Claudio for the wine tours. She can also really help with suggestions for places to stay as well.

Annemarie, Stresa is in Piedmont and Piedmont has a total area of 25,000 km2 (9,800 sq mi).

I Assume you are not interested in manufacturing and Intensive farming, so we can rule two-thirds of the Region out. Once you have left the Maggiore Lake you can choose among:

• the Alps and the Natural Reserves up in the mountains;
• the Langhe Wine Country; Alba (famous for truffle hunting) is the biggest town. Even if it is an UNESCO site, the Langhe are not that different from Tuscany wine country. Unlike Tuscans, in Piedmont they actually live on wine making and not on tourists visiting the vineyards.
• Turin (900.000 inhabitants) and the surrounding small towns with the Royal Palaces of the Savoy dynasty.

All of them are "Piedmont", more info here: https://www.visitpiemonte.com/en

The main drag on the west side of Lake Maggiore is busy, but not as busy or narrow as the main drag on the west side of Lake Como. From our base above Lake Orta we visited Stresa, the islands, Baveno, Cannobio, Ghiffa (sacred mount), the gardens at Villa Taranto (nice, not spectacular), Arona (give it a miss) and Locarno. Big difference in restaurant prices in Locarno.

Lake Orta as a whole is not much to write home about but Orta San Guilio is a fantastic little place (it has detractors on this forum – don't listen to them). An attractive waterfront square, narrow and atmospheric side streets, a waterfront path, a tiny and romantic little island reached by boat. There's a sacred mount up the hill which I had all to myself at the time.

I don't know how far you are willing to drive for day trips, or where your main interests lie. Morcote is a picturesque village with hiking opportunities above. Bellinzona, with its three castles and nice core, is an excellent visit.

In terms of scenery, the area immediately south of the lakes is flat and boring. One day we headed south and ended up at another sacred mount, Crea, where we had a long lunch and by chance attended a wedding service in the church there: again, it was deathly quiet when I went for a walk around the grounds later. It was hilly and noticeably prettier. Another day we went a bit further south, veering off on a side road from Casale Monferrato. We had lunch somewhere between Asti and Allesandria (visited neither) - nothing out of the ordinary here. Never reached the parts of Piedmont wine country which are compared to those in Tuscany.

PS: Annemarie, is your Oakville in Ontario?