Bellinzona's Castles and a Misty Lugano

On Wednesday, 31 January, I took my third day trip on my own while my wife was at work.

What I really wanted was to reach Italy, and Tirano in particular. But the seasonal Bernina Express bus between Lugano and Tirano was not running that day, and I did not think getting to Tirano was practical. So after France and Germany, I stayed in Switzerland, and went a long way south, through the Alps to Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of the country. Bellinzona and Lugano became my day out instead, and Italy would have to wait until the next day.

South by train

It was a long journey, and I spent much of the morning looking out of the train window. The train ran beside lakes and past green fields, with farmhouses and steep mountains, some of them with snow on top.

A bright green meadow in sunshine, with wooded hills and two jagged rocky peaks rising behind under a blue sky with white clouds. — Mountains and meadows from the train.

Further south, the valleys narrowed and the mountainsides became steep and rocky.

Bellinzona

I arrived in Bellinzona a little before midday. The main street was hung with colourful banners, and the buildings, with their yellow and ochre walls and balconies, already looked different from those in Basel.

Near the old town was a large church with a stone façade and a rose window.

The stone façade of a large church in Bellinzona, with statues, a round rose window and a wooden door, beside yellow and pale buildings, with a mountain behind. — A church in Bellinzona's old town.

From there, I made my way up towards Castelgrande, the castle on the rock above the town. I got a little lost in the alleys on the way, and the climb was steep, up a narrow stone stairway between old walls.

A narrow cobbled stairway climbing steeply between old rough stone walls, with palm leaves and plants at the top. — Steps up towards Castelgrande.

Castelgrande

At the top, I walked around the castle grounds. What I remember most is how quiet it was. There were very few other visitors, perhaps an Asian couple and not many others. Inside the walls was a wide lawn, with two tall square towers, long battlemented walls and some white buildings.

A wide lawn inside the castle walls, with two tall square stone towers joined by a battlemented wall and a pale building, and a few people walking. — The towers of Castelgrande.

I walked along the walls, which looked out across the valley to the mountains.

The top of an old stone castle wall with battlements, looking out over a valley to snow-capped mountains. — Along the castle walls.

From up there, I could see the whole of Bellinzona spread out below, with its red and orange roofs.

The town of Bellinzona seen from above, with red-tiled roofs, modern blocks and the valley stretching away between mountains. — Bellinzona from the castle.

Across the town, on the hillside opposite, I could see another castle. I didn’t visit it.

Looking across the rooftops of Bellinzona to another castle with walls and towers on a wooded hillside, with mountains and snow behind. — Another of Bellinzona's castles, across the town.

By half past twelve, I was back down in the town, and soon on the train again, heading further south to Lugano. I had McDonald’s for lunch that day.

A misty Lugano

Lugano was grey and misty. From near the station, I looked down over the town to the bell tower of the cathedral, with the hills around the lake fading into the haze.

The tall stone bell tower of Lugano’s cathedral with a green copper dome, among trees and rooftops, with misty hills behind. — The cathedral bell tower in the mist.

I walked down through the streets to the lake. The mountain across the bay was only just visible through the mist.

A calm, grey lake with a steep, cone-shaped mountain rising on the far side, partly hidden in mist, and a bed of flowers in the foreground. — Lake Lugano, with the mountain across the bay in the mist.

Along the shore, rows of red and white pedal boats were tied up at a jetty, waiting for warmer weather.

Rows of red and white pedal boats moored along a jetty on a grey lake, with pollarded trees and misty mountains behind. — Pedal boats waiting for summer.

I walked along the lakefront under bare, pollarded trees, and then back into the town, through a large square with a yellow building and cafés.

A large paved square with a yellow neoclassical building with arched windows on the left, cafés with awnings, and pink and pale buildings beyond. — A square in the centre of Lugano.

The long way back

By around four o’clock, I was on the train heading north again. Towards five, the train ran beside a lake between steep mountains, under a heavy sky with a little light breaking through.

A grey lake between steep, dark mountains under heavy clouds with a band of light, seen through a train window, with a bare tree and a concrete quay in front. — A lake on the way back north.

It had been a long day of trains, a castle and a lake. The next day would be even longer, and almost entirely on rails.