A day Trip to Bellinzona and Valley Verzasca, Kanton Ticino, Switzerland
- Hemu Lumina
- Mar 12, 2021
- 4 min read
As you know, Switzerland has three main regions based on the language they speak: German part, French part, and Italian part (Romansh is spoken in a very small part of the country). Each part has its own charm and beauty. Today, I am going to introduce you the city Bellinzona and Valley Verzasca which belong to Kanton Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland.
When you talk about the Italian part, most of you will know Lugano or the famous outlet - Fox Town. However, you should not miss Bellinzona and Valley Verzasca - the heart of Ticino. They are totally worth for a day trip. Bellinzona is actually the capital city of kanton Ticino (I usually thought it was Lugano 😜). The city has a group of three castles Castelgrande, Montebello, Sasso Corbaro which belongs to the Natural World Heritage List. Bellinzona itself is also listed in the Swiss national heritage site. It is a small city, so it is possible for you to visit all three castles in the morning then travel to Valley Verzasca in the afternoon.
I visited the area within a day in the end of February, the weather to be honest was not the best day to enjoy the beauty of the region. Therefore, I would suggest you to travel during summer, when the sun lasts longer and you can see the variety of color reflected by the crystal clear water. However, one of the advantage to travel during winter is there are not so many people, so you can have the space for you.
I traveled by train from Luzern to Bellinzona, stayed there till 1 PM, then traveled by train and bus within an hour to reach Valley Verzasca. As you know, the public transportation in Switzerland is super amazing, you can plan the trip ahead and it is 90% on time according to the schedule. Because I live in Switzerland for a long time, the half price card is very useful. However, even if you just visit Switzerland and want to use public transportation system, the saver day pass can be a good option. It depends on how advance you book the ticket, the price can be fluctuated from 52CHF to 106CHF for the 2nd class. I had the half price and booked the ticket just one day in advance, so my ticket costed 59CHF for the 2nd class and for all types of transportation in Switzerland (except some special train systems like the one to Jung Frau...). Please check the link below.
The trip was very spontaneous, my friend and I were a bit confused in the beginning, so we visited only Montebello and Castelgrande on that day. First of all, we took the bus number 4 from the train station to Montebello. It takes only 10 minutes, and you will be there. I guess, if you stay on the bus till the last station, you can also visit Sasso Corbaro. But we stopped in the middle, so we visited Montebello firstly. In order to visit inside the castle, it will cost you 10CHF. But the castle was closed during the lock down, so we could only visit the outside area. From Montebello, you can have the view of Bellinzona already. Here are some photos we took in Montebello.
From Montebello, you can walk down the street back to the main train station and to Castelgrande. The whole walking time was only around 30 minutes for us including the taking photo time. From the open area, you can have an access to the lift which will bring you to the top of Castelgrande. There are so many ways for you to explore the area, so just choose the path that you like. For us, we took the lift up to the top of Castelgrande, then followed a small stair case down to the town. It was amazing and every corner was an art.
I traveled during the lock down, so all the restaurants were closed. Take away was the only option I had at that time. Because I had to move quickly to the valley, so pizza from Migros was my choice. It costs less than 6CHF, and I did not even finish the pizza. And I had a great time eating the pizza with local people in the open area in front of Castelgrande.
From Bellinzona train station, it takes about an hour to reach Valley Verzasca. You need to take firstly the train S20 with Lucarno direction to Tenero. Afterwards, from Tenero train station (Tenero Stazione) you will take the bus B321 to Lavertezzo area. We decided to stop at Ai Poss, and from there followed the hiking track up to the well known Ponte de salti bridge. This area is so special, that you must one time experience it, cause there are no word to explain how beautiful it is. It has breathtaking views. I tried to capture many photos and videos but they cannot be compared with the view in real.
There are small villages along the river, therefore by taking the hiking track, you can also enjoy the beauty of the villages. The villages were built by stones, and has the look from Roman era unlike other parts of Switzerland with wooden style.
Visiting the valley during summer, I am sure you can swim or even dive in the area under Ponte de salti bridge. Besides, if you visit the area, do not forget visit Contra Dam where James Bond jumped in the opening scene of the GoldenEye. I visited the area during a windy day, so it was not a good idea for me to check the dam. However, you can totally visit and share with me your experience 😉.
Ticino is a special region of Switzerland which has so many amazing natural areas. I wish you guys can also visit and have the same experience like I had. I also wish I will have another chance to visit other parts of Ticino.
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