Ticino Part 2

at 1100m admiring the view before running back down.

On Saturday, Andreas was up early to do a morning run up in the mountains (inspired by the surroundings and a mountain-race flyer he found at the tourist information). He followed the hiking trail along small paths up in the woods. After 10km and almost 1000m climbing it was time to turn back to the waiting breakfast at the hotel.

Overlooking the Versasca Dam from Mergoscia.

After a breakfast with croissants and cappuccino we took the train to Locarno. There we changed to a bus taking us on small winding roads up the Valle Versasca to the village of Mergoscia. In the villages in the area there are many small stone houses with stone roofs.

Start of the trail in the alleys of Mergoscia.

Corippo. The only village we passed before Lavertezzo. 

The trail took us through a beautiful green landscape. We passed quite many abandoned stonehouses that looked like they had been for animals. Some of the houses we passed had been fixed up and are now being used as rustic summer houses. We meet some other people hiking here but it was far from the crowds in the bigger towns.

After passing the small village Corippo the trail followed the river up to Lavertezzo and ended at the famous bridge Ponte dei Salti built by the Romans. The tour took about 3 hours and it was really fun to see the old stone houses and the villages. A hike we could highly recommend. 

Jennifer at Ponte dei Salti.

Our last day in Ticino we went looking at the castles in Bellinzona before hoping a crowded train back to Zurich. A great mini-vacation in a beautiful part of Switzerland!