Switzerland Guide
Ticino
The Italian-speaking canton of Ticino occupies the balmy, lake-laced southern foothills of the Alps. It's radically different from the rest of Switzerland in almost every way: culture, food, architecture, attitude and driving style owe more to Milan than Zürich, and the famously sunny skies even draw in fog-bound Milanese for a breath of air.
The place is simply irresistible: a short train ride under the Alps and you emerge – often in glittering sunshine – to a tiny corner of the Italian Mediterranean that is forever Switzerland, peopled by expressive, stylish, hot-blooded folk as different from the stolid farmers of the north as they could possibly be. And it's no wonder they're hot-blooded. As an ethnic and linguistic minority of eight percent in their own country and nothing more than a quaint irrelevance to the urban hotshots of Milan next door, the Ticinesi consistently have to struggle to get their voices heard in the corridors of power.
The glamour of their canton, and its stunning natural beauty – lushly wooded hills rising from azure water, palm trees swaying against deep blue skies, red roofs framed by purple bougainvillea – often seem to blind outsiders with romance. The German-speaking Swiss in particular fall head over heels for the Latin paradise on their doorstep. It takes just three hours from the grey streets of suburban Zürich to the fragrant subtropical gardens of Lugano, and from March till November German Swiss come in their thousands to sit beneath vine-shaded outdoor terraces of simple grotti or osterie (rustic local taverns) and choose polenta, risotto or herb-scented salads from bilingual Italian-German menus, sample a carafe of Merlot del Ticino, and still pay with familiar francs at the end.
Highlights
1 Bellinzona Atmospheric, often-bypassed town, dominated by its three castles.
2 Alto Ticino There's some excellent walking on offer in these remote, high valleys.
3 Locarno Ticino's most stylish lakeside resort – a hint of the Mediterranean.
4 Cardada Lofty viewpoint above Locarno, set amid cool, fragrant, pine forests.
5 Valle Maggia Tortuous valley system north of Locarno that culminates in isolated trailheads and a serene Alpine chapel at Mogno.
6 Centovalli Highly memorable train ride, winding above a ravine west of Locarno.
7 Isole di Brissago Two tiny dots of green in the glittering Lago Maggiore.
8 Lugano Chic lakeside city, overlooked by, sugarloaf hills rising from a palm-fringed lake.
9 Monte Generoso Ticino's only rack railway climbs above the Lago di Lugano.