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Lugano, in the Ticino district of southern Switzerland on the shores of Lake Lugano, has both a medieval and Mediterranean feeling that you will discover in our in-depth visit, which also brings you to the lakefront villages of Gandria and Morcote.
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We go by train, boat, on foot and funicolare to show you many great sites including Swiss Miniatur, with small models of Swiss buildings in a park setting, and the Alprose chocolate factory.
The historic center of Lugano is famous for arcades that line both sides of the street forming covered sidewalk areas with a calm and sheltered environment, protecting you from the rain and sun.
This style of columns and arches is reminiscent of Italian architecture -- after all, we are right next to Italy here in Lugano and you also see that feeling of Italy in the piazza, the big open square. The language is Italian and so is much of the lifestyle here in Ticino, which enjoys a magical blend of two cultures, with Swiss efficiency and Italian charm.
You will love how well the pedestrian zone works – peaceful streets with people walking here and there. It is so friendly and sociable, makes for a great atmosphere.
We really enjoyed stopping at this famous gourmet food shop, Gabbani, in business here since 1937 and they've really branched out – they've got a wine shop, a cheese shop, and they even run a small hotel that's ranked number three on Trip Advisor.
This area is also world famous for its chocolates. In fact there's a chocolate factory just outside the city we visit, the Alprose, and you will see how they make their chocolates.
Another feature that makes Lugano so attractive are the hillside streets. It's just so much more interesting than being in a flatland town. They've got staircase streets, they've got gently sloping streets, and it's all for pedestrians. It's a small part of town. It's a section which is goes up the hill alongside the funicular, but it really is a lot of fun to check it out. Some of the restaurants put tables out on the staircase streets. That would be a fine place to eat on a nice day. And even though it's a little bit of work to walk up the steps, it's a very popular retail center.
It's a kind of backbeat neighborhood with some quirky little boutiques and unique shops and artists and craftspeople. You'll run into some real characters here. Custom-made clothing and jewelry a whole variety of fun things to look at.
It's the kind of neighborhood that would be very easy to mess, or you might be easily discouraged if you get to the foot of one of those hills and look up and think "oh, no, I don't want to walk up that hill. But really it's not difficult at all. The slope is very gradual – you walk up, you walk down.
We’re also going to take you on a scenic boat ride from Lugano to Gandria, just five miles away. On a day like this it's perfect to sit up on the outdoor deck, or you could sit down below inside. It's very comfortable there as well. We're traveling in the month of May in Switzerland and it's warm and sunny especially because we're in the southern part of the country.
Gandria is truly a magical little village, clinging to the hillside along the shores of Lake Lugano. We will be getting off here and taking a little stroll through the village and finding it is a pedestrian zone. Cars are not allowed in the village itself because the lanes are just much too narrow and steep.
As soon as you get off the boat you can start exploring as we wind our way around these narrow lanes, and bends and turns and twists and discovering – always fun to explore someplace new for the first time.
This is part of our big series of movies about Switzerland taking you to most of the great places. We will bring you to Lucerne and up to Mount Titlis, Mount Rigi, over to Interlaken, up to the Jungfrau. We will see the Shilthorn, Lauterbrunnen Valley, Trummelbach Falls, Grindelwald, Bern, then on to Zermatt, the Matterhorn, yes we will have a look at the Gornergrat, up the Sunnegga, do some hiking, show you the village then on down to Lugano and Locarno in the southern part of Switzerland, the Ticino we also take you to the great city of Zürich. Look for them in our Swiss collection.