Rigi is an imposing mountain massif along the northern shore of the lake Lucerne. On the another side of it is Lake Zug.
Note that there are several different ways to climb. The seemingly obvious climb to the summit (Rigi Kulm) is not necessarily the best in terms of views. From there you can clearly see Lake Zug, but poorly Lake Lucerne. Explore all the possibilities in advance. In addition, it is better to leave in the morning so that the sun does not light up Pilatus.
Сoming to Schwyz and Brunnen you find yourself in the very heart of Switzerland – the place where it originated and where its name came from. Brunnen is on Lake Lucerne, Schwyz Schwyz is a bit further towards Lake Zug.
German complex name of the lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) is due to the fact that its shores were previously divided by four forest cantons (one canton was later divided into two, so now there are five).
The least beautiful part of the lake, in my opinion, is from the side of Lucerne, which gave it its second name. The most beautiful, respectively, from the opposite side, this part has its own name – Lake Uri (Urnersee). Lake Uri beginns from Brunnen.
In the first part, I talked about where you can climb on cable cars, funiculars and cogwheels and what you can see from where. In this part – about Lugano and what to visit in this part of the lake.
Let’s look at Lake Lugano from above – in this topic we will consider the 5 best viewpoints of Lake Lugano.
Lake Lugano, with its emerald water, is more intimate, cozy and beautiful than Lake Maggiore. Holiday here, of course, is more pleasant than on Maggiore, if only you manage to find a good place to stay. And this is even more difficult here.
If you look only highlights, you need at least 1-2 full days. And for a more detailed exploring of region – 3-4 days.
Switzerland has good roads, although the terrain actively creates many problems. Their main feature is a large number of tunnels and excessive workload on weekends, holidays, the beginning and end of school holidays, when neighboring Europeans go on vacation together. Therefore, choose a normal day of the week for your holiday trip in Switzerland by car.
An alternative to busy tunnels can be a car transportation on a train. For example, Autoverlad Lötschberg will transport your car with up to 9 seats to Italy for 91 francs.
For several years we looked for the possibility of going to Ticino, and finally it worked out and travelled to Locarno.
Accommodation in this region is very, very difficult, unless you go there in winter. We decided to go to Maggiore at the end of September, when schoolchildren and students return to their textbooks, families with small children prefer warm seas in the Indian summer and only European pensioners remain.
On the lakes of Italy and in Ticino, there are many former villas with gardens created by their wealthy owners and opened to the public after their death. There are also just parks without villas. In the vicinity of Locarno, lovers of parks and gardens can see: the camellia park in Locarno (it makes sense only during the flowering season), the tea plantation in Ascona, the botanical garden on the Brissago island, the botanical garden in Gambarogno.
Locarno has three picturesque valleys – Verzasca Valley, Centovalli and Maggia. The first two are especially popular, but that doesn’t mean the latter is less worth visiting.
In this post about beautiful Verzasca valley with picturesque villages.
Honestly, initially Centovalli railway was listed somewhere in the last places in the programm, since the photos did not make much of an impression. And we took the train only because after a short pause in the Verzasca Valley it started raining and was not going to stop. However, the views turned out to be amazing (at least in the rain) and the trip is highly recommended.
Before the trip, I managed to find very little information about the Maggia Valley and we spent one day at Locarno, which I constantly regretted later. Who knows when to return to this region, and the Maggia Valley is really extremely interesting.
Compared to any of the three valleys, Locarno is just an average city, not too historical, not too beautiful. So that you do not repeat my mistake, I am telling you what you can see in the Maggia Valley
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