walk – INLUGANO

Mendrisiotto / seseglio

This was a spur of the moment decision. It finally stopped raining after 2 days and we wouldn’t or better yet couldn’t stay at home any more.

This hike is part of Mendrisiotto vineyards itineraries. They are 3 in total. We have chosen the one that starts in Seseglio. We knew right away we will not be able to finish it [10,5 km]. We started our journey at 3 o’clock and don’t forget we have a 4 year old and a baby in the carrier.

Anyway, in the end we hiked 8 km and miss only a bit of the official itinerary.

I would definitely recommend to do this hike NOW. It’s just gorgeous. Still sunny and warm and green everywhere you look. I’m sure there are poems about the perfection of strolling through the vineyards.

We started in Seseglio and followed the trail. We did the suggested shortcut after point 5 through Pedrinate where we connected with the original path again.

The first half of the hike is a mix of going uphill through the woods until you reach beautiful vineyard, because of which you forget about the sweaty part only to start climbing up again to see new one

From Pedrinate is basically only going down back to Seseglio where everything began.

SENTIERO DEI GROTTI

Let’s situate ourselves. We are in beautiful Val Maggia, easy one hour drive from Lugano, in a village called Cevio. We left our car in the parking lot of a local school just in front of the Valmaggia Museum.

Sentiero dei grotti is a short (45min) hike. It’s not really a hike it’s an easy circular walk suitable for anyone who can climb some stairs. In reality it is an extension of the Valmaggia museum because it shows you how people of this region lived, coexist and took advantage of sometimes impossibly rocky terrain. Over 60 grottoes can be seen, which have been dug between boulders that had come from a huge landslide. “Grotto” meaning a cave or a cellar.

I would definitely recommend this plan for the whole family. We went with friends and the kids had blast discovering new caves on the way. We took torches and suddenly boring walk became an exciting expedition . For adults it is interesting too. You will be amazed how locals embrace the nature and what they have built on seemingly impossible land.

After the walk we ate in Grotto Franci located just 70 m. from the museum.

After the lunch we had to go check an amazing playground with a bike circuit which is not that easy to find situated just next to the parking lot.

We didn’t want to finish our day yet so we went to see small village called Boschetto only about 5 km from Cevio. We walked the circuit around the village we found in a tourist brochure. It’s an super easy 30 minutes walk around nice old village.

I’ve enjoyed it a lot but if you have only have time to see one thing before going home I would rather recommend our last stop of the day: “Cascata Grande” in Bignasco. 5 km from Cevio in opposite direction.

bolle di magadino

Nice easy long walk around Ticino river entirely doable on a balance bike if your little one complains about walking too much.

You can enter this protected area from few places. We parked close to the parco giochi in Magadino and walk 5 minutes to the entrance.

These beautiful paths lead you through the park. There are some information boards on the way explaining few facts about the fauna and flora of this unique enviroment.

There are “watch towers” on the way too so you can observe natural inhabitants without interfering.

If you are a birdwatcher this is a must. On the other hand if you were a birdwatcher you would have known about Golle di Magadino already.

Anyway if you have a little bit of interest in the nature and would like to see the place where river Ticino flows into Lago Maggiore this is place for you.

CASCATA DEL BOTTO (ROVIO-MELANO)

I cannot believe it took us 2 years to visit this beautiful waterfall so CLOSE to Lugano!! This hike is an instant classic and next time we have visitors I’m taking them here.

We went to see the waterfall in the afternoon after a rainy morning and it was beautiful. The forest was so green, smelled like water and the roar of the waterfall was almost scary.

You can visit the waterfall from Rovio or Melano (2 villages). We started in Rovio and it’s only a 10-15 min. easy walk from here. It was too short for us so we walked to Melano to check out the trail.

My recommendation would be to do the hike from Melano. It’s longer, it takes approx. 40 min., but it’s nicer. The trail leads through magical forest full of trees you don’t see very often and loads of stones covered in moss.

We met a local lady and she told us that in summer it is possible to swim in the little pool below the waterfall.