Can you please give me itinerary suggestions for 3-4 days in the Lake District?

Oh boy.... You need to provide more info if you want useful answers. Otherwise, you'll just get a ton of random (sometimes conflicting) advice.

Where are you coming from and going to after the lakes?

What time of year?

Will you have a car?

What are your interests?

Are you a solo traveler, a couple or a family?

Whick lake(s)?

Your question is way to broad to answer with anything useful.

Which lake? Or lakes?

We are coming early August from Milan. We will have a car and we are two couples. We will fly home to U.S. after this portion of trip. I see that Como and Maggiore are quite popular but we are open. We don't necessarily have to be in most touristy spots. We would like to feel the charm. I don't know if we should stay in Como or Bellagio or Stresa. I am not sure if we should head to Lugano. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We have 3-5 days

Well, read up on all of them in the guidebooks and make a decision. You can "feel the charm" anywhere on any lake. My preference is Lago Maggiore and Lago di Orta, staying in Stresa, where we will be in November, but you might prefer somewhere else. It's not as though any one lake is WAY better than any other.

It will be busy all over that area in early August, so plan ahead.

We don't necessarily have to be in most touristy spots>

Bellagio is one of the most mobbed touristy places I've ever been.

I stayed in Como and liked it - few tourists there as it is mainly a regional city with little romantic lake front.

I've stayed in Stresa too and in August it would also be tourist-filled but lot more room for them to spread out over than Bellagio.

Lake Madggiore or Lake Como - both delightful And you can take trains from airport to either one to save car rental day(s) while there - boats are the best way to explore the lake IMO.

Lugano is in Switzeland and a large modern city and being Swiss much more expensive than Italy across the board.

If you want to "feel the charm" of a northern italian lake in the last week of August, you should go to a lakeside town that is overwhelmingly populated by vacationing Italians -- rather than foreign tourists. There are many such towns on all the lakes with nice hotels and amenities & nice boat/ferry connections to the famous towns you read about in guidebooks. There are usually just a stone's throw away from those famous towns.

Eliminate Bellagio, Varenna & Como on Lago di Como. Eliminate Stresa, Baveno & Arona on Lago Maggiore. Skip Lago d'Orta unless you go to the northernmost shore. Skip Lago di Garda entirely -- which you should anyway if this is your last stop before flying out of Malpensa airport.

There is a huge music festival in Stresa on Lago Maggiore in August, so you want to stay away from that general area.

Google up a map of where the ferries go on Lago di Como & Lago Maggiore. Stay in a not-famous town with a ferry dock (because the lakeside roads will be JAMMED with traffic in August & you will want to use the ferries to go sightseeing.

There are plenty of lovely towns all around both lakes with ferry docks, and they have restaurants, nice hotels, everything you want. You can take a ferry to see the famous towns, but you'll find the less-famous towns more charming for sharing your holiday with Italians on holiday.

I agree that it's all pretty touristy. I found Stressa to be a little more peaceful... without the music festival, which would be a deal breaker.

I'm just not a fan of Como, though so many are. I don't love the waterfront and find it a difficult place to find a nice, peaceful walk.

Agree with above to find a 'lesser' small town on the ferry route. Have had some lovely afternoons in some of those small towns. Then, you can take the ferry to visit any town you want to visit... or drive your car to some outlying waterside restaurants.