2 days in Ticino

---

We found a great deal on sbb.ch site, 50% off on ticket to Lugano and mountain train up to Monte Generoso. Since shortening our vacation in Vienna, we have been itching to go out into the mountains. This was perfect. We started off on Friday very early @7:00. The plan was to camp for 2 nights near Monte Generoso and hike around there. We reached Maroggia train station around 10:00. Our campsite Camping Monte Generoso was a short walk away. The campsite was next to lake. We got our spot (I practiced my German!) and setup tent.

We got the next train to Capolago to then take Monte Generoso mountain railway. We expected some snow on top, but there was plenty. Views started appearing towards the top. It was a really clear day. At the top, we walked in snow to summit. The view from up there was amazing. We could see 3 layers of mountains. One nearby with sprinkled snow on top. Other layer of nearby high Alps with some more snow, and 3rd faint layer of the glaciated high Alps. Its rare to get such clear view. After having a nice lunch up there, we decided to walk down to Bellavista station. The walk was quite uneventful. We caught the mountain train back to Capolago at Bellavista.

Back at Maroggia, we wondered if we should go see Swiss Miniature at next station, but decided that 20CHF per person was too much to see what we can see from top of a mountain 😊. After relaxing a bit at campsite, we went to Melide for a nice dinner. Of course being so close to Italy, pizza was first choice. On the way back, we saw the Swiss Mineature from outside, it was mildly interesting, they had definitely not done the mountains very well, buildings were ok though. Back at Campsite, we headed for an early sleep. By this time, we had decided to not stay for 3rd day. Weather was not so good on Sunday, and I prefer a action packed 2 day trip to a relaxed 3 day trip which just gets boring.

Day 2: We got up and packed early, checked out of campsite and headed to Bellinzona. The plan was to see castles of Bellinzona city and hike Cima di Medeglia. We put our backpacks in luggage store and Bellinzona station. The bus service from Rivera - Isone is not frequent. So we decided to talk a short tour of Bellinzona before heading off to Isone.

Walking a little bit towards Castegrande, we discovered a nice Saturday market! vola! Market was very interesting. There were stalls of clothes from different places, the usual handicrafts from Asia and Africa, large amounts of cheese stalls. In the middle there was a stand supporting diversity in Switzerland with representation from Iran, Romania, Bosnia etc. They also had some good food 😊. The market ended at a small 'castle' which we thought was Castlegrande. We were just able to walk inside and look around. That was kind of strange. The 'castle' was kind of small and looked like offices. We took some pictues and then back to train station to take train to Rivera.

Rivera - Isone bus ride was short. Isone is a pretty little mountain town, it was full of flowers at this time. The start was hike was steep, like any other hike in Switzerland. We were amoung trees for which I was really thankful as it seemed like a really hot day. There were some peek-a-boo views of surrounding mountains. After about an hour of hiking up, we reached a big communication center. As we reached up, we were greeted with amazing view of snow covered mountains right in front. The effect was just great. We had almost 270deg view of high mountains nearby. All tiredness was forgotten. From here the hike was just full of views, mountains after mountains, and the big Bellinzona - Locarno valley below. It all reminded me again why we hike, and why we need to keep hiking. It just revives all your spirits. We had another 250m to go up to the summit where the book promised 360deg view. It did not disappoint. At summit there was really 360deg view of all the Alps. We had same view yesterday from Monte Generoso, but yesterday it felt like we are looking at mountains from far. Today it felt like we were amoung the mountains. It was just breathtaking. The day was also perfect for the perfect views.

The hike down to village of Medeglia was not so nice. It started with a goat trail I did not like at all, and then lot of stony steps and then road. Anyway, getting to Medeglia we got quite tired. We took the bus back to Rivera and then train to Bellinzona.

In Bellinzona we wanted to see the castles, but realized they were all closed. So we decided to just go and see Castlegrande again. That's when we realized that what we saw in the morning was not Castlegrande. The castle was indeed kind of grande, and it was open! We walked in, took the elevator up and enjoyed the view of other 2 castles from this one. Then we saw quite a lot of activity on top of the castle. It turned out that there was some award ceremony happening there with band police and what not. So that's why the castle was still open, lucky us! It was good end to a perfect day. We were mostly done and kind of tired. So we took and early train back to Thalwil.

More photos on Picasaweb

---

Photos

Snowcovered Alps
View from top of Monte Generoso

Bellinzona
The Saturday market

Snowcovered Alps
View from our hike

In Castlegrande
Some kind of award ceremony that we gatecrashed into