Ticino

South of the Gotthard, Italian-speaking Switzerland begins: In Ticino, palm trees and camellias grow, and the valleys are dotted with villages built of granite. A vacation in Ticino combines lakeside promenades in Lugano and Locarno with castles, whitewater, and grotti, where you can sip Merlot under chestnut trees.

From the Gotthard to the Lakes

The canton drops from the Gotthard massif and the high valleys of the Leventina down to about 200 meters at Lake Maggiore – the lowest point in Switzerland. In the north, in the Sopraceneri, narrow valleys shape the landscape: the Verzasca Valley with its emerald-green river and the Roman Bridge of Lavertezzo, the Maggia Valley with its waterfalls, the Blenio Valley with its old mule tracks. The south, the Sottoceneri, is hillier and more densely populated; here you'll find Lake Lugano, Monte Generoso, and the Mendrisiotto wine region.

Cities and Destinations in Ticino

Lugano is the largest city and a financial center, yet along the lakeside promenade, on Via Nassa, and in Parco Ciani the pace is fairly relaxed. The LAC cultural center hosts art exhibitions and concerts, and funiculars climb Monte Brè and San Salvatore. Bellinzona is guarded by three medieval castles – Castelgrande, Montebello, and Sasso Corbaro – which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Locarno is known for the Piazza Grande, where the film festival screens movies on a giant screen every August, and for the pilgrimage church of Madonna del Sasso. Next door lies Ascona, with its lakeside promenade and Monte Verità, where around 1900 life reformers founded an artists' colony. In the far south, Mendrisio and Balerna are the heart of the Mendrisiotto wine country.

In the north of the canton, the Leventina begins with Airolo at the southern portal of the Gotthard Tunnel. From there, the old pass road climbs over the cobblestones of the Tremola up to the Gotthard Pass, where a museum tells the story of this Alpine crossing. The Blenio Valley with the Lukmanier Pass and the Morobbia Valley near Bellinzona are quieter and invite long hikes along old mule paths.

Sights in Ticino

Sights in Ticino include the Brissago Islands with their botanical garden in Lake Maggiore, Monte San Giorgio, a UNESCO fossil site, and the mountain village of Gandria, which clings to the cliffs of Lake Lugano. In the Gambarogno on the southern shore of Lake Maggiore, magnolias and camellias bloom in spring. The Tibetan Bridge, a suspension bridge near Sementina, and the dam in the Verzasca Valley, the setting of a James Bond jump, attract thrill-seekers.

Food and Drink

At a grotto, a simple inn with stone tables, you can eat polenta with brasato or luganighe sausages, along with formaggini made from goat's milk. Chestnuts were a staple of the old mountain farmers and appear roasted at the markets in fall. Merlot is the most important grape variety; it's drunk as a red, but also vinified as a white wine. To finish, there's a nocino, a walnut liqueur.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

Since the opening of the Gotthard and Ceneri Base Tunnels, the train from Zurich reaches Lugano in about two hours. The nearest major airport is Milan Malpensa. The best time to visit starts in March with the camellia bloom and runs through October, when the chestnuts are ripe and the valleys turn golden.